Mange online lektioner om klimaændringer er faktisk skrammel

Da naturfagslærer Diana Allen satte sig for at undervise i klimaforandringer, et emne hun aldrig havde lært i skolen, hun faldt i en kanins hul af misinformation:Mange ressourcer præsenteret online som undervisningsmateriale var faktisk skrammel.

"Det er et ret skræmmende emne at tage fat på, " sagde Allen, lærer på Sanford Junior High School, i det sydlige Maine. "Der er nogle ret vanskelige hjemmesider derude. Man skal på en måde være en ekspert for at kunne gennemskue det som, 'Åh, ingen, disse fyre fortæller dig ikke sandheden."

Der er materialer produceret af tvivlere om klimaændringer, lektionsplaner udviklet af olieindustrien, og utallige andre websteder med vildledende eller forældede oplysninger. Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network, finansieret af føderale tilskud, anmeldt mere end 30, 000 gratis online -ressourcer og fandt kun 700 acceptable til brug på skoler.

"Der er en masse information, der er ødelagt, gammel, misvisende, ikke videnskabeligt forsvarlig, lyder ikke teknisk, sagde Frank Niepold, en klimauddannelseskoordinator ved National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Heartland Institute, en Illinois-baseret gruppe, der afviser klimaændringer, i 2017 sendte tusindvis af naturfagslærere kopier af en bog med titlen "Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming" Bogen, tilskrives gruppens ikke -statslige internationale panel om klimaændringer, misrepræsenterer den næsten universelle konsensus blandt videnskabsmænd og FN's mellemstatslige panel om klimaændringer om, at global opvarmning er reel og menneskeskabt.

En anden ressource, et sæt på seks lektionsplaner om forståelse af klimaændringer, er tilgængelig online fra det Canada-baserede Fraser Institute, som tæller Charles Koch Fonden blandt sine økonomiske støtter. Lektionerne hævder, at almindelige klimaforskere har gjort selektiv brug af data, og at det er et spørgsmål om debat, om menneskeskabte kuldioxidemissioner har bidraget til klimaændringer, siger "problemerne er langt fra løst."

"Vores historie er fuld af eksempler, hvor 'almindelig viden' blev kasseret til fordel for mere korrekte hypoteser, " siger lektionsplanerne. Blandt dem, den lister, "Er sygdomme forårsaget af onde ånder? Er naturkatastrofer forårsaget af vrede guder?"

Og:"Udgør rygning en trussel mod dit helbred?"

Også kappes om pædagogernes opmærksomhed er klasseværelsesklare materialer stillet til rådighed af olieselskaberne. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell og andre virksomheder har investeret massivt i at fremme videnskab, teknologi, ingeniør- og matematikundervisning i K-12 skoler. Sådanne materialer bruges i vid udstrækning til at undervise i emner relateret til energi, men kritikere siger, at de kan vildlede ved ikke at tage fat på afbrændingen af ​​fossile brændstoffers rolle i den globale opvarmning.

For lærere i kontanter, der mangler penge, det kan være svært at gå glip af de gratis uddelingsmaterialer.

Melissa Lau, en lærer i sjette klasse i Piemonte, Oklahoma, deltog i et af de træningssessioner, der regelmæssigt afholdes for lærere af Oklahoma Energy Resource Bureau, som er finansieret af olie- og gasselskaberne. Hun beholdt $50-stipendiet og baljen fuld af videnskabeligt udstyr, hun fik fra gruppen, men hun smed dens illustrerede lektionsplaner med karakteren "Petro Pete."

I en bog tilgængelig online, Petro Pete har et mareridt om alt det, der ville mangle i hans liv, hvis der ikke var olieprodukter, fra sin tandbørste til sin skolebus.

"Jeg får gratis bægerglas og fede ting som det, " sagde Lau. "Men selve læseplanen er grænseoverskridende propaganda."

En talskvinde for industrigruppen, Dara McBee, sagde, at deres materialer stemmer overens med Oklahoma-standarder, som ikke refererer til klimaændringer, og de skal supplere det, eleverne lærer i skolen.

Kevin Leineweber, en naturfagslærer på Cascade High School i Clayton, Indiana, sagde, at han er skeptisk over for ressourcer sendt til ham, herunder olieindustrien materialer, men nogle kolleger er mindre. Ved et distriktsdækkende videnskabsmøde for et par måneder siden udtrykte en folkeskolelærer begejstring over at modtage uopfordret materiale om klimaændringer med posten, hjælpe med at introducere emnet til eleverne. Efter at have talt det med Leineweber, læreren smed forsendelsen af ​​ukendt oprindelse.

"Jeg er ligesom, 'Åh, jøss, " sagde Leineweber.

The oil industry materials have the effect of pushing climate change to the periphery, Charles Anderson, a professor of science education at Michigan State University.

"The school systems of the country are so fragmented and under-resourced that they have no choice but to turn to people like the oil industry who offer them free stuff, " han sagde.

Climate change education varies across states, and often from one classroom to the next. The Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize climate change and how humans are altering the planet, have been adopted by or served as a model for most states. But many teachers report that they shy away from the topic not only because of issues with materials but also the political sensitivities, and uncertainty over where to introduce an issue that crosses so many disciplines.

Diana Allen, 48, said she began to see it as her duty to teach climate change even though it's not required under Maine's science education standards.

For her lesson plans on climate change, she turns primarily to other teachers, pulling resources they have vetted and shared on an email thread overseen by the National Science Teachers Association . Other teachers have turned to the National Center for Science Education, which posts free climate change lessons and has a "scientist in the classroom " program.

Many educators say that climate change as an area of instruction is still so new that textbook publishers have not caught up enough to provide useful materials.

"I have a Ph.D. from Stanford in biochemistry, and it's still hard for me to source stuff that works in my classroom right, " said Kirstin Milks, an Earth science teacher at Bloomington High School South in Indiana.

Milks helps train educators on how to teach climate change. In their applications, many teachers display a sense of urgency, hun sagde.

"I think we all are in that same boat of understanding that this might be one of the most important social justice issues of our time, one of the most important environmental issues of our time, one of the most important political issues of our time, " hun sagde.

Sometimes educators have to push back against what their students are taught in other classrooms.

Leigh Foy, a science teacher at York Suburban High School in Pennsylvania, said a social studies teacher at her school has told students for years that climate change is a hoax and he could prove it with an experiment. He would fill a cup in the classroom with ice and water, mark the water level, and show students it didn't rise as the ice melted. Problemet, Foy said, is his lack of accounting for the difference between sea ice and land ice or the expansion of water as it gets warmer.

"This is just an example of what we're up against, " Foy said.

Teachers who have gotten themselves up to speed on climate change often say they make it a primary goal to help their students identify untrustworthy materials.

Sarah Ott, who teaches physical science to eighth-graders in Dalton, Georgia, dedicates a section of her class to climate literacy. In one April class, she discussed how to identify misinformation, highlighting materials including a petition signed by more than 30, 000 purported scientists that dismisses the dangers of global warming.

"These people are fake experts and this is being used to mislead people, " she told her students. "So we're going to be learning about misinformation and ways for you to spot misinformation. And this is a great skill because you're not just going to use this for science. You're going to use this for all of your subjects."

© 2019 The Associated Press. Alle rettigheder forbeholdes.