CCEP-I: Climate Change Science and Solutions: Creating innovative education tools for Native Americans and other rural communities on the Colorado Plateau.

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This partnership, led by the Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research, Northern Arizona University, includes multiple centers within the University including the Center for Science Teaching and Learning; Program in Community, Culture and Environment; School of Earth Science and Environmental Sustainability; Applied Indigenous Studies; and the Department of Biological Sciences. Other core and supporting partners include a consortium of public schools in the region, the Navajo Nation Division of Education, the Hopi Department of Education, the Navajo Green Economy, Wind in Schools, and the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative (Coconino County). This partnership will develop and implement a middle school through high school climate change curriculum serving primarily Native American and rural students on the Colorado Plateau. The transformative theme of this project is that effective climate change education teaches the science, impacts, and solutions in culturally and regionally relevant ways. The curriculum will thus involve regional science, regional impacts, and regional solutions, all conveyed by regional storytellers using multiple modes of engaged pedagogy. This project will improve and develop already strong ties between Native American educators and community leaders and NAU scientists, learning experts, and practitioners. The overarching goal of the project is to infuse a novel curriculum into multiple school districts in Northern Arizona during Phase 1, and during Phase 2 throughout the entire Colorado Plateau. The specific objectives are to: 1) Establish a Climate Change Education Center at Northern Arizona University 2) Create a transformative secondary curriculum in climate change science and solutions that is adopted by 75 classrooms across the Colorado Plateau, 3) Create transformative and innovative training programs for teachers 4) train 100 teachers, tribal Elders, and community leaders in climate change education, and 5) Educate parents, community leaders, and school boards about climate change so that they are supportive of climate change education in the public schools. Deliverables include 1) an inventory of existing curricular materials relevant to this region, 2) an assessment of current education practices in the region, 3) the design and implementation of 10-15 teacher and community workshops, 4) the production of two DVDs, and 5) the development and implementation of a climate change education strategic plan. For more information please see: http://www.climate.nau.edu/