Many debates about climate change pit scientific fact against long held beliefs. This unit allows middle school students to distinguish between facts and opinions, determine credible sources and practice critical skills, such as: asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, and engaging in argument from evidence, to think critically, make informed decisions and communicate those decisions effectively.
How to Get the Most Out of This Educational Experience
Around the country our schools are providing students with unique, experiential, and applied learning opportunities. Years of Living Dangerously is one of those opportunities you don’t want to miss. As the series unfolds the biggest stories of our time students become emotional involved in the lives of those represented and through your instruction and facilitation will become agents of change, empowered by knowledge and evidence to create and solve our problems today and into the future.
Hold a Campus Screening Event
Colleges and universities are called to action! Share Years of Living Dangerously far and wide on your campuses. Help your fellow students, faculty and staff understand the devastating impacts of climate change on the human population all across the world. Take action on campus to reduce your environmental footprint.
Watch Tips for Students
Students will begin to learn about the perspectives and evidence related to the stories shared in Episode 1 and share their own stories and evidence about climate change impacts in their community.
Standards
The YEARS education materials are aligned to national standards for education and correlate with the K-12 Common Core State Standards. Importantly, these instructional materials will advance - now and in the future - newly developed Next Generation Science Standards that feature climate education as a goal for most schools over the next three to five years. Each lesson includes detailed standards documents.
Case Studies
Colleges and universities are taking climate change and sustainability seriously. Read about their efforts in the following areas.
Printable Lesson Plans
Download the Middle School Lesson Plans in PDF format for use in your classroom.
Middle School Standards
Download and print the standards guides for the Middle School Lessons. The standards applicable to each lesson can be found in that lesson, under “Standards.”
Printable Lesson Plans
Download printable lesson plans to use in your classroom.
High School Standards
Download printable standards guides for High School. The standards applicable to each lesson can be found in that lesson, under “Standards.”
Middle School
This unit allows students to distinguish between facts and opinions, determine credible sources and practice critical skills, such as: asking questions, analyzing and interpreting data, and engaging in argument from evidence, to think critically, make informed decisions and communicate those decisions effectively.
High School
This unit encourages students to identify scientific methods, summarize complex concepts and information presented, put information learned in their own words, and identify and evaluate multiple sources of information in order to answer questions or solve problems.
