An Analysis of K-12 Climate Change Science Standards in the United States

Abstract

In order to produce a climate-literate society willing to take action, students must be educated on the causes, changes, impacts, and solutions of climate change. One way to ensure students are educated on climate change is to have robust science standards. However, little is known about the collective climate change standards in the United States (US). Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of the US K-12 science standards to uncover where the climate change standards are located in different grade levels and the extent to which the collective US curriculum covers topics of climate change. This study was a qualitative content analysis of US K-12 climate change standards. The results show that most US climate change standards are found within the high school grade levels and the Earth and Space Science domains. All US states address topics of climate change within their standards, however general mentions of climate change were cited most often. Finally, the majority of states address both natural and anthropogenic causes of climate change. Implications for policy makers and educators are included.