Black Representation - Authoring STEM Stories for Climate Risk Preparedness

近年来，关于气候科学的讨论在儿童文学中变得更加常见。研究表明，书籍和其他媒体可以教孩子们有效地管理他们和他们的家人面临的洪水、火灾、高温和其他与天气有关的灾害的风险。然而，黑人的声音和故事在这部文学作品中很少见，尽管这些灾难更有可能影响到有色人种社区的家园。为了解决这种不平衡，这个会议项目将把黑人儿童媒体创作者与气候科学家和发展心理学家聚集在一起，推动气候科学故事的制作，讲述黑人观众的关切、环境和经历。气候变化科学和儿童发展方面的专门知识将在一个播客系列节目中获得，该节目将在以参与者为主导(非会议)形式组织的三次混合会议期间引发对话和探索，以制作儿童故事。这些会议的目的是为气候科学儿童媒体的制作奠定基础，支持黑人家庭的独特需求，帮助他们和他们的孩子为多种环境威胁做好准备并做出反应。这个会议项目是Knology、Highlight Foundation、国家黑人儿童发展研究所和儿童博物馆协会的合作项目。在为期两天的三次联合国会议上，黑人气候科学家、发展心理学家、非正式学习从业者、作家、插图画家和出版商将制定战略，创建与气候相关的STEM内容，这些内容与黑人家庭和儿童的生活和未来经历相关。他们的讨论将解决四个核心问题：(1)哪些与STEM相关的知识应该被纳入儿童气候变化文献？(2)关于将关于气候风险准备的讨论带入早期学习空间和场所的现有方法已知多少，这些方法对针对黑人社区、家庭、儿童呢？(3)什么样的视觉和文字讲故事技巧最适合以黑人的存在为中心，以肯定黑人生活并培养黑人儿童与自然世界的关系？(4)儿童文学如何在早期环境教育中充当消除反黑人的媒介？通过在非会议召开之前、期间和之后的共同努力，与会者将创建并发布一套资源(包括研究简报、播客系列、会议记录、报告和指南)，以帮助黑人媒体制作人开发人物、情节弧线和故事大纲，黑人家庭可以利用这些资源与他们的孩子谈论气候科学。该项目的成果将有助于支持制作更适合黑人家庭经历的儿童媒体，并有助于提高有色人种儿童对STEM职业的更广泛认识。本次会议的重点是在被边缘化的社区中关注公平和培养气候适应能力，重点是支持儿童媒体创作者，并提请注意他们在让幼儿及其家庭就气候变化关键问题以及适应、缓解和恢复能力的行为和心态进行对话方面所发挥的重要作用。本会议项目由推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划资助，该计划支持以下项目：(A)促进非正式STEM学习在公平和归属感方面的作用的研究和实践；(B)促进STEM个人和教育的成功；(C)促进公众参与科学发现；(D)培养对STEM职业的兴趣；(E)为有效的非正式STEM学习创造和加强理论和经验基础；(F)增强社区活力；和/或(G)加强科学交流以及公众对STEM和STEM进程的参与和了解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Discussions of climate science have become more common in children's literature in recent years. Studies show that books and other media can teach children effective techniques for managing the risks they and their families face from floods, fires, excessive heat, and other weather-related disasters. However, Black voices and stories are rare within this literature, despite the fact that these disasters are more likely to impact areas home to communities of color. To address this imbalance, this conference project will bring together Black children's media creators with climate scientists and developmental psychologists to promote climate science story making that speak to the concerns, circumstances, and experiences of Black audiences. Expertise in the science of climate change and children's development will be captured in a podcast series that will be used to spark conversations and explorations for making children's stories during three hybrid convenings organized using a participant-driven (unconference) format. The intention for these convenings is to lay a foundation for the production of climate science children's media that supports the unique needs of Black families, helping them and their children prepare for and respond to a multitude of environmental threats.This conference project is a collaboration between Knology, the Highlights Foundation, the National Black Child Development Institute, and the Association of Children's Museums. Across three, two-day unconferences, Black climate scientists, developmental psychologists, informal learning practitioners, authors, illustrators, and publishers will develop strategies for creating climate-related STEM content that are relevant to the lived and future experiences of Black families and children. Their deliberations will address four central questions: (1) What kinds of STEM-related knowledge should be incorporated into children's climate change literature? (2) What is known about existing methods for bringing discussions about climate risk preparedness into early learning spaces and places, and how applicable are these for popular media directed at Black communities, families, and children? (3) What visual and textual storytelling techniques are best suited to the task of centering Black presences in such a way that affirms Black life and nurtures Black children's relationships with the natural world? (4) How can children's literature serve as a vehicle for dismantling anti-Blackness in early environmental education? By working together before, during, and after the unconference convenings, participants will create and publish a suite of resources (including a library of research briefs, a podcast series, conference proceedings, reports, and a guidebook) to help Black media makers develop characters, plot arcs, and story outlines that Black families can use to talk with their children about climate science. The project's outputs will help support making children's media that is better suited to the experiences of Black families, and that contributes to a broader awareness of STEM careers among children of color. With a focus on centering equity and building climate resilience in communities that have been marginalized, this conference focuses on supporting children's media creators and draws attention to the significant role they hold in engaging young children and their families in dialogue on critical issues of climate change and the behaviors and mindsets towards adaptation, mitigation, and resilience.This Conference project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which supports projects that: (a) contribute to research and practice that considers informal STEM learning's role in equity and belonging in STEM; (b) promote personal and educational success in STEM; (c) advance public engagement in scientific discovery; (d) foster interest in STEM careers; (e) create and enhance the theoretical and empirical foundations for effective informal STEM learning; (f) improve community vibrancy; and/or (g) enhance science communication and the public's engagement in and understanding of STEM and STEM processes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.