Climate Champions

Students investigate why some neighborhoods are hotter than others, using Land Surface Temperature and NDVI data as the anchoring phenomenon, then design evidence-based solutions for their own communities.

A chemistry unit anchored in the same Land Surface Temperature and NDVI phenomena, connecting energy, matter, and surface materials to the urban heat patterns students see in their region.

People, plants, and our planet. Students explore how organisms maintain stability in a warming world, linking homeostasis to extreme heat and ecosystem change.

A UC San Diego Science Project initiative connecting physical computing with climate investigation. Start with the overview, then explore micro:bit lessons embedded in Cooler Communities and a high school extension for urban heat islands.

Curriculum that moves students from understanding climate problems to designing and acting on solutions in their own communities, aligned with California's standards and science framework.

A reviewed collection of lesson plans, labs, simulations, and other activities supporting the teaching of climate and energy literacy across grade levels.

An interactive exploration of the 34 techniques of science denial organized across the five FLICC categories: Fake Experts, Logical Fallacies, Impossible Expectations, Cherry Picking, and Conspiracy Theories. Based on the FLICC framework developed by John Cook (Cook, 2020) and the Denial101x course from the University of Queensland and Skeptical Science. Each technique includes a climate example, tips for spotting it, and classroom connections.

Analyze real-world examples of climate denial and delay as they appear in public discourse. This tool supports teachers and students in identifying and categorizing the rhetorical strategies used to undermine confidence in climate science and delay action.

The original research article by Lamb et al. (2020) identifying 12 discourses used to justify inaction on climate change, organized into four strategies: redirect responsibility, push non-transformative solutions, emphasize downsides, and surrender.

Strategies and resources for helping students evaluate scientific claims and navigate science in the media.

Lessons featured at the summit include Evapotranspiration, Atmospheric Rivers, and Stories in the Mud, easy entry points for bringing local climate phenomena into existing course sequences.

A climate change booklist supporting California's AB 285 climate education requirements.

Find the intersection of what you're good at, what brings you joy, and what work needs doing, a framework for charting your own role in climate action.

Short explainer videos about why greenhouse gases warm the planet, with versions ranging from under a minute to a deeper dive.

A living document of native trees, shrubs, and medicinal and food plants suited to a water-constrained environment.

The original Climate Champions pilot, launched by Birch Aquarium at Scripps with UC San Diego CREATE, including the website and Virtual Summit from its first year.

Created by the Climate Mental Health Network, a toolkit for K-12 educators on supporting the feelings that come up when students learn about climate change.

A primer on what AB 285 requires and what it means for California classrooms.

How climate change connects to NGSS Performance Expectations, and how learning about climate change progresses across K–12 in the Next Generation Science Standards.

A curated collection of climate change curriculum resources spanning every grade band.

The UC San Diego Science Project's performance tasks on the ATLAS platform, free to all California science educators, with teacher guides, rubrics, and implementation support.

Students analyze real climate data to understand neighborhood heat disparities, then apply Earth systems and engineering design thinking to propose cooler, more equitable community spaces.

Students examine how human-made surfaces and land use patterns shape local temperatures, connecting to active SoCal Heat Hub research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The full UGC infographic with clickable resources for every icon in the framework, the fastest way to explore what each concept means.

The why, how, and what of Understanding Global Change, an orientation to the framework and the thinking behind it.

Instructional planning templates and example units and lessons showing how teachers have built UGC into their curriculum.

Make Earth system models using the app, for your students and for yourself.

Earth Scene posters, icon cards, and graphics with language support, ready to print for your classroom modeling work.

The full UGC icon sets (causes of global change, how the Earth system works, and measurable changes) in Google Slides, including Everyday Language versions, ready for digital model building.

A playful way to build familiarity with Earth system processes and UGC vocabulary.

A card-sorting activity for connecting causes, processes, and measurable changes across the Earth system.

A Lucidspark template for making UGC models digitally, ideal for collaborative or remote model building.

The complete guide and process for integrating UGC into an instructional unit, from identifying standards and selecting an anchoring phenomenon to constructing exemplar models and sequencing lessons.

A blank template for organizing a coherent storyline around an anchoring phenomenon for an instructional unit with UGC.

A blank template for creating your own learning tracker, helping students record what they did, what they figured out, and how it connects to UGC throughout a unit.

An interactive map for exploring heat and ecohydrology data across Southern California. The companion blog post and short video explainer walk you through using the tool with students.

• Open the Ecohydrology and Heat Explorer
• How to use the Explorer (blog post)
• Ecohydrology and Heat Explorer video explainer (YouTube)

A StoryMap examining who is most vulnerable to extreme heat and why. Pairs with Dr. Yiqun Ma's research presentation on extreme heat and human health in a changing climate.

• Open the heat vulnerability StoryMap
• Yiqun Ma research presentation (Google Slides)

An interactive look at how tiny particles in the atmosphere reflect solar radiation and shape the energy balance that drives regional climate.

A visualization of global weather conditions forecast by supercomputers and updated every three hours, animating Earth system processes in real time. Check out atmospheric CO2 and winds at Earth's surface, then select “Earth” (lower left) to change variables.

• Earth Nullschool: surface winds and particulates
• Earth Nullschool: atmospheric CO2

Build your own composite heat risk map for San Diego County census tracts by choosing from variables across three pillars: heat exposure, population sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Includes climate projections for 2050 and 2080. Created by the SoCal Heat Hub and the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative.

• Open the San Diego Heat Risk Explorer
• Heat Risk Explorer user guide
• Heat Risk Explorer webinar recording (YouTube)

An ArcGIS experience examining how tree canopy, and the cooling it provides, is distributed across communities, connecting urban heat to questions of environmental equity.

A step-by-step routine with handouts and slides, designed to pair with the Ecohydrology and Heat Explorer for exploring Land Surface Temperature and NDVI data with students.

By Kristen Hurst, Carver Elementary, San Diego Unified School District

Fifth graders mapped heat across their mostly asphalt playground with thermal cameras and thermometers, then designed greener schoolyard models and presented them to families, educators, and district leaders as advocates for cooler, more equitable outdoor spaces.

By Zoë Randall with Alaska English, Clay Elementary

A look inside the Cooler Communities pilot, where students combined satellite heat data with their own campus measurements, tested how asphalt and grass heat up, and designed maps of cooler future neighborhoods.

By Kim Klinko and Katherine Gutierrez

Two teachers built a unit around why some parts of campus are hotter than others. Students coded micro:bits to collect temperature data, analyzed what they found, and proposed ways to cool the hottest spot on campus.

By Alec Barron, Ed.D.

Lessons from two years of teachers in San Diego and the Central Valley using micro:bits to investigate local environmental conditions, including how teachers new to coding took up the approach and how students came to see themselves as researchers.

A California Environmental Literacy Initiative webinar on extreme heat impacts on children, highlighting how schools, districts, and community partners are taking action to keep students safe and supported. Tools and strategies are gathered in the slides.

• Watch the Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks webinar (YouTube)
• Rising Temperatures, Rising Risks slides (Google Slides)

Experience a sequence of learning on a local climate phenomenon and learn to use the Understanding Global Change framework with your students. Date to be announced.

Resources from the San Diego Heat and Human Health Summit, hosted by San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air.