Science Education Approaches

𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 I came across this UNICEF Climate Glossary for Young People, and honestly, it’s one of the most accessible climate resources I’ve seen in a while. Co-created with young activists across Latin America and the Caribbean, it turns complex climate and governance concepts into clear, meaningful language without losing scientific depth. 🤝 ♻️ Even though it’s designed for youth, I find it equally valuable for professionals who want to sharpen their climate vocabulary and communicate sustainability with greater clarity. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀 Developed by UNICEF with young climate activists, the glossary breaks down essential climate terms from climate systems and global warming to just transition, loss and damage, nature-based solutions, and climate justice. It acts as a bridge between science, policy, and people. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁 It teaches us that climate literacy doesn’t need to be complicated to be accurate. Clear language is powerful especially when we’re trying to mobilise action across different ages, sectors and backgrounds. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 ➡️ Clear definitions help everyone, not just youth, engage more confidently in climate conversations. ➡️ It highlights the importance of indigenous and local knowledge in climate solutions. ➡️ It reframes climate ambition as a collective responsibility, rooted in equity and human rights. ➡️ It shows how climate concepts connect directly to justice, governance and community resilience. ➡️ It reminds us that accessible climate education is the foundation of long-term climate action. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 ▪️ Young people & students: A solid entry point into climate advocacy and global negotiations. ▪️ Professionals & practitioners: A quick way to refine terminology and improve communication. ▪️ Educators & NGOs: Ready-to-use explanations for lessons, trainings and outreach. ▪️ Policymakers & leaders: A reminder that clarity strengthens participation, transparency and trust. For me, this glossary is more than a reference, it’s a reminder that climate action begins with understanding. And understanding begins with language. #planetaryhealth #planetaryboundaries #sustainability #ClimateAction #carbonfootprint #NetZero #ClimateEmergency #SDG #ESG #GHG #netzero #ClimateEducation #UNICEF #YouthClimateAction #ClimateJustice

As the world evolves, our educational approach must also adapt, inspiring stewardship and understanding of global challenges. I’ve crafted curriculum outcomes that blend primary school subjects with real-world activities, fostering curiosity and a proactive mindset in young learners. 1. The study of rainforests - Let’s build a classroom mini-rainforest to explore biodiversity and promote ecosystem conservation. 2. The study of writing letters - Let’s impact future policies by writing persuasive letters to leaders about environmental or social issues. 3. The study of insects - Let’s create a habitat for beneficial insects to promote local biodiversity. 4. The study of history - What can we learn from historical events to improve community cohesion and peace? 5. The study of the food chain - Let’s adopt a local endangered species and start a campaign to protect it. 6. The study of maps - Let’s explore the impacts of climate change on different continents using interactive map projects. 7. The study of basic plants - Let’s cultivate a garden with plants from around the world, focusing on their roles in sustainable agriculture. 8. The study of local weather - Let’s build weather stations to understand climate patterns and their effects on our environment. 9. The study of simple machines - Let’s engineer solutions to improve water and energy efficiency in our community. 10. The study of counting and numbers - Let’s analyze data on recycling rates and set goals for waste reduction. 11. The study of community helpers - Let’s explore how people around the world help improve community well-being and resilience. 12. The study of basic materials - Let’s investigate how everyday materials can be recycled or reused creatively in art projects. 13. The study of stories and fables - Let’s share stories from various cultures that teach lessons about community and cooperation. 14. The study of water cycles - Let’s design experiments to clean water using natural filters, learning about sustainable living practices. 15. The study of world populations - Let’s look at population distribution and discuss how urban planning can address housing and sustainability challenges. 16. The study of ecosystems - Let’s restore a small section of a local park, linking it to the role ecosystems play in human well-being. 17. The study of cultural studies - Let’s hold a festival to celebrate global cultures and their approaches to sustainable living. 18. The study of physics - Let’s discover renewable energy sources through simple experiments. These projects encourage real-world application, teamwork, and problem-solving, emphasizing the role of education in shaping informed, proactive citizens ready to face global challenges. This approach makes learning relevant and essential for today’s interconnected world. Which one will you try? #education #school #teacher #teaching

At Indus Training and Research Institute, one of the most powerful aspects of teacher training that we do is guiding teachers to discover their why - the deeper purpose that drives their teaching. Teaching is more than delivering content; it is an act of shaping minds, fostering curiosity, and nurturing perspectives. But to do this effectively, teachers need to reflect on why they teach in the first place. They need to ask questions like: Why does this subject matter? Why should children learn it? What kind of impact do they want their teaching to have? What’s the deeper motive behind teaching a concept? Finding these answers requires deep introspection and often, unlearning. Many teachers enter the profession thinking their job is to "cover the syllabus" or "prepare students for exams." But when they take the time to reflect, they realize that education is far more than content delivery. It’s about the values and ideas they want to instill, the curiosity they want to spark, and the lasting impressions they want to leave. Let me give the example of a biology teacher in our program. As she engaged in this reflective process, she uncovered her deeper why: sustainability. She wanted to create a world where all life forms could thrive, and she saw biology as the key to inspiring that mindset in students. This realization transformed the way she approached her teaching. Sustainability became the hidden curriculum in her lessons. Her assignments encouraged students to think critically about ecological balance, biodiversity, and conservation. Classroom discussions went beyond definitions and formulas; they became conversations about responsibility, ethics, and human impact on the environment. And the most remarkable part? Her students felt it. When she submitted her students' work as evidence, I could see her teaching philosophy being reflected. They began to look at the world through the lens of sustainability. They questioned how human actions affected different ecosystems, discussed ways to reduce waste, and even initiated small sustainability projects. What started as a teacher’s why became a ripple effect, influencing how her students saw their role in the world. In my last post, I talked about Social-Emotional Learning. Often, SEL is associated with subjects like language, humanities, or special programs. But here’s an example of how a science teacher is doing SEL. It's the hidden curriculum. Every teacher is an SEL teacher. When teachers find their why, they don’t just teach subjects - they shape mindsets. Education is never just about what we teach. It’s about why we teach. And when teachers discover their deeper why, the impact lasts far beyond the classroom! #education #sustainability #biology #sel #priyankeducator

[Leapfrog-to-Better Weekly Series] #6: The Climate Fresk! If you think back at the time you were a student, what are some *specific* classes that stand out in your memory? We’ve all sat through so many classes, but we’re more likely to remember a field trip than a lecture, a hands-on workshop over a boring presentation, or a reverse-learning-style pitch rather than a standard conference where we were passively listening. I believe this captures the core challenge in education today: pedagogical innovation. Pedagogical design. Pedagogical engineering. How do we create and offer learning experiences that pull students out of their disengaged, pandemic-era learning gaps, break through short attention spans fueled by social media, and counter the notion that “AI can give us everything we need anyway so why should we make any cognitive effort anymore?”. One powerful tool to achieve this is The Climate Fresk. Designed by Cedric Ringenbach back in 2018, the Climate Fresk workshop simply involves one big table covered by an equally big piece of white paper, 5 to 8 participants ready to be on their feet and toes for 3 hours, a set of 42 cards, some stationery supplies, and a facilitator. Its core task is simple but impactful: mapping climate science by arranging the cards from cause to consequence (spoiler: it starts and ends with humans!). This workshop beautifully mobilises collective intelligence, peer listening, creativity and emotional intelligence, all grounded in climate science from the latest IPCC reports. My own first experience with The Climate Fresk was quite unforgettable, as it offers a brilliant cocktail - fun, gamification, collaboration, emotions… - to long-lastingly anchor the experience in the participants' brain. With transparent, decentralised, and do-ocratic practices - following the swarmwise approach -, nearly 90,000 facilitators have been trained, and 1.9 million people have played The Climate Fresk mostly across France and Europe since inception. While it has achieved strong momentum in France, its journey in India is just beginning, and I see huge potential here. In fact, Virgile Montambaux and I facilitated about 10 Climate Fresks at Techno India Group here in Kolkata just in the past couple of weeks, and we look forward to more in other institutions and organisations across West Bengal and India! Especially in times of climate urgency, how do we reinvent education in order to offer mind-shifting / mind-blowing / eye-opening / heart-opening experiences? I’d love to hear about any such tools and learning experiences that stayed with you and why they made such a difference! Climate Fresk India

If you work in climate change, water resources, or land suitability, and you are not strong in #geospatial science, you are already behind. That may sound direct. But it is true. #Flood modeling. #Groundwater assessment. #Drought monitoring. #Agricultural suitability under #climate projections. None of this is possible today without serious GIS, remote sensing, and spatial programming skills. After years of working in hydrology and climate impact studies, I have seen one pattern: #Students jump to advanced tools. They skip foundations. They never build a structured pathway. So here is a roadmap I recommend to my own research students. 10 Free Geospatial Courses. Structured. Practical. Research-focused. PHASE 1: FOUNDATIONS You cannot model climate impacts without understanding spatial thinking. 1. GIS Foundations https://lnkd.in/dkS9K_tq 2. A Gentle Introduction to GIS https://lnkd.in/dy6cuRPj 3. Geospatial Analysis (Free Web Book) By Michael Goodchild and colleagues https://lnkd.in/dAiAusjw If you skip this phase, your research will remain technical rather than scientific. PHASE 2: PROGRAMMING AND AUTOMATION Climate datasets are massive. Manual workflows will fail you. 4. Python Foundation for Spatial Analysis https://lnkd.in/dUusJwjK 5. Open Source Spatial Analytics in R https://lnkd.in/dX_qA7gC 6. End to End Google Earth Engine https://lnkd.in/dYMWvNvj If you work on CMIP6, drought indices, LULC change, or evapotranspiration, automation is not optional. PHASE 3: EARTH OBSERVATION Satellite data is now central to climate and water science. 7. Land in Focus, Basics of Remote Sensing https://lnkd.in/dKpQHpFk 8. Synthetic Aperture Radar Foundations https://lnkd.in/drBSnijY If you understand SAR, you can monitor floods, soil moisture, and land deformation in all weather conditions. PHASE 4: STRATEGIC APPLICATIONS 9. Geospatial Intelligence and the Geospatial Revolution https://lnkd.in/dfNFfRYd 10. Spatial Data Management with Google Earth Engine (By Qiusheng Wu) https://lnkd.in/d9qydK4A This is where spatial data supports real decisions in agriculture, climate adaptation, and water planning. If you are: • A PhD student working on climate impacts • A consultant in water resources • An early-career researcher entering Earth system science • A supervisor guiding MSc students Build your capacity deliberately. Which phase are you currently in? Comment below. I would like to see how strong our climate and water community really is. Save this. Share it with your team. #ClimateChange #WaterResources #GIS #RemoteSensing #Hydrology #QGIS #GoogleEarthEngine #LandSuitability #EarthObservation #PhD #Research #FreeEducation #PCCA #UNFCCC #GeoSpatial #MSc

I was a John Snow (knew nothing) about Climate Change and Sustainability, even after graduating from India’s top institutes. ☹ 🎓 There’s an urgent need to update our education system, to equip students with the skills and knowledge to tackle Climate Change and Sustainability head-on. 🛠 Engineers need to design for the future— so understanding the basics of Climate Science, the gravity of the crisis, and the urgency of action is required. Here are a few must-have topics for engineering curriculum updates: ✅ Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Engineers need to know how to assess the full environmental impact of their products—from raw material extraction to end-of-life. ✅ Sustainable materials – Engineers should know how to consider materials, water, and energy in their design with lens of circular economy ✅ Renewable Energy and Energy efficiency (from power generation to consumption). ✅ Nature-Based Solutions: Engineers aren’t taught to design with nature or consider ecological impacts. These are essential skills for building a sustainable world, and our education system needs to catch up fast. What topics do you think should be included in curriculums of which profession to address climate change? 🌍 #ClimateEducation #SustainableEngineering #LifeCycleThinking #CircularEconomy #SustainabilityInCurriculum #Actnow

We keep saying the next generation will save us. Jeffrey Chang is teaching them how. In the middle of schoolyards facing extreme heat, students in #HongKong are using drones, sensors, and climate models to track the problem for themselves, not hypothetically, but with real data, in real time. This week, I’m therefore proud to spotlight Jeffrey’s work as part of my summer series. He’s a young geographer, urban climatology researcher, and founder of GeogSTEM Education Limited and he’s building one of the most relevant education models I’ve seen in climate adaptation. His project Micro Campus turns secondary schools into living laboratories. Students learn how to measure microclimates, detect urban hotspots, and understand social vulnerability. They’re not just learning about climate, they’re engaging with it, critically and locally. Jeffrey isn’t publishing for a shelf. He’s building tools that meet the crisis where it lands: • Drone-based thermal mapping • Citizen-powered heat audits • Schoolyard strategies that feed back into city planning. Because climate isn’t abstract anymore. It’s reshaping rooftops, playgrounds, and the uneven surfaces we walk every day. And we need educators, designers, and systems that reflect that reality. Jeffrey is one of them. If you’re working in climate, education, research, or policy — reach out to Jeffrey Chang directly. His approach is innovative, scalable, and exactly the kind of thinking we need more of. Next week, I’ll share the third voice in this series — more brilliant, quiet work worth seeing. #UrbanHeat #CitizenScience #UrbanClimate #SummerSpotlight #PassTheMic

For years, we’ve been told: “educate young people about climate change.” But what if the (already very limited) way we’re doing it is part of the problem? A new report from the Compass Project, led by Jessica Newberry Le Vay from the University of Oxford and Imperial College London, puts data behind something many of us have felt for a long time. ⭐ Surveying 200+ students and educators across England, the finding is stark: 👉 Only 15% of students feel their education prepares them for a future in a changing climate. Not because young people don’t care. But because the system isn’t designed to support them. Right now, climate change education often delivers: ❌ Information without agency ❌ Urgency without emotional support ❌ Awareness without pathways to act And that combination doesn’t motivate. It overwhelms. It disconnects. It leads to paralysis. I’ve felt this personally. And so have millions of other young people, as we collectively inherit this crisis. So what do students and educators actually want? The report is clear: They’re not asking for less climate change education. ⭐ They’re asking for better climate education. Education that: 🌍 Connects climate science to real life and lived experience 🌍 Builds emotional resilience, not just knowledge 🌍 Creates opportunities for collective action and agency 🌍 Embeds climate across subjects, not as a one-off topic 🌍 Helps young people imagine a future they want to be part of My biggest takeaway: “Now is the moment to ensure that mental health and emotional resilience are at the heart of climate change education, so that education truly empowers young people in a changing world.” ---- Representing Our Youth 4 The Climate (OY4C), I’ve been part of the Compass Project working group, and this is the clearest roadmap I’ve seen for the future of climate change education. What this means for Our Youth 4 The Climate (OY4C): We’re not starting from scratch, we’re building on this. At OY4C, we’re already integrating these insights into the OY4CCurriculum: 🌍 Embedding emotional literacy + climate change education 🌍 Making content locally relevant and relatable 🌍 Prioritising solutions and action over fear 🌍 Scaling free, quality, and accessible resources for students and educators globally The generation that will inherit this crisis is already in classrooms. But the goal isn’t just to inform a generation. It’s to equip them to lead. The question is: Are we giving them an education that prepares them, not just academically, but emotionally and practically, for the world they’re stepping into? 📣 What now? Regardless of who you are, I highly urge you to read the report, and bring core findings into your work. 📄 Full report in the comments 📩 For collaboration: Jessica Newberry Le Vay (jess.newberrylevay@psych.ox.ac.uk) #ClimateEducation #YouthLeadership #EducationReform #MentalHealth #ClimateAction #OY4C

🌍 Teaching Climate Science in the AI Era As a new semester begins, I’ll again be teaching an undergraduate course titled “Climate: Past, Present, and Future.” This year, I’m intentionally rethinking how the course—especially the lab component—is structured. We live in a time when: Climate science continues to advance rapidly in peer-reviewed research and international forums, Students are exposed to an overwhelming mix of information, opinions, and narratives, And AI tools are now part of everyday learning. Rather than centering labs on extended lectures, this year we are shifting toward AI-supported exploration, with three goals: 1️⃣ Using AI to engage with real climate data For example: How have winter extreme cold events changed in a student’s hometown over the past 50–100 years? Where do the data come from? How do we distinguish long-term trends from natural variability? 2️⃣ Using AI to help students reason through core climate concepts Jet streams, feedbacks, teleconnections, monsoons— not to provide answers, but to support understanding, testing, and questioning. 3️⃣ Using AI to strengthen information literacy and critical thinking How do students evaluate textbooks, journal articles, news, and online sources? How can AI assist learning without replacing thinking? For me, teaching climate science is not only about conveying established knowledge. It is about helping students learn how to ask good questions, evaluate evidence, and think independently in an increasingly complex world. That, perhaps, is one of the most important roles of climate education today. #ClimateEducation #AIinEducation #EarthSystemScience #TeachingInnovation

Making Climate Language Understandable The Climate Dictionary, developed by UNDP, provides a clear and accessible overview of key terms in the global climate debate. It aims to bridge the gap between scientific jargon and public understanding by defining complex concepts in straightforward language. The publication spans topics such as adaptation, resilience, mitigation, nature-based solutions, green finance and loss and damage. Each term is placed in context, making the dictionary a practical tool for policymakers, educators and professionals who need to communicate effectively about climate action. What stands out is its form. The document is freely designed, combining visual lightness and a touch of playfulness with the weight of a serious subject. The layout and concise entries make it approachable, while the tone conveys urgency and intent. This balance between accessibility and gravity turns the dictionary into more than a glossary. It becomes a gentle entry point for engaging with one of the most complex challenges of our time. The publication is part of UNDP’s broader effort to promote inclusive and informed participation in climate discussions. By standardising terminology across disciplines and regions, it helps create a shared understanding that is vital for cooperation. Especially as climate policy increasingly overlaps with spatial development, housing and social equity, clarity of language becomes a condition for effective governance. It is worth sharing because the way we speak about climate action shapes the way we act. The Climate Dictionary shows that collective progress starts with a shared understanding. #ClimateAction #Sustainability #UrbanDevelopment #UNDP #ClimateCommunication #Resilience #GreenTransition #DesignForImpact