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Roberta Johnson, executive director of Boulder, Colo.-based National Earth Science Teachers Association , recalls an incident reported by an Indiana teacher on a recentsurvey: The teacher had started a climate change unit. A parent,angry at the lesson plan, threatened to commandeer the classroomand dispute the legitimacy of the science. The teacher, thinkingthe dispute could lead to a useful discussion on science and truth,welcomed a debate. But before any such thing could happen, schooladministrators killed the entire unit. That teacher's struggle is not unique, Johnson noted. Last fall theassociation surveyed 555 kindergarten through 12th grade teachersacross the United States who teach climate change. Forty percentsaid they were pressured not to teach climate change at all. Aseparate poll conducted by the National Science Teachers Association inArlington, Va., found that 82 percent of high school and middleschool science educators have faced skepticism about climate changefrom their students. "It is disheartening to see the struggle teachers are having in theclassroom," Johnson said. State standards As of 2008, the latest year available, 29 states taught climatechange directly, via a course that specifically covered it,according to an analysis by NOAA and the Technical EducationResearch Center for earth and space science education. Twelveothers taught it indirectly mentioning it, for example, in achemistry lesson on greenhouse gases. Eight states failed toadequately address atmosphere, weather or climate concepts:Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma,Wisconsin and Wyoming. Iowa had no state standards. State laws in Texas, South Dakota, and Louisiana require that anylesson on climate science be balanced equally with instruction thatother scientists dispute the consensus findings that society'sgreenhouse gas emissions are altering planetary systems such as theatmosphere and oceans. The newest is in Tennessee, where state law, enacted in April,allows teachers to challenge climate change and evolution in theirclassrooms without fear of sanction. Gov. Bill Haslam, noting thebill passed the Legislature by a three-to-one margin, allowed themeasure to become law despite misgivings, saying he did not believethe legislation "changes the scientific standards that are taughtin our schools." Tennessee, Texas and South Dakota aren't alone. In state legislatures and before local school boards across thecountry Oklahoma, Mississippi, Washington State, Wyoming,Colorado, California, among others political battles over theteaching of climate change in public schools have flared [Sidebar: Conflict abounds in climate education ]. In many ways the political debate over climate science mirrors thefight to teach evolution theory, a battle that has been waged inthe nation's classrooms and courts since the Scopes' Trial in 1925.But there is a key difference. The teaching of evolution todayenjoys constitutional protections separating church from state.Unless all elements of the causes and impacts of climate change areclearly laid out in state standards, no legal mechanisms requirethat climate science be taught accurately. Teaching 'both sides' Across the country, scientific accuracy is being compromised inschools, say science educators. Even when teachers and schooldistricts include lessons on climate change, earnest teachers thinkteaching "both sides" of the climate debate is scientificallyvalid. The Earth Science Teachers Association survey found 36percent of the teachers polled nationally had been urged to teach"both sides." In southern states, 12 percent of those teachers saidthey were required to do so, whereas just 1 percent of teachers inthe Northeast reported such a mandate. "They tell us they need resources to teach 'both sides' of climatechange well," said Susan Buhr, who runs teacher workshops asdirector of the education and outreach program of the CooperativeInstitute for Research in Environmental Science at the Universityof Colorado. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as Portable Battery Power Packs Manufacturer , China 7W LED Triac Dimmable Power for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Portable Battery Power Packs.
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