National Security and Climate Change

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

• Teaching Tips
  The beginning of the podcast includes a "content warning". Educators may want to prepare the students in advance for the episode and will need to be aware that it may amplify climate anxiety. Educators may want to give appropriate lead time to mentally prepare the students or listen in class together for a supportive environment. See the CLEAN pages on how to address mental health aspects of climate change educational settings [link https://cleanet.org/clean/literacy/tools/empowerment/index.html] The mass migration game is straightforward and would be a great way to start the discussion about how climate change impacts national security. This could be done after learning about what climate change is and adaptation/mitigation strategies. The main activity included in this lesson is the mass migration game. Afterward, there are 4 additional activities that could be done to extend the lesson. All the lessons are independent of each other so the educator could use whatever combination they like. The activity may work best at the middle or end of a unit.
• About the Science
  The strength of the activity is that it helps students draw conclusions from climate data through a game and analysis of maps. The game uses fictional countries but is based on projections of the increasing likelihood of extreme weather over time, and the map analysis uses real data. Data sets are referenced clearly throughout and are from credible sources. The data maps that are included in the guide are from 2010/2011, recent maps can be found on the NOAA website linked in the activity ([link https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/data-snapshots]). Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
• About the Pedagogy
  The activity is very well organized, with learning objectives and standards clearly laid out, and a thorough teacher's guide. Students will be able to describe how climate change relates to international relations and national security, describe how anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide impact climate change and describe methods of adaptation in response to climate change. The activities are engaging for the students and involve critical thinking. There is a game and three internet-based investigations which could be done individually or as a sequence. The teacher's guide has a suggestion for how to adapt the podcast component for English-language learners, and other suggestions for using podcasts in different ways for different learners. The local component will engage learners with their community. Students should know that governments interact with one another and that natural disasters cause people to be displaced from where they are living to seek safety.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  The technical quality and ease of use are excellent, assuming students have devices with internet access. Any worksheets related to the activities are provided and easy to use. This activity does not scaffold very well and may require a supplementary background lesson. Dice are required. The teacher guide has a typo: in the "Student Pages" document, on Page 5 students are instructed to go back to Page 3 after doing an activity, to answer some questions. The questions are on Page 4, not Page 3. On pages 8 and 9 of the "Student Pages" document, students are instructed to view Climate Data Snapshots on [link https://www.climate.gov]. There are instructions to move sliders on the maps to look at different time periods. However, the maps are static maps, with no sliders. To view different monthly maps of the specific datasets use the directories on the right-hand side of the page to view small or large versions of each month.