Seminar: Patterns, Relations, and Functions
Program: DINÉ
Subject Area: Math
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Year of Publication: 2021
Abstract
What will our climate look like 30 to 50 years from now? The students that I’m working with will be in their late-thirties. What will they be doing? Will they be doing activities that help mitigate climate change?
Children need to be taught about how heat builds up in the earth’s atmosphere and about other greenhouse gases that cause climate change. They should be taught that fossil fuel emissions are the primary cause of the increase of carbon dioxide (CO2)e in the atmosphere. The amount of CO2 has increased from 280 to 419 parts per million by volume from 1958 to 2021 (Stein, 2020). Students also need to be informed that this increase in CO2 may help more plants grow, but can also cause droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures. Weeds, diseases from pests, and fungi are likely to increase due to warmer and wetter climates. CO2 may also reduce the protein and essential minerals in food crops leading to a decrease in the supply (The Causes of Climate Change, n.d.).
Finally, students should be taught that there are possible substitutions for fossil fuels such as solar, wind energy, and forests (Tree Facts, n.d.). We need to teach students to have the mindset that they can help solve the problem of climate change.