The year-long workshop series will focus on the causes and effects of climate change. Science workshops will address how the climate is changing and how these changes effect the earth system, while others will offer content and strategies for teaching about climate change from economic, public policy, and literacy perspectives. Interested teachers are invited to sign up for one or several of these workshops.
21st Century Climate Change in the Southwest: An overview of the science,regional impacts, and uncertainties of global warming
In this workshop we will review the basic concepts of climate science that lead the scientific community to suggest that climate change associated with increasing greenhouse gases is now occurring and is likely to continue, perhaps at an accelerated rate, through the lifetimes of your students.
We'll discuss both the empirical and conceptual bases for climate change predictions (with no equations, although I'll be prepared to be more quantitative if participants desire), and we'll briefly consider the implications of climate change mitigation scenarios on energy use.
I'll present results from a new report issued by the NM State Engineer's Office focusing on the predicted impacts of climate change on the state's water resources. Finally, I'd like to have a discussion about scientific uncertainty and how it is described in the media: what should citizens (and policymakers) believe?
Saturday October 28th Scott Worman, Department of Anthropology, UNM
Climate, Culture and Corn: 10,000 years of Human-Environment Interactions in the Southwest
In this workshop, we will investigate the cultural developments in the American Southwest from the first arrival of humans in the area through the first century of Spanish occupation. We will compare the archaeological record to evidence for climate changes during the past ten millennia. The combined cultural and environmental records reveal far more than simple human reactions to climate shifts. We will discuss some of the ways that archaeologists conceptualize human interactions with the environment and explore how these ideas are changing our understanding of the pre-Hispanic southwest.
Saturday November 11th Professor Diane Thiel, Department of English Language and Literature, UNM
Writing the Environment
Introduces texts and writing techniques for students at various levels of writing ability, designed to address the connections of humans with our natural environment and inspire a keener awareness of the sources of things such as water, food, and energy.
To sign up for the workshops email Dr. Matt Nyman (mwnyman@unm.edu).
Please include your name, school, school address, topic and grade level you teach, and phone number.
All workshops will be held at UNM in Northrop Hall Room 114 and start at 9 AM lasting for ~6 hours.
Lunch will be provided. A certificate of completion for each participating teacher will also be provided.
Enrollment in workshops is limited to 20 people.
abqteach@unm.edu 
