| To enact change that will reduce the Great Lakes region's vulnerability to climate change, it is critical to foster a sense of stewardship and empowerment among current residents. Formal education is a place where individuals can develop the knowledge, skills, and passion to become stewards of this place. The purpose of this research project is to explore the status of climate change teaching and learning within the context of science and Great Lakes stewardship education in Michigan. Within Michigan's current science content standards that guide most teachers with their lesson plans, climate change is addressed sparingly across grade levels and is only explicitly mentioned in the standards three times. Therefore, the degree or frequency that teachers are discussing climate change with their students is unknown.;After in-depth interviews with 15 elementary, middle, and high school science teachers from around Michigan, eight teachers said they had incorporated climate change into their curriculum and six said they had discussed climate change in the context of the Great Lakes with students. Factors such as teachers' perceptions of climate change, access to resources like professional development and teaching materials, teachers' content and pedagogical knowledge, and the context of teacher accountability through student standardized testing all are related to a teacher's decision to integrate climate change into science or Great Lakes lessons. The majority of the teachers are interested in either continuing to educate students on climate change or starting to, and have provided innovative recommendations to do so in the future. |
