Jaymi Heimbuch
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Adults spend loads of time worrying about climate change and carbon footprints. But kids are an equally important audience, and what better place to put information about global climate change than right in the classroom?
Cool the Earth is an organization helping to put a smart, interactive and engaging curriculum in schools to help teachers address issues of climate change, giving kids the science without the scare.
What is Cool the Earth All About?
The program is for students in K-8, is run by parents and/or teachers, and is extracurricular - run outside of class time but still engages all the kids in one class, so they have peer support.
The program includes a kick-off assembly where teachers get kids excited about the topic, and coupon booklets that go home with the kids to their families. As one of the actions in the coupon booklet is completed - such as eating one pound of beef a week less, or reducing junk mail by signing up for opt-out lists, or taking shorter showers, the kids bring the coupons back to class and tally up how many pounds of carbon their family has helped cut. The results are tracked on a banner to show how the whole community is taking actions that matter. Plus, kids get fun trading cards when they turn in their actions, so they have a tangible reward on top of recognition.
Cool the Earth Empowers Kids and Their Families
It's an incredibly empowering educational program, and it has already reached kids in over 175 schools. Starting in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2007, the program is spreading across the nation, teaming up with notable organizations like the Climate Project to reach out to teachers, kids and families. With kids bringing the program home and engaging their families, it extends far beyond the school yard.
You can enroll your school by contacting Cool the Earth. The school will receive all the program materials needed, and it makes a great springboard for talking about environmental footprints and the impacts of our daily actions.
What is happening to the planet is not lost on kids, in fact it is terrifying to them, so programs like this that put the power to change in their hands will help our next generation of activists get started now - and get a whole lot of adults on the carbon wagon along with them.
More on Kids and Climate Change
Introducing Green Your House: This New Online World Gives Kids First-Hand Experience with Global Warming
Youth of the World to Governments: Less Talk, More Action on Climate Change & Eco-Sustainability
Teachers: 3 Ways To Green Up Your Classroom
How To Go Green: School Teachers
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