TASMANIAN CLIMATE CHANGE STORIES
Sharing stories about changing climate from Tasmania, Australia and the world.
Climate Change is important for everyone. By having open conversations and sharing stories we can learn about and share local changes as well as discover how people elsewhere in the world are impacted. Knowledge is critical if we are going to be able to adapt and mobilise as communities in the face of adversity.
This project links to the Australian Curriculum through four areas of STEM (Students will be encouraged to research how Science, Technology and Engineering may provide future solutions).
It links all three strands of Science: Science Understanding, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry. (Students will have a real-world opportunity to investigate climate in their local area. It will inspire critical thinking about how climate change is affecting the earths future).
Research shows that climate science communications are best focussed on local impacts highlighting present rather than future impacts and using personal stories.
These learning activities encompass two key ideas of the science curriculum:
1: The interdependence of systems (There is evidence of climate change all around us, from coastal erosion through to extreme weather events: bush fires, changing rainfall and invasive marine species)
2: Sustainability - how understanding science is important in protecting the environment for the future.
This project links to the Australian curriculum – cross curriculum priority of Sustainability which aims to equip young Australians with the skills, knowledge and understanding that will enable them to engage effectively with and prosper in a globalised world. Students will gain personal and social benefits, be better equipped to make sense of the world in which they live and make an important contribution to building the social, intellectual and creative capital of our nation (Ausvels 2017).
It also has the potential to do the same for a second cross curriculum priority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures if used to explore their climate impact stories as this has long been recognised as a huge issue for many First Nation populations around the world (Powershift Melbourne July 2017).