Climate Education

Climate education is a key solution to solving the current and future impacts of climate change. Students today are the inventors and workers of tomorrow, and we must equip them with the skills to succeed in a changing world.

Find a range of free resources below that support building climate education programs. 

Young Voices for the Planet's short films tell inspiring stories of youth making positive change in the world.


Explore an interactive map to see what renewable energy could look like where you live in 2050. Learn about successful climate justice and equity initiatives.

CSTA Climate Summit

Find a suite of K-12 learning sequences developed at 2018 California Science Education Conference Climate Summit. The project helps educators implement climate science education consistent with the California NGSS.

Schools for Climate Action 

A non-partisan, grassroots, youth-adult campaign that empowers schools to speak up for climate action. They provide model resolutions, outreach email templates, climate action  webinars, and more.

acespace.org

Alliance for Climate Education's mission is to educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action. They teach climate science that puts teenagers at the center of the story. They are growing an inclusive network of young people, educators and supporters from communities across the country. 

Yale Climate Connections

Yale Climate Connections is a nonpartisan, multimedia service providing daily radio and web reporting, on the issue of climate change. Through articles, radio stories, videos, and webinars they “connect the dots” between climate change and energy, extreme weather, public health, food, the economy, and more.

Logo for CLEAN (Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network)

CLEANet.org

700+ instructional resources rigorously reviewed by educators and scientists for secondary and college level 

Logo for the "Imagine If" podcast on climate resiliency

imagineif.naaee.org 

A podcast about climate resiliency by high school students experiencing real life impacts

Logo for the website created for the book, Drawdown

drawdown.org

An essential resource with data-based descriptions of 100 ranked solutions to reverse global warming 

Logo for NOAA website: climate.gov, providing science and information for a climate-smart nation

climate.gov

NOAA's climate education site with teacher professional learning, instructional resources & data sources

logo for Climate Generation, A Will Steger Legacy

Climate Generation

Resource library with climate literacy materials and action tools for all ages

Image of the Earth cradled in two hands

Santa Cruz Climate Speakers

Specializing in education curriculum tailored to meet needs of individual teachers

National Science Teachers Association logo

NSTA Climate Education Resources for Teachers

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) provides climate connections to NGSS, e-books, family resources and more.

North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) logo

eePRO Climate Change 

Discussion group for EE professionals engaging in climate education

What can we do to help? Santa Cruz County is already facing impacts of climate change such as increasing wildfires, higher temperatures in our fields, and effects on fisheries from ocean acidification. 

Below are resources to help schools take action to reduce their carbon footprint.

Logo for Green Schools Alliance

Green Schools Alliance provides a range of tools and programs to help schools create measurable changes for sustainability.  

Logo for Ecology Action

AMBAG Energy Watch will assist your school in reducing energy use by providing energy efficiency services and resources to eligible PG&E customers 

Logo for The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education

The Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education offers assessment tools designed to create a baseline of your current reality and the degree to which you are educating for sustainability.

Logo for the Citizen's Climate Lobby

Citizens' Climate Lobby

CCL empowers everyday people to work together on climate change solutions. Supporters are organized into more than 400 local chapters across the United States, including the Santa Cruz Chapter for grassroots advocacy for climate legislation.