The University of Toledo beat out dozens of universities to receive the Global Climate Change Education Award from the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA). The award totals $377,251 and is part of NASA\u2019s nationwide program to educate students and teachers about climate change.<\/p>\n
UT is one of 17 universities across the country to take part in this program to inspire the next generation of researchers and explorers. The grants are offered to support NASA\u2019s goal of engaging students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited about getting the grant. It shows that we are right on track research wise,\u201d said Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, professor in the UT Department of Geography and Planning.<\/p>\n
The University will use the grant money to build five learning modules for middle school and high school students. Each module will focus on an aspect of climate change and help students dispel any misconceptions regarding the subject through NASA science and facts, Czajkowski said.<\/p>\n
The pilot program will be available to students in the Catholic Diocese of Toledo schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an issue of science illiteracy in this country. We want to recharge students\u2019 interest in science,\u201d said Dr. Patrick L. Lawrence, associate professor and chair of the Department of Geography and Planning. \u201cKids already know about climate change, so this is an innovative way to recharge interest.\u201d <\/p>\n
The climate change curriculum being developed through this NASA grant is designed to offer teachers options, Lawrence said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe modules are designed to be flexible so that teachers can implement one or all parts into their lesson plans,\u201d he said. \u201cRather than design a new curriculum, the teacher can decide what lessons best fit and utilize them in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project will take three years to implement. The first stage is design, followed by a pilot program in Toledo Catholic Schools, and then the education program will open up to all schools. The Catholic schools were chosen to start the program because they have schools in rural areas whose teachers would benefit from the flexibility, Czajkowski said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe modules are a professional development tool for teachers who can\u2019t drive two hours to take a class here at The University of Toledo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of misconceptions about climate change,\u201d Lawrence said. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand the science, and we want to get the information out and step away from politics and look at it through science.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The University is one of 17 U.S. schools to receive funding from NASA to help educate teachers and students about climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":327,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/327"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}