Teaching scientific evidences of climate change to K12 : a key to reach social acceptance of mitigation and adaptation strategies
Authors: Vidal Gérard , Eyraud Charles-Henri , Larose Carole , Lejan Éric 
Published: March 2021

&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Our&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; societ&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;ies are&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; violently hit by the implications of climate change. The &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;IPCC&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; keeps on &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;waving red flags &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to the governments since its creation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; but &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;few progress has been made, most of the proposed decisions&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;do not rely on scientific facts&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Article 12 of Paris agreement requests that states made necessary efforts to inform and educate people. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Teaching scientific data on climate change to K12 is our duty to provide them with the required knowledge and competencies to face challenges&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; of the future.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;O&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;ur proposal is to tackle climate change &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;awareness&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;training through a global multilevel approach whose starting point is &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; measure meteorological parameters within &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;the classroom or&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; the school, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;then&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; reach &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; use of digital data on climate projections &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;computed&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; by international laboratories. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;1. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Using a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;thermometer &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;in primary schools&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;:&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;an&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;easy tool &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;establish &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; a scientific approach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; weather&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;stimulate &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;student&amp;#8217;s&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;curiosity&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; to go further. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;The aim is to bring pupils from the empiric observation of the temperature&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;to quantitative measurement&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s of temperature.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;It &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;can lead to understand that differences &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;between&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; observed temperatures contribute to the definition / recognition of seasons&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; and their&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; change&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; across time. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;2. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;W&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;eather-station : &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;one of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;best multi-purpose device&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;for lower secondary school&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;It&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; is &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;visible &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;signal for famil&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;ies&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;, pupils, administration&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;. &lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;D&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;escribing the variations in time or in space,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; smoothly bring the pupils from the weather observed to the parameters of local or regional climate; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;it is&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt; a first approach of the difference between errors and uncertainties.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;3. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;Mathematical m&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;odels and acces&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;s&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; to laboratory resources : &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;scientific resource to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;tackle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; climate change in upper secondary schools. Even if the equations are too complex for &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;a &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;student to manipulate, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;students&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; will get access to results computed in laboratories. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;It will lead to giv&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;ing an insight &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;to global &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;or&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; regional models and to the scenarios &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;which &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;tak&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;e &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;into account the long term variation of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;constraints&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; on the models&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; to build&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; climate projections.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span&gt;Understanding does not mean &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;blind acceptation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span&gt;and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;the role of science teachers is to provide the students with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to understand the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;climate &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;situation and its evolution. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;In any case social acceptance will be facilitated when citizens understand the facts and reasons that &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;back&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span&gt; uncomfortable decisions or actions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;