Rural communities in Colorado face different challenges than urban areas
when responding to the impacts of climate change. While these
communities may not have access to the financial resources and planning
infrastructure that large cities do, close community ties and an
entrepreneurial can-do attitude give these communities an advantage to
create opportunities for meaningful classroom community engagement.
HEART Force is a unique program for secondary students in rural Colorado
formal learning settings that educates and empowers students to respond
to climate change impacts in the face of increasing likelihood and
severity of environmental hazards such as wildfires, floods and drought.
The program supports youth partnership with community leaders and
experts to build resilience through a three-pronged approach using a
curriculum designed to support NGSS. Students begin the unit by learning
about the science of environmental hazards and how these hazards will be
affected by climate change through analysis of local data. Next,
students learn how to manage and respond to hazards in their community
in a scenario-based role-play game. The unit culminates in a community
resilience expo, giving students the opportunity to address impacts from
environmental hazards by developing, presenting, and implementing
strategies to increase community resilience. We will share the program
design, lessons learned from teacher professional development and
support, and preliminary research findings on the program impacts on
students and teachers.