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New York Hall of Science and Deutsche Bank’s DB Climate Change Advisors Launch Climate Change Curriculum for NYC Middle Schools
11-06-11
Queens, N.Y. – The New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) and Deutsche Bank’s DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA) have launched a middle-school curriculum about climate change geared to New York City schools. The curriculum was officially launched on November 5, 2011 at NYSCI, during a professional-development workshop for teachers. Part of a two-year partnership between NYSCI and DBCCA, the My Carbon Footprint curriculum will help build awareness about climate change science to teachers and students throughout New York City.
The My Carbon Footprint curriculum will give students the scientific foundation they need to understand climate change and its related issues. The curriculum includes three modules: Climate Basics, My Carbon Footprint, and Taking Action. Each module focuses on one or two key scientific concepts related to global climate change, such as mitigation, adaptation, climate variability, and the difference between weather and climate. Lessons include hands-on activities geared to middle-school students, such as analyzing layers of soil, deconstructing electronic products to determine their effects on the environment, and the Carbon Trading Card Game. All the lessons in the My Carbon Footprint curriculum are consistent with approaches recommended in the National Science Standards, New York State Core Curriculum, and New York City Scope and Sequence.
The curriculum was inspired by the Carbon Counter in New York City. Launched by DBCCA in 2009, the Carbon Counter is the world’s first real-time carbon counter that displays a running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, representing a global carbon footprint. The 70-foot tall digital billboard is located outside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
On Saturday, November 5, nearly 100 middle school teachers received the first copies of the My Carbon Footprint curriculum at a professional development workshop at NYSCI. They spent the day learning about climate change, and learned how to integrate three of the hands-on activities from the curriculum.
“Education is the critical first step in addressing the challenge of climate change,” said Dr. Margaret Honey, President and CEO of NYSCI. “NYSCI launched My Carbon Footprint because we recognized there was a scarcity of educational resources available to middle- and high-school teachers and students. We believe this project has potential to be a model for climate change education initiatives in formal and informal learning environments.”
Kevin Parker, Global Head of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division and a member of Deutsche Bank’s Group Executive Committee, said, “When we created the Carbon Counter with MIT, we intended it to be used as an educational tool.” He added, “Teaching the next generation about the issues and dangers of climate change and giving them the intellectual tools to deal with it, is critical. The future of the planet is in their hands—and it is the responsibility of all of us to make sure they are properly equipped.”
In addition to the middle-school curriculum and teacher workshops, the My Carbon Footprint program includes science camps for students, a social-networking site for teachers and NYSCI instructors to share best practices, and a virtual climate change museum wing, scheduled to launch this winter.
About DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA)
DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA) is the climate change investment research business of Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM). DeAM is one of the leading climate change investors in the world. With a world-class in-house research team focusing on this theme, DBCCA is an investment-industry thought leader on a broad range of clean-tech dynamics.
With approximately $693 billion in assets under management globally as of 30 September 2011, Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division is one of the world's leading investment management organizations, not just in size, but in quality and breadth of investment products, performance and client service. The Asset Management division provides a broad range of investment-management products across the risk/return spectrum. In addition, DeAm has approximately $5.4 billion of AuM in green investment strategies. For more information, visit www.dbcca.com.
About the New York Hall of Science
About the New York Hall of Science – The mission of the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) is to bring the excitement and understanding of science and technology to children, families, teachers and others by galvanizing their curiosity and offering them creative, participatory ways to learn. As the City’s only hands-on science and technology center, NYSCI serves close to a half-million annual visitors, offering an unparalleled range of 450 interactive exhibits, Discovery Labs, a Science and Technology Library, and the largest outdoor Science Playground in the nation. NYSCI’s educational programs are designed to engage diverse audiences in the exploration of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) by offering immersive experiences that promote hands-on investigation and discovery. Some of NYSCI’s longest- running and most successful programs provide STEM professional development, classroom support and resources to K-12 teachers. For more information, visit www.nysci.org.
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