The WV Climate Change Professional Development project is a collaboration between West Virginia University Department of Physics & Astronomy and Department of Geology & Geography, Fairmont State University, the NASA Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Facility Education Resource Center, and West Virginia Climate Action, through funding from West Virginia Space Grant Consortium K-12 Teacher Professional Development Awards and, as of 2021, the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation. 

Cohort 1: 2019-2020

On Saturday, February 29, 2020, Williamson (WVU Physics & Astronomy) and Revels (NASA IV&V Education Resource Center) piloted a climate change teacher professional development workshop in Morgantown, WV, with 11 middle and high school science teachers hailing from all over WV. The agenda included demonstrations (ex: infrared camera to show the greenhouse effect), “Dynamic Earth” NASA Visualization planetarium show, GLOBE citizen science protocol certifications (“Green Up Green Down” and “Carbon Cycle”), NOAA's Carbon Cycle Journey Game, technological solutions to climate change (“Stabilization Wedge” activity), as well as leadership for civic action (ex: connecting to writing standards with letter writing). The group also heard from: Sandra Fallon from WV Climate Action regarding the "Week of Climate Action" for Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary in April 2020; WV Delegate Hansen via a call-in Q&A session on climate change policy; and, Tom Rodd, “Kitchen Klimate Science” developer and member of Friends of Blackwater. Teachers developed Action Plans for implementing the activities in their classrooms for a chance to win grant-supported registration for the WV Science Teachers Association meeting in October 2020. Evaluation results were overwhelmingly positive; all 11 teachers agreed the workshop increased their confidence in teaching about climate change (2 Agree, 9 Strongly Agree) and it was a valuable experience (3 Agree, 8 Strongly Agree). Additionally, from the rich discussions at the end of the workshop, it was clear that teachers believe their students care deeply about climate change, but that they struggle with knowing how to take action. We casually suggested integrating social studies standards and collaborating with other teachers, which was met with resounding enthusiasm.

Cohort 2: 2020-2021

To build on the pilot workshop teachers’ enthusiasm for collaborating with social studies teachers, our Cohort 3 expansion brings social science expert Dr. Jamie Shinn (WVU Geography & Geology) on board as project PI, as well as Sandra Fallon (WV Climate Action) as a community activist expert. During the 2020-2021 Academic Year, instead of an in-person workshop due to COVID-19 concerns, we offered three virtual professional development webinars: Living in a Carbon World, Water in West Virginia, and Climate Solutions for West Virginia.  We hosted 3 virtual workshops: (1) “Living in a Carbon World” on October 21st, 2020, with 30 registrants, 10 who completed the requirements, (2) “Water in West Virginia” on November 19th, 2020, with 30 registrants, 15 who completed the requirements, and (3) “Climate Solutions for West Virginia” on January 21st, 2021, with 35 registrants, 9 completing the requirements. This represents a total of 62 unique educators who registered for at least one of our workshops, and 18 unique educators who completed the requirements for at least one workshop (4 teachers completed 1 workshop, 6 completed 2 workshops, and 8 completed all 3 workshops; i.e. we had 40 total feedback forms submitted). Teachers who completed the workshop requirements each received Amazon Gift Cards. 

Our curriculum has also significantly expanded. New social science activities developed by PI Shinn and Graduate Assistant Rothrock include: Carbon Footprint Calculator activities and WV Flood Tool Mapping activity. Revels created a new physical science activity using NASA Mass Concentration (MASCON) data from the GRACE-FO Mission, and he further developed the Carbon Journey game into an online Scratch-based version. New climate solutions activities include using the EN-ROADS simulator (created by Rothrock) and Scratch-based version of the Stabilization Wedge game (coded by Westfall and her students). 

We also piloted a new social action component by hosting Public Service Announcement student video and audio competition for Earth Day 2021, an idea we learned from the Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action (MOVCA), as teachers and students can play a large role in changing the culture (ex: “children can foster climate change concern among their parents” Lawson et al. 2019). In contrast to a traditional commercial, the goal of a PSA is to inform, educate, and raise awareness about an issue rather than to sell a product. PSAs are evaluated according to creativity, accuracy in communicating, and production quality. We were blown away by the 30 submissions we received from both teachers and students. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in both video and audio categories are featured on our website and were blasted across WV Media outlets. Project funds paid for run times on “Over the Top” TV streaming, WRVZ-FM and WAJR Radio, and additional news outlets ran stories about the project and PSAs, including Times West Virginian, Register-Herald, WOAY, and WBOY, in addition to significant sharing across social media platforms. Total reach is estimated at 40,000 members of the public. It is our hope that this widespread dissemination, especially from West Virginian students’ voices, will help to solve the significant climate change communication barrier we face in our state.

Cohort 3: 2021-2022

The West Virginia Space Grant Consortium helped us formalize our curriculum and offer 3 Continuing Education Units to teachers through Fairmont State University in Spring 2022. Cost-share was provided by the WVU Physics & Astronomy department in the form of a half-time Graduate Teaching Assistant, Gabriela Himmele. The course modules were delivered online asynchronously through Google Classroom with 3 mandatory virtual meetings. Content included climate science (both physical and social science), climate communication, and action. In total, 16 teachers completed the course requirements and engaged over 500 students in a climate lesson plan around Earth Day 2022. These teachers created video presentations of their final projects to share with other WV educators. Let us know if you are a WV educator and want access to these! This research was made possible by the NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, Grant # 80NSSC20M0055. 

We also gained a new funding partner, the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation (ASF)! ASF awarded our project funds to cover the Public Service Announcement competition for Earth Day for the next two years!  In Spring 2022, we had about two dozen entries to our PSA competition. We selected 3 video and 3 audio winners, and we broadcast their PSAs across the state! Our video winner even got a special invitation to be interviewed on television. 

Cohort 4: 2022-2023

The West Virginia Space Grant Consortium funded the 4th iteration of our project. Building on our first Continuing Education graduate course from Spring 2022, we offered a second, improved iteration of our formal 3-credit course for teachers, thanks to leadership by Dr. Deb Hemler at Fairmont State University. The course was offered online via Google Classroom. Most activities were self-paced and “Choose-Your-Own Adventure” format to allow teachers from different grades and subjects to select the activities most relevant to them. Weekly themes included: climate science, carbon cycle, resource management, WV climate impacts, climate solutions, youth voices, and climate communication. We had 3 mandatory live meetings, including a final lesson plan for a “Day of Action” on November 4th, during which teachers engaged their students, reaching a total of 671 K-12 students. 

Throughout the Fall 2022, we hosted 3 Networking Sessions with a total of 9 panelists from a range of backgrounds, including community organizing, youth empowerment, climate justice, climate science, climate communication, and climate education. 

Together with our Teacher Leaders, the WVCCPD team hosted a climate change Share-A-Thon at the West Virginia Science Teachers Association meeting in October 2022. Activities included an ice core sample, ocean acidification and greenhouse effect demonstrations, flood mapping activity, Yale Climate Opinion Maps, and climate solutions wedges. 

Out of the 16 teachers who filled out our post-course assessment, 14/16 (88%) Agreed or Strongly Agreed that the course helped them learn more about climate change, that the class helped them learn activities they can use in their classrooms, and helped them learn about West Virginia’s unique situation with climate change. The largest content knowledge changes were knowledge of climate change perceptions, climate solutions activities, and how scientists measure Earth’s past climate. 

Finally, the qualitative outcomes of the teachers’ final projects and Lesson Plans for the Day of Action showcase the most impressive impacts of the WVCCPD course. These include: a special education teacher whose students became leaders in recycling for the school, a kindergarten teacher whose students read the Lorax and recited “unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing’s ever going to change, it’s not,” a high school English teacher whose students “revolted” against her essay assignment and said they wanted to write letters to their legislators instead, and a middle school teacher whose school is now designing a composting system.

West Virginia teachers can email us to get copies of teacher's Lesson Plans and final presentation videos!

Cohort 5: 2023 and Beyond

With funds from Appalachian Stewardship Foundation, we hosted our 3rd Public Service Announcement competition for Earth Day in Spring 2023! View the winning submissions here. 

As project leads Williamson and Shinn move out of state, we are working to find ways to preserve the benefits of the WVCCPD project. Our teachers have thanked us for providing a strong curriculum and concrete ideas for how to implement climate change lessons in their classes. They cited the WVCCPD community as an inspiring place to share ideas with like-minded teachers and learn from experts. Please help us find ways to keep climate change education growing in West Virginia schools!