Education
There are numerous opportunities to help raise awareness of CCS through external educational efforts aimed at school-age children and adults. This tool reviews educational resources currently available.
It is suggested that efforts to help school-age children gain awareness of CCS be conducted within a larger educational context.
”Countries are in the process of developing individual materials; however the opportunity to provide materials at the global level, altered slightly to accommodate cultural issues, so that teachers can implement them easily into the classroom, should not be overlooked” (Ashworth et al, 2009, p.431).
Children need to be informed and involved at a young age in regards to the issues surrounding climate change so as to potentially raise low level awareness of issues, in turn being effective drivers of change within their household and community.
Educational engagement should not be limited to just mainstream institutions such as schools and universities, but should include other educational institutions such as libraries and museums. Opportunities may exist to provide information in regards to CCS technology or your specific project at these institutions allowing you to reach members of the community who may have otherwise not been engaged.
Education strategies will of course be dependent and based on the needs of the community at hand. Please find below a list of websites providing educational resources that may be helpful when determining engagement strategies for your project. Please note that a majority of these resources are not CCS based but are centred on climate change and energy.
School Curricula
Individual lesson plans and resources for primary and secondary school students centred on climate status investigation including sequestration, population growth, sustainability, and emissions. Within the keystone curriculum, the main topic of climate change is explored through different subjects such as Social Studies, Language & Arts, Science and Math. An example of what types of lesson plans are available for each subject is listed below.
Social Studies
Teachers provide a stakeholder grid for students to use when evaluating public perception about an issue.
Language & Arts
Students complete an activity to encourage them to think about creative ways to take personal actions to reduce GHG emissions.
Science
Students will determine if CO2 has mass through a scientific experiment.
Math
Students will illustrate the efficiency of different types of lighting in relationship to cost and light output through a wattage meter.
www.keystonecurriculum.org/highschool/2009_lesson_intros/22_WedgeGame_HS09.html
Keystone has also developed a “Wedge Game” for high-school aged kids. This game helps players to explore the types and magnitude of energy technologies that will be required to address climate change while meeting energy demand.
Online Resources
www.csiro.au/resources/CarbonKids-program.html
The Carbon Kids initiative is an educational program aimed at primary and middle schooling years that combines the latest in environmental science with education in sustainability. It provides a range of resources for both primary and secondary school communities to better understand climate change and encourage positive actions that will help them become more sustainable.
Within the website you are able to examine the different units of work that are available which include focus questions and activity ideas for the classroom. All though this website is technically an overview of the program, it could be of assistance to others looking to implement a similar program.
The Shell Education Service is an online resource aimed at educators, primary school students and families. It provides information on training for teachers, workshops for educators and science activities and demonstrations that can be carried out in the family home.
The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research website provides an excellent education section focused around climate and weather with numerous links for teachers and students to various online activities, resources and publications.
This website comprises many useful resources aimed at primary and secondary school students in relation to minerals and energy. The resources section contains a tool in which you can select the age group of students you are wishing to educate and type of resource you require.
The resources included are factsheets, PowerPoint presentations, publications, experiments and worksheets. The subjects included are coal and low emission technology, energy, environment, exploration, geology and mining.
This is a Canadian website dedicated to collaboratively addressing the key issues of CCS. It contains information on primarily Canadian projects but contains a comprehensive media section as well as a basic education section aimed at adults on CCS technology.
This website is designed to educate students in relation to energy sources and how to use and save energy. The most resourceful aspect of this website however is the extensive lesson plans for teachers which include many hands on activities and research articles for the classroom. Another noteworthy feature is the ability to upload and share lessons plans.
www.orginenergy.com.au/education
This website is a good example of a green energy provider making education resources available online. It provides information on different energy sources and is aimed at students and teachers. Included are suggested interactive activities, experiments, diagrams and fact sheets. The ‘Home Energy Project’ component of this website aims to get students to become more aware of their energy consumption in relation to the environment and hopefully be more empowered to make a difference in their homes now and in the future.
www.globalchange.gov/resources/educators/toolkit
This is a toolkit which aims to provide a dynamic list of the top resources developed for informal and formal education on climate change. It includes frequently asked questions, videos, case studies, fact sheets and activities.
www.climatechangematters.net.au
Although not visually pleasing or easy to navigate, this website has many great resources and links for teachers and students including lesson plans, tutorials, PowerPoint presentations and articles.
www.bp.com/retailhomepage.do?categoryId=8040&contentId=7037096&nicam=redirect&nisrc=bpes
BP Educational Service is an online educational tool providing curriculum based learning resources for primary, secondary and tertiary education. Consisting of lessons plans, interactive materials and games and worksheets, the website is designed to enable teachers to access a range of different resources on climate change and energy.
www.netl.doe.gov/technologies/carbon_seq/index.html
The US Department of Energy Carbon Sequestration Program website includes a reference shelf with a number of technical reports, publications, news articles, and links to the regional carbon sequestration partnerships and other information sources.
BOOKS
A Clean Sky: The Global Warming Story
by Robyn C. Friend and Judith Love Cohen
This book is one of a series that emphasizes the environment and the value of preserving it by depicting people and organizations who are working to meet the challenges. Aimed at a young audience this book examines mainly the process of carbon dioxide capture and storage but also looks at other alternative energy technologies that can help mitigate the effects of greenhouse gases on our environment.
Training Programs
University of Wyoming, Enhanced Oil Recovery Institute
This program provides training and shared general information regarding Enhanced Oil Recovery technologies as well as data and information regarding research and technical development in this field.
Research Experience in Carbon Sequestration (RECS)
The RECS program fosters and advances education, scientific research, professional training and career networks in the emerging field of CCS systems.
