Mission

To develop interdisciplinary, modular, standards-aligned climate change curricula for U.S. high school teachers in the following core disciplines: History/Social Science, English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and eventually Computer Science. This curriculum is created by practicing high school teachers in varying disciplines, guided by MIT faculty and staff.

Through our annual Climate Professional Development Workshops we also provide training for educators to engage with our curriculum, MIT tools and research, and each other around best practices for classroom climate integration. This is typically a paid workshop over at least two days. Attendance is on an application basis.

Vision

We envision a modular, interdisciplinary climate change curriculum tailored to each U.S. state’s education standards, beginning with MA. We hope to inform students about the causes and consequences of anthropogenic climate change, while equipping them with the knowledge and sense of agency to contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation. This project differs from other climate education projects in that it seeks to go beyond the science of climate change, to incorporate the major education disciplines and reinforce the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Likewise, it leans on elements of MIT’s vast research and resources.

We are working to incorporate: place-based learning, systems thinking, climate solutions, tools to combat misinformation, environmental justice, and energy.

A Note About the Curriculum

There are two central goals with our materials: To make it easy for high school educators of varying disciplines to teach about climate change meaningfully, through alignment with typical high school topics and concepts, as well as leading US education standards. And to empower students through solutions-focused climate knowledge that is grounded in the causes and consequences of anthropogenic climate change, and supported by MIT resources and research. See more on Our Curriculum page.

Contact Us

Location

Center for Energy and
Environmental Policy Research
and
Education Office, MIT Energy Initiative
MIT Building E19-411, and E19-432 respectively
400 Main Street, 4th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142-1017

Contact

Email: cateprogram@mit.edu

MIT CATE is jointly sponsored by: