Indiana

Schools Role in Combating Climate

Change
The Indianapolis Star
Gretchen Foley Assistant Director of The American Association for the
Advancement of Science

To the Editor of the Indianapolis Star

There is no question on whether or not climate change is a pertinent issue - ten of the
warmest years that our earth has faced have occurred in the past twelve years. I ask that you
consider the following opinion editorial that I have written on the topic of global warming, because I
we as Americans are not meeting our United Nations agreed-upon functional goal, which is to keep
our earths temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit from 1880. I believe that one
way to create a long-term ideological shift in the minds of Hoosiers is to teach younger generations
that we must change our actions to combat climate change.


In my opinion editorial, I will ask Indiana residents to get involved in making sure that Next
Generation Science Standards is added to our schools curriculum. I believe that this is the best
newspaper for my article to be published in, because I need support from the large audience that
the Indy Star reaches. It is absolutely necessary for our current students and future Hoosier workers
to be aware of the ways that we contribute to the downfall of our climate, and I believe that making
more Hoosiers aware in pushing for this new curriculum will help it to be implemented soon.

Thank you for your consideration.

Gretchen Foley Assistant Director
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
gretchenfoley@AAAS.org

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Climate change. A catch phrase that came and went in our minds in many ways, yet it is

foolish to think that it isnt pertinent today. Although climate change affects our public health,
our weather conditions, and even our economic stability, it has fallen by the wayside time and
time again as we tackle problems that seem to be more urgent. Climate change poses the
greatest future threat than any other issue in our world today, yet we dont even make the
small-scale changes to combat it. There has never been a better time to discuss it than now,
with ten of the warmest years that our earth has faced have occurred in the past twelve years.
We hear statistics about climate change such as this one, yet we still feel invincible, and show
this by continuing to extract more and more of the earths nonrenewable materials. According
to a recent Gallup Poll, almost 60 percent of Americans say that humans are at fault for the
rising of the earths temperature, yet there has never been a true large-scale change in our
actions.

There is no question that we as Americans are in desperate need of an extreme

ideological shift. I believe that the reason this shift has yet to occur is because we dont truly
understand that climate change is something that isnt affecting us now. Even when we witness
the droughts in California or the floods along the east and south coast, we still live as though
were invincible. To be frank, I find it difficult to believe that this will truly happen within the
next five to ten years. That is why we must begin teaching the next generation about the
impact we have on the climate and allow them develop a passion for protecting our only home.

Currently, our science standards are outdated about twenty years, and the most recent

revision was made in the year 2000. Climate change is hardly taught in schools, and when it is,
teachers often speak about what they believe to be true concerning the topic. The New York

Times asked students ages thirteen and up how much they knew about global warming, and
many said that they learned bits and pieces throughout high school, but it never hit home. I
am a testament to this same trends occurrence in Indiana schools. I remember hearing that the
earths climate was changing in high school, but never was taught to the point that I cared to
change my actions beyond tossing my Coke bottle in the recycling bin at school.

It is essential that American schools teach all sides of climate change in our primary and

secondary schools, because people in this age range are developing their interests and
passions. If educators teach them about the climate in a new and exciting way, there will be a
much higher number of students graduating with a passion to help the environment in a wide-
ranging way. There exists a science curriculum that discusses issues such as climate change and
the impact that we as humans have on our environment called Next Generation Science
Standards. The organization I advocate for (the American Association for the Advancement of
Science) has partnered up with Achieve, The National Research Council (NRC), and the National
Science Teachers Association to create a two-step process to develop these standards. It was
first started in 2011 and was released for adoption in 2013 after much drafting, preparing, and
consulting.

These science standards are implemented at the state level, and although all American

schools should implement these standards, Indiana must join the twelve other states to
implement these standards so that we can lead our country to be more mindful of the one
planet weve got. If they are taught the truth of the state of the Earth, and how human actions
have led to its current state, they could develop a passion for climate protection and lead
Indiana to be a more environmentally conscious state. Although it is clear that this is a small

change, I believe that doing this is a way to make the first steps toward this ideological shift we
are in need of. With more knowledge about human impact on the climate, the younger
generation, or future workers of our country, will be inspired to change the pace at which our
world is going and combat climate change in an effective way.

Some might suggest other ways to combat climate change, but hear me out. I agree that

there are many actions that can be taken to create an emotional desire in Hoosier to protect
the planet, but I see this change as one that will create a larger and more exponential future
impact on the health of our planet. I also understand that there are many people that would
say we dont affect the earths climate in the way we might think we do, but this has been
deemed untrue from many credible sources.

The process for implementing NGSS will look different for each state, but ultimately, it

needs to be a legislative decision authorized by Governor Mike Pence, as well as Indianas

Board of Education. Although they will make the ultimate decision, they need to be prodded to
make such a change in our educational system. Once these standards are implemented, they
will be regulated and checked in the same way as our current list of standards is enforced.
Implementing this new curriculum would require purchasing new science books, and other
additional expenditures, such as workshop days to teach educators how to present the new
material. Implementing these modern standards could potentially be an expensive change, but
the best question to ask when counting the cost is, what will be the cost if we decide not to act?

Hoosiers must get involved to ensure that the Next Generation Science Standards

(NGSS) are added to our schools K-12 curriculum. Please, let your voice be heard, because the
stakes are far too high, and if we create the mind shift now, our future workers and decision-

makers will be equipped to look at our world from a different lens, and see the status of our
earths climate with a more sober mind. If by implementing the NGSS we can create an
ideological change in the workers of our next generation about a topic that is undoubtedly the
most serious threat that their generation has faced, change will be made and the earth will be
protected.

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Works Cited

"A Steady 57% in U.S. Blame Humans for Global Warming." Gallup Poll. Gallup, 6 Mar. 2014.

Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

"How Much Does Human Activity Affect Climate Change? | NCSE." How Much Does Human

Activity Affect Climate Change? | NCSE. N.p.

"Next Generation Science Standards." Next Generation Science Standards. The National

Research Council, National Science Teachers Association, The American Association for

the Advancement of Science, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015.

Schulten, Katherine. "What Have You Been Taught About Global Warming?" The New York

Times. N.p., 04 Mar. 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2015.

Mark Nagles comment:

Gretchen, Well done here! I definitely think you could revise this argument and publish it
somewhere if you're interested--if not as an op-ed then perhaps as an opinion letter to the
star or certainly as a piece for the IDS. If you're interested, I'd be happy to help with
feedback. Regardless, I hope you keep advocating for change in Indiana's science
curriculum! All the best, Mark