Science Literacy through Outreach Programs

Two new Earth Science curricula have been developed for nonformal educational settings with youth audiences: Soil & Water Science and Weather & Climate Science. Both curricula include a compilation of activities that use experiential learning techniques. These activities can be used by college students, as a unit or individually, for working with youth in various settings: classroom enrichment, service learning, campus workshops, and clubs. Both curricula include three age-graded youth manuals with a facilitator's guide. Levels 1 (for youth in grades 3-5) introduces basic terms and concepts. Activities focus on understanding important soil & water/weather & climate processes. Level 2 activities in the Soil & Water Science curriculum helps youth put the basic concepts into action to understand more advanced soil and water concepts and interactions with the environment. Level 2 in the Weather & Climate Science curriculum introduces more complex weather topics, making and using weather instruments, and a 'greenhouse effect' activity. Level 3 activities in the Soil & Water Science curriculum delve more deeply into soil and water science concepts, and prepares youth to be well informed and for advanced studies at college or university. Activities are divided into chapters based on how youth might use the infor¬mation they have learned — as a homeowner, as a resident of a watershed, as a food and fiber producer, as a mayor, as a teacher, and as a legislator. Level 3 in the Weather & Climate Science curriculum is divided into weather and climate sections. The weather section includes the study of air masses, the troposphere, wind chill and heat indexes, and weather station models. The climate section includes the study of climographs, droughts, the energy balance, investigating climate change and the impacts of climate change. The manuals are available online from Purdue University's The Education Store (www.edustore.purdue.edu).

The NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory's Global Monitoring Division (GMD) has been conducting measurements of climate forcing agents in the global atmosphere for close to four decades. We are developing a new series of short videos to explore scientific concepts related to greenhouse gases, aerosols, ozone, water vapor and solar radiation. These "Ask a Scientist" videos are tailored for children ages 10 and up and run approximately one to three minutes in length. The purpose of the videos is to promote climate and science literacy and an understanding of the atmosphere, and its constituents and properties, while connecting children with scientists in the field of atmospheric and air quality research. To create the videos, an educator first works with GMD scientists to create questions about their topics of study and/or expertise that are appropriate for a young audience. The educator audio records the scientists' responses to these questions and analyzes the responses for vocabulary choice, clarity and age-appropriateness. The educator and scientists then edit the responses to create a script, while attempting to maintain a sense of casual dialogue, and re-record final versions of the questions and answers. The educator then uses whiteboard animation to illustrate, entertain and provide additional detail for the audio recordings. Animations are kept simple and friendly, for the purpose of providing children with engaging access to the scientific concepts. To facilitate use of the videos in a classroom, educators create before and after discussion questions, define vocabulary terms and pair the videos with lessons in the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) Collection, which explore similar concepts. Furthermore, educators provide "discovery topics" and provide links to web-based resources so that students can continue to explore topics that arise during the videos on their own.

Every summer along Colorado's Front Range, ground-level ozone air pollution periodically spikes to unhealthy levels, despite laws and efforts to control the lung-damaging chemical, but why? During July and August 2014, nearly 200 scientists from the joint NASA DISCOVER-AQ and NCAR FRAPPÉ air quality campaign converged in the Front Range to help answer this important question by monitoring the region's air with coordinated aircraft flights and ground-based tower-, vehicle-, and balloon- instrumentation. Ultimately, the goal is to share their discoveries with decision makers seeking to clear the air. As the education outreach arm of the DISCOVER-AQ mission, CIRES bridged the scientific and local communities by articulating an educated awareness of the scientific research being conducted and offering authentic opportunities to engage people in the campaign process. In cooperation with campaign partners, CIRES Education Outreach created and implemented a unique and integrated series of public air quality activities and events with broader impacts: - Citizen-science air monitoring hikes in Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks and Rocky Mountain National Park enabling a wide range of people to learn about air monitoring techniques and related air quality & health issues - Educator workshop offering two days of professional development and classroom resources to increase teachers' understanding of Front Range air quality issues via interactive sessions and site visits led by campaign partners - Developing the "Know Your AQ" curriculum in collaboration with campaign scientists and their data, plus contributing to UCAR's Air Quality Teaching Box - Supporting campaign public events at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Free Day and the NCAR Research Aviation Facility Open House by providing air quality information and a hands-on demonstration of air properties

Unlike many problems of the past climate change is impacting and will impact a broad cross section of society. In order to respond, manage, and adapt to those change citizens of all ages need accurate, up to date information, knowledge of the sciences, and analytical skills to make responsible decisions and long-term plans regarding these challenging topics. The Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN, http://cleanet.org) is providing 1) teaching resources for educators through the CLEAN Collection and pedagogical support for teaching climate and energy science, and 2) facilitating a professionally diverse community of climate and energy literacy stakeholders, called the CLEAN Network, to share and leverage their efforts to extent their reach and effectiveness. This poster will provide an overview of the CLEAN web portal. We will showcase the CLEAN Collection, which is comprised of 620+ resources (activities, videos, visualizations, and short demonstrations and experiments) that were reviewed for scientific accuracy, pedagogical effectiveness, and technical quality; and the Teaching Climate and Energy Pedagogical Support Pages that outline common misconceptions and challenges as well as tips for teaching climate and energy topics. We will also include a brief summary of the members and activities of the professionally diverse community of climate and energy literacy stakeholders – the CLEAN Network.