Perhaps more than any other environmental issue, the topic of climate change challenges science teachers to accurately convey data, reveal assumptions, and engage critical-thinking skills. Designed for students in grades 6-8, Carbon & Climate provides activities and resources to help educators meet these challenges, introducing students to some of the complex issues involved in climate change.

Project Learning Tree's hands-on and engaging activities help teach students how to think, not what to think, about the environment and their place within it.

• The activities are designed to develop students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• The lessons are flexible and easy to incorporate into your existing curriculum.
• Activities are multi-disciplinary.
• They are constructed around – rather than simply correlated to – targeted performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). They build on one another to foster students’ understanding and skills for meeting the specific standards.
• They are aligned with the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Math.
• They are aligned with the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies
• They are organized around the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E Instructional Model – engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate.

What’s included:

1.  Carbon & Climate e-unit 

Project Learning Tree's e-units support learning as a developmental progression. Teachers may use individual activities as stand-alone investigations or choose to conduct all e-unit activities from beginning to end.

The e-unit contains:

• access to detailed step-by-step lesson plans online
• downloadable student pages to guide learning
• a range of assessment tools, including pre- and post-assessments and evaluation rubrics
• easy-to-understand teacher background information
• comprehensive, interactive connections to academic standards -- correlations are showcased for educators using innovative and interactive hyperlinks
• resources for customizing the lessons to your students and situation
• suggestions for fiction and non-fiction books to enhance the activities
• more teaching tools, including links to websites, videos, online quizzes, and other supplementary resources

Review this Overview to learn more about what students will do, the setting, and time required to complete each individual activity.

2.  Online professional development

The self-paced online workshop (approximately 3 hours) includes:

• 6 coursels (each a 20–30-minute learning experience)
• video demonstrations of select PLT activities
• lesson planning exercises to help you plan how to facilitate activities with your students in your own setting
• certificate of completion

Review this Welcome Letter for more information about the unit’s accompanying online workshop.

Continuing education credits and state-specific supplemental resources are offered in some states. For more information, contact your State PLT Coordinator.

Here's what a few teachers have said about PLT’s Carbon & Climate e-unit:

“I teach in the middle of coal-country, Eastern Kentucky, and was very hesitant to teach this topic in depth. I want to thank you for helping me to approach a difficult topic with my students from a scientific point of view and for helping change perceptions in our region.” – Susan Marvin, Hazard, Kentucky

“I loved that everything was centered around the 5E model because it made me think more about my own lessons and trying to incorporate the 5Es into them.” – Katie Thomas, Floyd, Virginia

After completing the online workshop, you’ll be connected with a diverse and supportive professional network. You’ll also be eligible to apply for a PLT GreenWorks! grant for your students to implement an action project to improve the environment at your school or in your neighborhood.