The University of Colorado Boulder’s Learn More About Climate initiative has been recognized by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education with an Award for Excellence in Environmental Education for its outstanding work helping learners— in formal and non-formal settings— understand their role in the environment.
CU-Boulder is home to some of the world’s leading climate scientists. The LearnMoreAboutClimate initiative seeks to extend this expertise to educators, policymakers and citizens by highlighting current research and offering classroom tools for delving deeper into climate change issues. The initiative’s website, LearnMoreAboutClimate.colorado.edu, features a series of videos, in-depth interviews with scientists, teacher-developed and -tested model lessons, classroom tools, professional development opportunities and links to additional CU-Boulder resources.
Learn More About Climate is among ten organizations and two individuals to be acknowledged by the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education at an evening banquet on Saturday, March 2 in Denver. Learn More About Climate has earned an award in the media category.
Cindy Gay, a Steamboat Springs High School science teacher, has taken advantage of the Learn More About Climate’s many resources, including incorporating its model lesson plans into her classes, integrating the educational videos into her curriculum and coordinating Skype interviews among her students and CU-Boulder scientists.
“Incorporating Learn More About Climate’s free, online resources has transformed my ecology unit into an authentic inquiry investigation about issues that matter to my students,” said Gay, who is also the president of the Colorado Biology Teachers Association. “The capstone of our studies was the Skype interview with a climate scientist. Over the past two years, Learn More About Climate has set up six Skype interviews for my classes, enabling students to extend their learning beyond the walls of the school. The Skype interview has become the much-anticipated highlight of the unit; former students came back to my class this year just to listen to the conversation with a scientist.
“As a teacher in a rural area, I appreciate that Learn More About Climate has brought cutting-edge science to students who otherwise wouldn’t have such incredible opportunities.”
Learn More About Climate and other award recipients are being recognized for leadership in developing inclusive, effective, cooperative and cross-sector environmental education programs. The award recipients represent a wide array of innovative and needs-based educational programs reaching out to diverse audiences, often through compelling partnerships, to increase environmental and conservation awareness among their participants. For a complete list of the Awards for Excellence in Environmental Education recipients visit the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education’s website at visit www.caee.org.
“The environment is where we live and the decisions we make about the environment impact our economy, our communities and our homes,” said Katie Navin, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education executive director. “All across the state, from Steamboat to Denver, these inclusive and innovative environmental educators and programs are helping create informed and responsible decision makers.”
Learn More About Climate was developed by CU-Boulder’s Office for University Outreach, which is tasked with extending campus resources across the state to external groups such as teachers, students and communities. CU-Boulder project partners include: the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the Biological Sciences Initiative, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the Department of Geography, the Center for Science and Technology Policy, the Department of Theatre and Dance and the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities.
For more information about Learn More About Climate visit the website at LearnMoreAboutClimate.colorado.edu.