Supporting Community Engagement and Effective Science Communication
Over the years, NCSE has developed and field-tested many climate change and evolution activities, from The Evolution of the Flu to Rising Tides. They’ve been used effectively across the country, engaging thousands of participants to help them overcome misconceptions and misinformation they may have about evolution and climate change. Detailed descriptions of each activity are available online, including how-to videos and resource lists. (Note: You are responsible for purchasing any necessary materials beyond what is downloadable. We strive to make the materials as affordable and accessible as possible.)
This project uses Climatograms to determine change in precipitation over the last 100 years, using Pittsburgh, PA as a reference point. Participants pick a time point and build the precipitation for that year using counting cubes.
The activity, Climate Change on File: Trees as Environmental Secretaries, by NCSE Graduate Student Outreach Fellow Taryn Dunivant describes many environmental conditions that trees rely on and face and how they become recorded in their wood.
Choose from three modular activities, developed by NCSE Graduate Student Outreach Fellow Meera Sethi, to achieve linked learning goals. In the first, historic vs. contemporary photos of the same glaciers dramatically illustrate the retreat of mountain ice.
Engage in a climate-health discussion focused on the spread of West Nile virus, transmitted by mosquitoes which flourish during the warmer, wetter conditions brought about by climate change.
Mosquito populations are predicted to extend their ranges to new areas as a result of climate change. This brings about concerns for the spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, and West Nile.
Many cities act as urban heat islands, significantly warmer than their surrounding areas due to human activities. Our warming climate will only make these cities hotter, leading to intense heat waves and lowered quality of life.
Warming oceans and melting landlocked ice caused by global climate change may result in rising sea levels. This rise in sea level combined with increased intensity and frequency of storms will produce storm surges that flood subways, highways and homes.