Media release – University of Tasmania, 1 November 2021
UTAS experts answer curious children’s climate change questions
Today, to mark the start of COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow, University of Tasmania climate researchers are launching an unprecedented online resource on climate change for young people in Tasmania.
As part of the Curious Climate Schools project, one thousand school students worked with their classes to come up with their top 273 questions about climate change. The Curious Climate Schools team harnessed the collective knowledge of 57 experts to answer them.
Experts including climate scientists, climate communicators, conservation biologists, fire scientists, chemists, lawyers, engineers, psychologists, oceanographers, Indigenous knowledge specialists and health scientists answered these wide-ranging questions. Curious Climate Schools draws on the huge depth of climate change knowledge at the University of Tasmania, with help from experts at CSIRO, University of Adelaide, Massey University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Children hear about climate change all the time, and they have a lot of questions of their own,” said Dr Chloe Lucas, who is co-leading the project. “We wanted to answer all the different kinds of questions that students have on their minds, and we wanted to help schools teach climate change holistically, not just in science lessons.”
This project aims to fill gaps in school students’ understanding of climate change, as holistic climate literacy is not currently mandated in the Australian curriculum.
“We need climate-literate young people. It’s vital to acknowledge that children are living in a climate changed world, and want to have a say in climate action and decision-making. We saw this in some of the questions submitted to Curious Climate Schools,” Dr Lucas said. One example is:
“Do you believe that we as the future leaders are being heard enough? For example, Scott Morrison or the other politicians, are they listening?”
The Curious Climate Schools website curiousclimate.org.au/schools answers questions from school students across Tasmania, and also provides resources on what’s being done about climate change at a global level, how to handle feelings about climate change, and what we can do to be part of the solution. As well as the website, experts are heading out to visit schools around Tasmania over the next two weeks to talk about climate change.
“This is a crucial time for global decision-making on climate action. Over the next two weeks, as world leaders negotiate at COP26, teachers will be able to draw on the Curious Climate Schools website to bring current events into their classrooms,” Dr Lucas said. “This way, students can feel that they are part of a bigger conversation on our collective future.”
Curious Climate Schools is funded by the Tasmanian Climate Change Office, the Centre for Marine Socioecology and the University of Tasmania’s College of Science and Engineering.
