- Welcome to UW Space Place.

Tonight is our monthly

guest speaker night

and tonight I'm pleased to

introduce Brenna Holzhauer,

who is with the Aldo Leopold

Nature Center here in Madison,

not really too far

away from Space Place,

where she is the director

of exhibits and

digital curricula.

And Brenna is an alum

of UW-Madison

and works, of course,

on educational programs

at the Aldo Leopold

Center, sometimes with us.

We've collaborated with Aldo

Leopold on a few programs.

But her talk tonight

is related to some

of the educational

programs and exhibits

that they have over at

the Aldo Leopold Center.

So, if you haven't been there,

I think she's got a brochure

to hand out or something

and I'm sure you can find

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

on the web.

So, tonight, Brenna

is going to talk

about climate change

from global to local.

So, we should welcome her here.

(applause)

- Thank you.

Can you hear me okay?

I'll talk loudly.

So, thank you very

much for having me.

I'm really excited to be here

and talk to you a little bit

about some of the climate

education programs

that we have at

the Nature Center

and just some things that

I've learned along the way

as I've been

developing curriculum.

So, here's a really

brief overview

of what we'll be

talking about tonight.

First, I'll give a quick

background and bio,

so you know who I

am and why I'm here.

We'll talk very quickly

about climate change basics,

which is a challenge to

cover in just a few minutes,

but I'll do my best.

We'll be talking about

climate change locally,

some of the impacts and what

we're seeing in Wisconsin.

And then I'll talk more about

teaching about climate change

and some things

that I've learned

and tips and tricks

I have for teachers

and educators and

general citizens

who are interested in

teaching about talking,

sorry, teaching

about climate change

and talking about

climate change.

And then we'll just end with

some things that we can all do

and places we can learn more.

So, who am I and

how did I get here?

I was born in Milwaukee.

I also grew up

part-time on a farm

in Gays Mills, Wisconsin, which

is in the rural southwestern

driftless area of the state.

And I also went to grad

school in Washington, DC.

So I've done a little bit of

bopping around and ended up,

I'm very happy to

be back in Madison

where I got my undergrad

degree in anthropology.

I changed majors several times

and covered a whole spectrum

of science and social science.

I ended up with anthropology

and then I worked a

few different museums

and educational

centers in Milwaukee.

I went to grad school

at the George Washington

University in D.C.,

where I got my master's

in museum education,

and then I moved back to,

I worked at the U.S.

Botanic Garden in D.C.

I also was involved

with the D.C. Environmental

Education Consortium,

and I managed the education

department at Earth Day Network.

And then I came back to Madison,

and I've been with the

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

for going on five years

where I've been the director

of exhibits and

digital curriculum.

And I also have been

coordinating Nature Net,

which is a consortium of

different environmental

education sites and centers

in south central Wisconsin.

And then I've, along the

way, I've taken an interest

in environmental issues,

science, and, in particular,

climate change and

climate science.

So I've done a lot of

education along the way

and then professional

development.

I took a graduate course through

the Ohio State University.

I've been very involved

for several years

in the NOAA Climate

Stewards Education Project.

I was a regional leader

for a couple years

in the central region.

And then I was selected

last year to be trained

by the Climate Reality

Project where I learned a lot

about communicating

about climate change,

and I went to South Africa

and did a three-day training,

pretty intensive, which

was a great experience.

I got a lot of

fresh perspectives

and a good global perspective.

I've been involved with WICCI,

the Wisconsin Initiative

on Climate Change Impacts,

and I'm currently on a committee

with the Wisconsin Academy

talking about climate

and energy initiatives

in Wisconsin.

So, I think, I just wanted to

mention all of those things

because I think as climate

change is such a broad topic

and it's constantly evolving

and there's so much science,

and then when you add different

educational approaches

and solutions and all

the different things

that are involved, it's

really helpful for me

to just keep on learning,

making new connections

and partnerships and relying

on a lot of the great experts

and resources that

are out there.

So I work right now at the

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

where we, our mission

is to teach the student

to see the land, to

understand what he sees,

and enjoy what he

understands, which is a quote

from the famed Wisconsin

conservationist Aldo Leopold.

So we infuse his

land ethic into all

of our teachings and programs.

We do a lot of hands-on guided,

high-tech, high-touch

experiences.

Children and adults

come to discover

and explore the wonders

of the natural world.

So, for about 20 years,

we've been doing environmental

education programs,

mostly outdoors and then

in our classroom spaces,

and about three years ago

we did a big renovation

and added a whole new wing

full of indoor exhibits

and technology to teach about

climate and climate change.

So that's been my main project

is developing the curriculum

and all of the

exhibits over there.

So, just a quick overview

of what we have there

so you know where I'm

(laughs) coming from

with all this information.

We do all of our

programs, no matter what,

even if they use the

indoor technology,

we always have some

connection with the outdoors.

We're always getting

kids involved

in hands-on

environmental learning.

And then now we have

the capacity to do a lot

of interactive investigations

using touchscreens

and lots of hands-on

indoor technology as well.

We have a science on a sphere,

which is an exhibit

put together by NOAA,

the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration,

and it's basically a spherical,

global projection system.

So we have hundreds of data sets

and real time

satellite information

and visualizations we can use

to talk about all different

kinds of Earth science and more.

A new project that

I've been working on,

which will be opening

in a couple weeks,

I'm really excited about,

is our immersion theater

where we'll be able to have

this immersive environment

with a panoramic screen

where we can show

even more Earth science visuals

and then we're going to

have a whole new suite

of astronomy software as well,

so that'll be really exciting.

I hope all of you can

come check it out.

And then we just

have a whole bunch

of different other

hands-on exhibits

kind of infused

throughout this area.

So, now I'm going

to talk a little bit

about climate change basics.

And I sort of use

that term ironically

because (laughs) it's

really hard to talk

about the basics

of climate change.

It's a very complicated topic.

I know you can't

necessarily read this chart,

but I put it up here

just so you can see.

This is the framework

that I developed

when I was starting to put

together a digital curriculum,

and I soon realized

that there are

so many interconnecting topics

and different

things to talk about

and they're all

overlapping with each other

in so many different ways.

So the main themes that

I broke out are climate,

energy, green building,

weather, renewable energy,

phenology, which is the

science of appearance,

so observing and

recording things

that are happening in nature,

humans and society,

and then local stories.

So those were kind

of the main themes

that I wanted our visitors and

our students to understand.

And as you can see,

they all sort of weave

in and out of each other.

So, tonight I'm going

to talk a little bit

about some of the,

I'm pulling some things

out of our curriculum,

namely focused on

what is climate,

how does climate work,

how is it changing?

Then we'll talk a little bit

about some local impacts,

and we'll talk a little bit

about solutions as well.

And if you want to learn about

all the rest of the topics,

you can come visit us

at the nature center.

So, as I'm talking, this is

basically what I've put together

as far as climate change basics.

We mainly teach students.

Our main focus is K-12, but

we also have a lot of adult

and upper level content as well.

So, my apologies if I sound

like I'm talking to kids

because that's who I'm used

to talking to most of the day.

But I do think it's a great way

to kind of tie

everything together

and make sure people have

a basic foundational

understanding, even adults.

So we've broken down a lot

of these really complicated

topics into something hopefully

that's a little more

easy to understand.

So, the way we've

been defining climate

is climate is made up of

the weather of an area

averaged out over months

and seasons to many years.

Many scientists define

climate as the averages

over a period of 30 years.

And climate helps us understand

what to expect in our area.

It's a series of

patterns and averages.

It's large-scale

and really complex.

It has to do with the long-term

condition of all parts

of the Earth's system that

are exchanging energy.

So that includes

land, oceans, air,

even things coming

in from outer space.

Each of Earth's systems affects

and is affected by the others.

They're constantly changing,

but overall they're

largely balanced,

and they make up the conditions

of our planet called Earth.

Another topic that we try to

make sure people understand

right off the bat

is the difference

between climate and weather,

which can be very confusing

because weather is a

huge part of climate,

but they're not

necessarily the same thing.

So, weather is what's

happening in the sky

and the air around us right now,

and it's constantly changing.

And when you add up all the

weather that's happening

for a long time across

Earth, you get climate.

So we say climate

is what you expect,

weather is what you get.

And climate, another way that

I think helps kids understand

is climate helps you

know what kind of clothes

to have in your closet,

and weather helps you

decide what to wear today.

Another good analogy is

climate is like a long book

about the Earth, and weather

is what you read on one page.

So, talking about how

climate works, really,

everything comes

back to the energy

that Earth receives

from the sun.

Earth receives a

large amount of energy

from the sun each day, and

it's not distrusted evenly

across the whole planet.

It hits the equator more

than it hits the poles.

So Earth's climate system

is what distributes

and uses the energy

through a variety

of interacting

cycles and systems.

So these are some of the

many cycles and systems

that are involved in

the climate system.

So we have the atmosphere,

then when you have the

atmosphere plus solar energy,

you get the greenhouse effect.

I'll talk more about all

of these in just a minute.

We talk about the carbon cycle.

We talk about the water cycle.

We talk about energy and

how plants use energy

and chemistry,

energy from the sun,

to make food for themselves

which then feeds,

through photosynthesis,

feeds into the food chains

and relates to ecosystems.

So there's all of these

different, broad things

that are happening

all over our planet,

but they're all interconnected.

So, when we're talking

about the atmosphere,

we're talking about the air

that surrounds us

and the planet,

and it helps to moderate

solar energy and temperature.

It's where the water cycle

and the energy cycle

interact to make weather.

The greenhouse effect is a

naturally occurring layer

of gases around Earth that

are protective, insulating,

and really help to regulate

the temperature on our planet.

They allow sunlight to enter,

and they trap heat

on the way out,

similar to the walls

of a greenhouse.

The carbon cycle,

every living thing

and many nonliving things on

our planet all contain carbon,

and it's, they all

store energy in carbon

and release as they

decompose, as they breathe,

as they are burned,

or as they're eaten.

One of the basic

physical properties

of carbon dioxide is

that it traps heat,

which will come

up later. (laughs)

Then, when we talk

about the water cycle,

we always tell kids

that Earth has a

limited amount of water,

and it's always moving

around the whole planet

and changing forms.

It's really important

in our weather system,

and it's important in all

of its different states.

So, liquid water obviously is

a huge freshwater resource.

It's also the oceans, which

make up 70% of Earth's surface,

play a very important role

in regulating Earth's

temperature, carbon levels,

energy exchanges,

weather and climate,

ice helps regulate

temperature, and then water

in its gas or vapor form

is a really key component

of the atmosphere and

the greenhouse effect.

And then ecosystems,

Earth is covered

with an infinite number

of overlapping ecosystems

that connect its

plants, animals,

and all the different

specific ranges of habitat,

including the land,

air, and water.

So, when we talk about

climate change basics,

we're pretty much (laughs)

talking about everything.

So, just to take a

closer look at atmosphere

and the greenhouse effect,

because I think this is

a key point to understand

if you're going to

understand what's happening

with climate change and

with global warming.

So, solar radiation in the

form of light waves passes

through the atmosphere,

and light waves are shorter

so they can penetrate

the atmosphere.

And then they enter

Earth's system,

they're absorbed by

Earth's land and oceans,

and then some of it is

radiated back into space

in the form of infrared waves.

Infrared waves are longer

than the light waves,

and so some of them bounce

back out into space,

but some of them get trapped

by the atmosphere

on the way out.

So, some of this

outgoing radiation

then stays around the Earth

and starts to warm

the atmosphere, the

land, and the oceans.

I put this little tip

because in my programs

that I've been teaching,

I started to realize

that some people had no idea

what the greenhouse

effect was at all,

and some people have heard

of the greenhouse effect

but they think that it,

in and of itself, is bad.

And so I think it's

important to point out

that the greenhouse effect,

in and of itself, is not bad.

It's a major reason

we have life on Earth,

but when it's amplified

is when it starts

to have consequences on the

other systems of our planet.

So, without the

greenhouse effect,

Earth would just

be a huge ice ball

the same temperature

as outer space.

And because I'm

speaking on Space Place,

I thought it would be good to

show (laughs) some planets.

But I think this is

an interesting way

to talk about how important

Earth's atmosphere is.

Earth is sometimes called

the Goldilocks planet

because it's just right.

We have just the right

amount of atmosphere

and we're just the right

distance from the sun

that our temperature

allows us to have life,

and it allows us to

have the water cycle

and be home to the three

different states of water

so that we can house water

in solid form, liquid form,

and gas form, which

is really important

for sustaining all of the

other systems on our planet.

So we have, you can

see here that Earth,

on average, is about

15 degrees Celsius.

Then our next

neighbor over, Venus,

is about 457 degrees Celsius.

And you might say that's because

Venus is closer to the sun,

but if we look at Mercury,

you can see that it's

not as hot as Venus,

and that's because

Venus has a really,

really thick atmosphere.

So the greenhouse effect

on Venus is off the charts.

And I think an interesting

fact is that Earth

and Venus have about the same

amount of carbon dioxide,

but on Earth the

carbon is buried

and on Venus it's all

in the atmosphere.

So it's just kind of an

interesting case study we have.

And that image of Venus,

I should point out,

was actually taken by radar.

Because the atmosphere

is so thick,

we can't see the actual planet.

So, just an example of a

run away greenhouse effect.

And then I threw this picture on

because I think it kind

of helps to point out

how fragile and thin

our atmosphere is.

So, I've heard it compared

to like the varnish

on a globe or the

skin on an apple,

if you're comparing the

atmosphere with the Earth.

If you're driving a car at

highway speeds straight up,

you would reach the top of

the sky in about five minutes.

So think about all

the distances on Earth

you could cover in five minutes,

and then driving straight

up helps you realize

how vulnerable and

fragile our atmosphere is.

Okay, so now we're going

to talk a little bit

about how climate is changing.

And it's good to note

that changes are happening

in all of Earth's systems.

I'm gonna start out

by talking about

how kind of our energy

cycle is changing.

And that has to do with,

(clears throat) excuse

me, fossil fuels.

And so fossil fuels, many

of you probably know,

but they're the remains

of plants and animals

that have been trapped

and pressurized

for millions of years.

And so the carbon has

been kind of locked away

from the carbon cycle

for all that time.

But humans have figured out how

to convert this

concentrated stored energy

into heat and electricity,

and now it's starting

to be released

through combustion

into the atmosphere.

So you can see, since 1850

when the Industrial

Revolution really took off,

the global carbon emissions

from fossil fuels

have really increased.

And you can see

I have this graph

which shows carbon dioxide

concentration and temperature

over a couple hundred

thousand years,

and you can see they've ebbed

and flowed over the years.

There are these natural cycles.

You can also see the

red line is temperature,

the blue line is CO2,

and you can see the very close

relationship between the two.

And then, it's a

little hard to see,

but if you look at today way

over in the right-hand corner,

you can see the blue

line is off the chart,

and that's carbon

dioxide concentrations.

This, I know it's tiny, but

I just wanted to mention

that we talk a lot

about carbon dioxide,

but there are other greenhouse

gases that are released

through our industry

and technology as well,

including methane

and nitrous oxide,

and those are all sharply

increasing at the same time.

And so, this figure, again I

know these things are tiny,

but I'm just gonna

kind of move quickly.

We can always go back

if you have questions.

This figure shows the

amount of warming influence,

which is all the red bars,

or the cooling influence,

which is the blue bars.

And then it shows

human influences,

which is the top

part of the chart,

and then there's

that tiny little bar

that shows natural influences,

which is mostly solar,

and then you can see the very

last bar is the total net.

And so you can see

that when you add

all of those things together,

the warming and the cooling

and the human and the natural,

that red bar at the bottom

shows the warming influences

that humans are having.

And this is another way of

looking at the information

that you can read

a little better.

This is change in annual

global temperature

from 1880 to 2010.

So you can see every year

fluctuates a little bit.

And we're talking average

global temperature.

So this is all the

local temperatures

of all the different

regions added together.

And some years are warmer,

some years are colder,

but in general you can

definitely see a trend.

And I think it's important,

this is a good example

of why it's important to

look at long-term averages

in order to paint

a clear picture.

If you just took a small

chunk, like a decade or so,

it would tell a different story

than when you average out

the entire time period.

So, we're gonna talk about how

these changes are affecting

all of the other

systems on Earth.

So I mentioned we

have natural warming

from the greenhouse

effect, and then now,

because of carbon emissions

and other greenhouse gases

that we're adding

to the atmosphere,

we have amplified warming,

which means the

greenhouse effect,

the atmosphere is

doing a better job

at keeping our planet warm.

And so then this

has consequences

for all of Earth's systems.

So we have consequences

for the water cycle.

So, first of all, as

the atmosphere warms,

then the oceans

are also warming.

They're helping

to balance it out.

They're sucking a lot of heat.

As water warms, it expands.

So this is causing

sea level rises

and also causing

glaciers to melt,

which then adds

to sea level rise.

There's also more energy

in the water cycle

because of all this

extra heat and energy,

which is flowing

around and contributing

to more extreme weather.

And with each additional

degree Celsius of temperature,

the atmosphere's capacity

to hold water vapor

increases by 7%,

which is why we're

seeing a lot more

extreme precipitation

events and extreme weather.

The oceans, in addition

to helping to absorb heat,

they're also helping to

absorb all the extra carbon

that's in the

atmosphere right now,

which is having

consequences on marine life,

and all the carbon in

the oceans is starting

to acidify the

oceans and having,

it's starting to eat away

at hard-bodied marine

life such as corals.

So there's having a lot of

impact on marine ecosystems

and then also

ecosystems on land.

You can see these

different colors represent

different forest types,

and you can see how they're

shifting northwards.

So, in the recent past,

from 1960 to 1990,

Wisconsin and some of

the northern states

and the southern states

had very different

forest composition

than they will

by the end of the 21st century.

And so with those

forests changing,

you can imagine all the

other plants and animals

that live in those ecosystems

are going to have to

either migrate or

adapt or die off.

Arctic ecosystems are

especially sensitive

because they rely on the cold,

and all of those

animals have adapted

to their habitats being cold

and they can't go

any further north,

or south of they're

on the South Pole.

And so those ecosystems

are especially vulnerable.

And then, of course, this is

just a few of the changes,

but all of these impacts

are effecting humans

and society as well.

So now we're going to talk a

little bit about climate change

in Wisconsin and how

some of these changes

are happening close to home.

So, this maps shows changes

in average temperature

from 1950 to 2006.

And here's the

temperature scale.

So you can see not

every part of the state

is being affected equally.

The northwestern

parts are warming up,

or have been warming up

a little more quickly.

But you can see that the

Madison area has increased

by about one degree over

the past 50 or so years.

Then this second

map shows how much

the average temperature

is predicted

to increase from 1980 to 2055.

And then, again, talking

about those ecosystem shifts

and the different forest types,

this is a snapshot of kind of

the Midwest and the northeast,

and you can see how those

have been changing already

and are predicted to change.

And so, if you extrapolate

those forest changes

to other types of plants, if

you're a gardener or a farmer,

you know that if the

plant zones are projected

to shift one half to one

full zone every 30 years,

then we're going to have

to change the plants

that we're planting.

It'll change crop yields.

It'll change the hardiness

of different species.

This is another local example.

We're fortunate here at the

University of Wisconsin.

We have one of the

longest running

ice covered data

sets in the world.

And so, scientists at

the university have

been keeping track

of ice-on and ice-off

dates each winter

since the late 1850s.

And so, over the course

of those records,

we now have about a

month fewer days of ice

in the winter on Lake Mendota.

And, actually, I think

Lake Monona is even more.

I think it's about

36 or 38 days.

So that's just a good example

of a very gradual

shift that's happening.

Some of you who are older

might remember the days

when there was more ice or

you could do more ice fishing.

And I always hear of

these things anecdotally,

but it's nice to see some

actual graphical information

that shows this.

And I want to point out,

because this is another

question that I get a lot,

so we're talking about one

degree or six degrees of change,

and that doesn't seem

like a lot to some people.

I bet the temperature changed

six degrees outside today

(laughs) just with our weather,

but it's just good to reiterate

that we're talking

about averages over

long periods of time.

And so those little,

those small increments

can really add up and

make a big difference.

So the length of time that

Lake Mendota is covered

by ice each year has decreased

by six days per

decade since 1956.

The average temperature

during this time

has increased less

than two degrees.

So that two-degree

difference is having

that bigger difference

on the ice cover

and all the other systems.

So, just a couple more changes

I'm going to run through

that are happening

here in Wisconsin.

So we talked a little bit

about temperature changes.

So our hotter summers

that we can expect

will make the Midwest

feel more like the South.

So, averaging 15

different climate models

with a middle of the road carbon

dioxide emission scenario,

WICCI, the Wisconsin Initiative

on Climate Change Impacts,

has predicted that by around

the middle of the century,

Madison's climate

will be similar

to that of present

day central Illinois.

And then because changes

are even more extreme

in the northern

part of the state,

using the same modeling

tool and parameters,

a location near Minocqua,

which is northern Wisconsin,

is predicted to have

a climate similar

to that of

Whitewater, Wisconsin,

which is far southern Wisconsin.

So that will have impacts

on all the ecosystems

we talked about, all

the different species.

It'll also have impacts on

the drought that we're seeing

and all the different

temperature scales.

These are just a quick example

of some of the different species

that are especially

vulnerable to climate changes.

Some species, like the deer

tick, are actually thriving

because of some of

these climate changes.

So they have different

impacts on different species.

And they're leading to an issue

that we are calling

ecosystem mismatch,

where some species are

reacting differently

to the climate changes, some

species are able to migrate

and some aren't, and so

we're starting to find

that some species are

blooming earlier in the spring

but the birds that eat

them haven't migrated yet,

and so there's all these

different mismatches

that are happening that

are having myriad impacts

on different ecosystems.

So, we talked a little

bit about hotter summers,

but winters are

actually going to be,

the changes we're going to

see are even more drastic.

So, you can see the

predicted change

in winter average temperature

from 1980 to 2055 is anywhere

from about six to nine degrees.

One change we've been noticing

is decline in our lake levels.

So this is a graph

from Lake Michigan,

which also feeds

into Lake Huron,

so they average it all together.

And the annual

average lake level,

you can see in recent

decades, is much lower,

and that's because there's

a lot less ice cover

on the lakes, and warmer

water evaporates faster.

And, on average, as

temperatures are increasing,

it has less time

to replenish itself

and spends more

time evaporating.

And so we can think

about how these changes

are going to impact our

culture around Wisconsin,

our lifestyles, our

livelihoods, and our economics.

Just some other examples

I don't have up there,

besides recreation, we can

talk about fishing and hunting,

we can talk about maple

syruping, maple sugaring.

Maple trees are

especially susceptible

to changes in weather

and changes in climate.

There's a crucial

period in early spring

where they have

to freeze at night

and thaw during the day

to get the sap running,

and a lot of times

in recent years

it sort of skipped right

from winter into spring.

Spring is coming earlier,

and so that's changing

our maple sugaring season.

Lake levels are impacting

fishing and shipping.

So there's a lot of impacts,

and I'm happy to

talk more about that,

if you have

questions at the end.

So, now I'm just going to talk

a little bit about teaching

about climate change, and some

of the things I've learned

with different ages and

audiences that I've worked with.

So here are just a couple

things I wanted to point out.

And this is a common theme

when you are learning

about climate change.

A lot of times you'll

see really scary graphics

and extreme things

that are happening.

And there are a lot of

really terrifying statistics

when it comes to climate change.

There are a lot of scary

things that are happening.

I think one of my

favorite scary statistics

is from James Hansen,

the former director

of the NASA Goddard

Space Institute,

and he said that

the energy trapped

by manmade global warming

pollution is now equivalent

to exploding 400,000 Hiroshima

atomic bombs per day.

So, there's tons of

statistics like that,

and sometimes they're

really impactful

depending on your audience.

They can give a sense of urgency

and encourage people

to act quickly,

but it also depends

on your audience.

And my audience tends

to be kids a lot,

and so this stuff

doesn't work as well.

It's tempting to lay all the

harsh realities on the table.

Talking about extinction

and extreme weather

and all these ways that people

and animals are

going to be impacted,

but you have to take a

slightly different approach

with younger people.

And I think it's also

important to factor,

this is something I learned

from the Climate

Reality Project,

we talked a lot about factoring

our audiences' various budgets.

And some audiences have

different time budgets.

You might only have

five minutes with them,

so you're going to talk

about different things

than if you have a full hour.

Some audiences have

different complexity budgets

where they understand science

and more complicated issues.

And then some audiences have

a different hope budget,

which I think is something

that's really important.

And kids' hope budget

is completely different

than different

audiences of adults.

So, when I'm teaching about

climate change with young kids,

these are some of the things

I try to keep in mind.

I think it's really important

to cover the basics.

There's so many

technical details

and it's good to remind myself

that I'm not going

to cover everything

in the one-hour program that I

have with some first graders.

So I just pick a

couple basic concepts

that I really want to hit home,

try to keep things

multidisciplinary,

keep them interesting

and fun and engaging.

It's also helpful to keep

things standards based.

So whether you're

a classroom teacher

and you have

curricular standards

to follow in your classroom,

or you can find other

frameworks that exist,

I used the climate

literacy frameworks a lot,

which was put

together by a bunch

of different federal agencies,

and it's the essential

principles of climate science

that they recommend can

be used for individuals

and communities of all

different ages and backgrounds.

So it's just nice to

have kind of a framework

with benchmarks so you know

what your learning

objectives are.

It's great to use visuals,

metaphors, and models.

A lot of this stuff is

either invisible or happening

at such a scale that

it's really hard

to show concrete examples.

And as environmental

educators, we're very used to,

when we're talking

about aquatic insects,

we just go to the

pond and scoop some up

and have concrete

examples right there.

But that doesn't work as well

with a lot of these topics.

So it's important that

we have technology

where we can show a

lot of visuals, models.

This is our ecosphere exhibit

that we have at

the nature center.

And it's completely sealed

off, self-contained ecosystem.

And there are shrimp, and

there's algae in there.

And so everything balances

and there's great examples

of food chains, photosynthesis,

carbon and oxygen balance,

water cycle, and so we can

kind of scale things down.

Kids really get

this when they know

we don't have air holes in it.

They really start thinking

about how life works

and how everything

is working together,

and then we can scale it out

and compare it to

how our planet works.

The only thing coming in

from the outside is

energy from the sun,

much like planet Earth.

So it's a great model.

We also use just

very basic stories.

Sometimes we'll talk about,

especially with really,

really young kids,

we'll talk about

Earth being sick

or Earth having a fever

and the different symptoms

and what we can do to

make Earth feel better.

We use real data.

I just pulled up our

Science on a Sphere

where we can show

real satellite data,

which is really impactful.

We can pull up current

events and things

that are happening with weather.

So if it's something current,

kids are more likely

(laughs) to remember it

and know what we're

talking about,

so we can draw

those connections.

And then, again,

being experiential,

having active learning,

getting kids outside measuring

the weather that's happening,

measuring wind speed,

and then comparing that

to other records over time.

And just keeping

things age appropriate

with content and vocabulary

that we're using.

And then, I mentioned before,

avoiding kind of the

doom and gloom scenario

and being too overwhelming

because I think kids

just get really depressed

and shut down. (laughs)

And so some more types.

Just lay good foundation

and get kids familiar

with concepts and

with vocabulary

that you can build on later.

Connecting with kids and things

that they're interested in

and that are affecting them.

Kids, especially like

upper elementary,

really start to understand

fairness and empathy.

So you can talk about kind

of environmental justice

and working together,

integrating across

subject areas.

It doesn't always have

to be a science lesson.

You can bring up all

these different topics

in other curricular areas.

If you're not sure

about something,

if you're a teacher and

you don't feel qualified

to talk about climate science,

there are tons of outside

resources and experts,

or you can go on field trips,

like to the Aldo

Leopold Nature Center

where we're happy to talk

about it for you. (laughs)

You can also use controversy

and questions as

teachable moments.

Build open communication,

encourage inquiry.

These are just some other tips

that I've kind of come across.

It's important to explain how

averages and probability work.

That's a concept that's

sometimes difficult

for young kids.

So, flipping coins and

talking about things like,

one metaphor that I came

across that I liked is

if a baseball player is on

steroids, we can't be sure

that every single home run

he hits is due to this,

but we can say that the steroids

definitely increase the

likelihood of big hits.

The same can be said for extreme

weather events and climate.

Climate science is

very non-intuitive.

We're talking about large

scales and complex interactions.

Lots of cycles and

nonlinear processes,

which is difficult

to grasp for kids.

It's abstract and it also

extends beyond their lifespan.

So if we're talking about things

that happened a

couple decades ago,

they can't really comprehend

what that even means.

So, spend extra time discussing

this and making comparisons.

And then, again, hands-on

learning really sticks.

So get them outside

collecting data

or talking with older folks

and hearing anecdotes

and stories.

I also think it's important

to listen to your audience

and learn what they already know

or what they think they know

so you have a good starting

point of what you need to teach

and any misconceptions

that need to clear

up right off the bat.

And always allow for open

discussion and communication,

get various perspectives,

appreciate people's different

values and assumptions,

don't get bogged down

presenting both sides.

I have that little

graphic showing

that 97 out of 100

climate experts think

that humans are

causing global warming,

so I think it's safe

for us to consider that

when we're (laughs)

talking about the science.

Use reputable sources and sound

science, stick with facts,

and let students draw

their own conclusions.

It's also important

to acknowledge all

the natural cycles.

There are tons of

things going on

that are outside

of human control,

but there are some

human factors,

and those are the ones

that we need to focus on

because that's what we

do have control over.

And then focusing

on the big picture.

So, these are just a couple

quick examples I threw in

that we use in our

digital curriculum.

So, we talk a lot

with younger kids

about systems and cycles.

Again, clearing up

that basic foundation

of the difference between

weather and climate.

We talk a lot about

the nature of science

and how scientists use

tools and technology

and models and observing

and recording what they see.

We talk about the relationship

between Earth and humans,

which goes both ways.

We talk a lot about

what we can do.

We're very solutions

and choices focused.

We talk about adaptation

versus mitigation,

and also just innovation

and technology.

And then we integrate

games and quizzes

to kind of reinforce

a lot of the content.

So when we're talking

about climate change,

so I've mostly been

talking right now

about talking to

kids and students,

but I think it's really

important just for adults

and general population

to be talking

about climate change too.

Oh, it looks like this

graphic didn't show up.

I had a graphic that shows

that there was a

recent study done

by the Yale Project on

Climate Change Communication,

and they showed that 67%

of Americans strongly or

somewhat trust their family

and friends when it

comes to climate change

and global warming,

and that was second

under climate scientists.

There was a whole list of

other weather reporters,

the president, like all

different celebrities

and media personalities

and other kinds of

scientists, family doctors.

But, basically,

family and friends

was their second most trusted

source above all those people.

So, more Americans trust you

than nearly any other source

for information

about global warming.

But the other graphic

that didn't show up

showed that 61% hear

people they know talking

about global warming one

time per year or less.

So even though it's a very

trusted source of information,

they're just not

really hearing it.

So, hopefully these

(laughs) show up now.

But the point of all

that was to just show

that I think this should just

be an ongoing conversation

that is really prevalent

in our daily lives,

and you can bring it

up anytime, anywhere.

And specifically

when we're talking

about our families and friends,

I think it's important

to just get kids outside

and connected with the

environment using anecdotes

and personal stories,

things that might just come up

organically in conversation,

and using that as a starting

point for your discussion,

asking questions and

learning together.

If there's something

you don't know,

you can look it up together.

You can do research, you

can explore the topic.

I don't think many people know

every single thing

there is to know

about climate or climate change.

So, it's okay to learn together.

So, moving on to what we can do.

I threw this graphic in here.

This is the Blue Marble,

which is the most recent

human-taken space photo.

It was from December 7, 1972,

by the crew of Apollo 17,

and it's called the Blue

Marble photo by NASA.

And this photo was

really important

for kind of showing

all of us Earthlings

how our planet looked

from outer space

just floating in

the big black void,

and kind of showing how precious

and fragile our planet is

and how important it is

that we take care of it.

So, when we're talking

about solutions

and things we can do,

it's really important,

especially for kids,

that they take action

so they can feel in control.

And so these are just some

examples we use with the kids.

And it's really important

to focus on things

that families can do together,

like changing light bulbs,

turning off lights

when you leave a room,

planting a garden, composting.

Maybe you could do research

into installing solar

panels on your house.

You can get kids

involved in school.

They could join or start

environmental clubs

or make small changes

in their cafeteria.

So, getting kids very

active in the solutions

helps them feel like they have

some input in what's happening.

And the most important

thing is to talk about

why you're doing

all these things.

You can show by example and

you can instill good habits

in your kids, but it's

important to explain to them

why they're doing

what they're doing.

So, thinking about

all of our actions

is part of a bigger picture.

Where do things come from?

Where do they go?

What is the life

cycle of a product

that you're using

from cradle to grave?

And talking about

the pros and cons

of upfront costs versus

long-term tradeoffs.

It's also helpful to involve

technology in the process, and,

in addition to getting kids

outside in the natural world,

you can also use a lot

of tools and resources,

citizen science

projects, and mobile apps

and iPads and cell phones.

You can look up species.

You can record and analyze

data really easily.

So it's a great way to

have conversations together

and just have an

ongoing conversation

where your actions

and behavior changes

and conversations

are always evolving.

Talk about what you know

and learn more about

what you don't know.

And then I'm going to,

I think there's just

another minute or two left,

so I'll go through

these really quickly.

But there are so many

great resources out there,

if you want to learn more.

I know I covered

things really quickly,

and I'm happy to keep in touch.

My information's in the back,

if you'd like more

information on any of this.

But there's also tons of

other resources you can find.

This is a booklet

by the Wisconsin DNR

that has great lesson plans

and hands-on activities

for teaching a lot of the

concepts I talked about today.

Paradise Lost is a

program that infuses art

in teaching about climate change

in the Great Lakes region.

There's the Wisconsin Initiative

on Climate Change Impacts,

which I've mentioned

a couple times,

they put together a huge report

on how climate

change is impacting

all these different

sectors of Wisconsin,

different lifestyle categories

and all the different

environmental sectors

and municipal sectors,

and suggestions for

adaptations to those changes.

So they have really

great resources online.

Of course, Aldo

Leopold Nature Center,

we have our exhibit

area and we have tons

of great family programs and

information on climate change

and also just kind of

environmental and nature issues.

The Will Steger Foundation,

they're based in Minnesota

but a lot of the

information is the same,

and they talk a lot

about the same habitats

and species that we have,

and they have really

great curriculum.

There's the Wisconsin K-12

Energy Education Program.

The US Energy Information

Administration

has a great kids page on energy.

The NASA Global Climate

Change Climate Kids web page,

the Northern Great

Lakes Visitor Center

in northern Wisconsin

put together

a really great curriculum

called G-WOW, which stands for,

I'm going to botch this,

but it's an Ojibwe phrase

"Gikinoo'wizhiwe Onji Waaban"

which means guiding

for tomorrow,

and they talk about

climate change is impacting

all these different

native lifeways

and different species

and cultural traditions.

Then there's the US Global

Change Research Program,

which has really great global

and regional information.

The EPA has a student's guide

to global climate change,

which is good for all

different ages of students.

ClimateWisconsin.org

is a great website.

They worked with WICCI,

the Wisconsin Initiative

on Climate Change Impacts,

and the ECB, the Educational

Communications Board,

and they put together this

really great online resource

where they kind of pulled

out different stories

that were in the WICCI report,

and they interviewed

different people

from all walks of

life around Wisconsin,

and it talked about

some of these impacts

that are happening.

And then CLEAN and

the NOAA education.

CLEAN stands for

the Climate Literacy and Energy

Awareness Network,

and that has a whole

plethora of information

all divided by age level

and curriculum and topic.

So those are some great

resources that I recommend,

and I'm happy to share more

information on any of those.

And, at this point, I'd like

to say thank you very much

for having me.

It's been great talking to you,

and I look forward to

answering your questions.

(applause)