The Indiana Department of Education is partnering with Purdue University to make instructional resources available for the teaching of climate change.
The IDOE announced a new Indiana Climate Change Education Framework, developed in partnership with the Purdue Climate Change Research Center and Purdue University College of Science, on Thursday.
The framework will allow Indiana educators to draw upon "easily accessible and scientifically curated" resources to integrate climate change instruction in their curriculum, according to an IDOE news release.
"Providing educators access to high-quality and evidence-based climate change facts and resources is critical to creating more academic opportunities for our students to become informed citizens, grounded in science," Indiana Superintendent Jennifer McCormick said in the release.
IDOE and Purdue partners worked together in the fall to build resources for climate change instruction consistent with state standards for science education after Indiana teachers expressed a need for greater focus on the issue in their classrooms.
The Indiana Climate Change Education Framework used Purdue professors Dan Shepardson and Andrew Hirsch's published work as a guide for scientific learning.
In a two-day virtual workshop, IDOE and Purdue partners identified academic standards and learning resources that align with five climate change concepts in the professors' research to create the new educational framework.
"People have heard a lot of misinformation about climate change over the years, so it's important for teachers to be able to find trusted, scientifically accurate materials," said Jeff Dukes, director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. "We were excited to partner with IDOE to help teachers find helpful resources based on solid science."
Along with the announcement of its new framework, the IDOE is encouraging educators to continue the conversation of climate change on social media, using #INClimateEd and tagging @EducateIN, @PurdueCCRC and @PurdueSOS to join the discussion.
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