This is not what I thought our back-to-school issue would look like. The air is not crackling with the usual excitement; the smell of freshly sharpened pencils does not evoke a feeling of infinite possibility.
The atmosphere is instead infused with contention and anxiety that I and my colleagues here at "the office" (remember offices?) are feeling, too. Our kids range from preschool to college. We, too, are trying to stay safe, juggle impossible schedules, and support our kids' education while the reality of a challenging school year settles in.
I had reservations about this issue. Are we really going to tell parents about extra things they can teach their kids? And suggest that teachers take on even more while they're learning how to teach online, or in classrooms while trying to keep kids socially distanced? I may have been projecting a little.
But my team reminded me that we're here to make climate change personal, actionable, and urgent, and right now it is all of those things.
So, in the spirit of "let's do the best we can, however we can," this issue offers online-friendly climate education resources for educators, care providers, and self-driven kids. Click a few links, forward to the teachers in your life, and circle the Ferris Bueller references for extra credit. Action is the antidote to despair, and every little helps.
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How To Promote Resilience In Kids |
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Wildfires in the West. Hurricane Laura in the South. A derecho in the Midwest. Extreme weather can be traumatic for kids—here are resources to help.
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If a child you care about has lived through a natural disaster or has persistent worries about how climate change might impact them directly, you can help increase their resilience to toxic stress.
We put together helpful resources for caring adults and communities in our fact sheet on Climate Change and Mental Health.
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Optimized For Remote Learning:
Climate Is Health
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We created Climate is Health with Putney Pre-College to help teachers and students engage with meaningful, action-focused climate content. It's so good you could take it nine times. Nine times? Nine. Times.
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Session 1 – Basics of Climate and Health and How They Are Connected
Session 2 – The Connection Between Climate and COVID-19
Session 3 – How Climate Change Impacts You, Your Health, and Your Community
Session 4 – Climate Change, Inequitable Impacts, and Community Resilience
Session 5 – Personal and Community Climate Actions and Becoming a Climate Activist
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Each session includes a guest speaker, discussion questions, group activities, readings to explore topics in-depth, case studies, and tips for taking action. |
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Learn From Harvard Professors At Your Own Pace, For Free |
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The course begins September 2, but you can start any time. |
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HarvardX: The Health Effects of Climate Change |
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Created by our Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein with support from the Harvard Global Health Institute, this online course is a call to action. It's free, self-paced, and taught by Harvard instructors. Now in its third run, you can join 106,000 others who have learned how climate changes health, and how to be part of the solution. |
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Action-Oriented, Classroom-Ready Resources |
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My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who thinks these online resources are really cool. |
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Global Weirding
We are huge Katharine Hayhoe fans because she's got mad climate science communication skills. Her videos feature a range of topics that are informative and fun to watch.
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Online Tools for Teaching Climate
These free tools from Climate Interactive help students understand the relationships between climate, energy, and policy by simulating solutions and their impacts. Check out all online offerings, or visit Abe Froman's favorite teaching resource, a guided assignment in English and Spanish.
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Climate Change for K-12 Teachers In Spanish
This free MOOC from Salamanca University in Spain explores the basic science of climate change, with a focus on solutions, all in Spanish.
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NOAA Planet Stewards Education Project
Formal and informal educators working with students of all ages, check out NOAA's program to empower kids to tackle big environmental challenges.
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Climate And Health Curriculum For Medical Residents |
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Our Director Dr. Aaron Bernstein and colleagues from medical schools across the country believe that including climate and health content in residency education will better prepare doctors to deliver care. Watch Dr. Bernstein's twitter account for a major announcement on September 9.
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How Do You Deal With Climate Despair?
Anyone? Bueller?
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"Several people have asked me how I stay hopeful at a time like this, or at least how I do my job without yielding to crushing despair." |
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Sammy Roth writes The Boiling Point newsletter for the LA Times. Any job that brings you up close and personal with the heaviness of climate change can take a toll, and climate journalists aren't immune.
For a dose of reality and a swig of hope, check out his ideas for dealing with climate despair for a mindset that can help carry us through.
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🗳️ Voting Checklist 🗳️
68 Days Until Nov 3
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Time to make a plan to vote! And make sure your friends have a plan too. In this case peer pressure is totally fine. All the cool kids are doing it. |
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