Teacher Guide

The visiting ResilienceMT exhibition is meant to ignite a spark for further engagement with climate change and community resilience in Montana. This guide includes resources, extension and assessment ideas, and contact information for activities that will deepen students' engagement with climate resilience.

 

Discussion Prompts

  • What do you already know about climate change? What do you wonder?
  • In what ways have you noticed the effects of drought/wildfire/extreme heat/flooding in your community?
  • What jobs or businesses might be affected by these changes? How do they deal with the effects?

  • What did you learn that surprised you?
  • What action steps can you take to be–or help the community be–more climate resilient?
  • What climate resilience activities are people and groups in your community currently undertaking?

Opportunities & Extensions

Activities & Assessments

The ResilienceMT project including the exhibition, Story Maps, and resources linked from the website offer various opportunities for engaging students in climate resilience learning activities. These opportunities also offer possibilities that could be assessed. Here are a few ideas…

  • Students can engage with various ResilienceMT and linked resources and then undertake a project or performance such as…
    • conduct an interview with a community member working on climate resilience
    • make a poster, video, infographic, pamphlet, article, or newsletter to share
    • undertake a community resilience project (developed by students or they can volunteer to work with a community group on an ongoing project). A few examples include raising money to make DIY air filters to distribute or helping elderly community members reduce wildfire risks around their houses and yards.
    • create and present a lesson for younger students about community climate resilience
    • make a public presentation
    • conduct a climate or climate resilience research investigation
  • Students can engage with and answer (in discussion or writing) questions that are interwoven throughout the ResilienceMT Story Maps. (Note that the questions are italicized in the Story Maps). Teachers might also develop their own questions for students related to the content and materials in the exhibition, Story Maps, and the other resources on the website.
  • Students can complete 3-2-1 written reflections, describing 3 takeaways, 2 questions they have, and 1 element at the exhibition that they enjoyed.

 

Additional Contacts & Resources

Curriculum Standards Connections

Included are examples of standards for middle grades and high school science and social studies as well as IEFA essential understandings that can align with the ResilienceMT project and resources. The list is not exhaustive and standards from additional content areas could also be interwoven with relevant projects, units, and/or lessons. 

The standards listed in this guide can be found through the MT OPI website with the links below. 

High School Social Studies Curriculum Standards
NGSS Indentifier Montana Science Content Standard Description
MS-ESS3-3 apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment
MS-ESS3-4 construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per-capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems including indigenous populations
MS-ESS3-5 ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century

Middle Grades Science Curriculum Standards
Identifier MT Social Studies Descriptor
SS.G.6-8.3 analyze maps and charts from a specific time period to understand an issue or event
SS.G.6-8.4 explain how the environment and geographic features have affected people and how people have affected the environment throughout Montana, the United States, and the world
SS.H.6-8.7 analyze how people's perspectives shaped the historical narratives they created
SS.H.6-8.8 identify limitations and biases in primary and secondary sources, specifically regarding misinformation and stereotypes
SS.H.6-8.9 understand that the questions people ask shape the conclusions they reach

High School Science Curriculum Standards
NGSS Identifier MT Science Content Standards Description
HS-ESS3-1 construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity
HS-ESS3-3 create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, biodiversity, and investigate and explain how some American Indian tribes use scientific knowledge and practices in managing natural resources
HS-ESS3-5 analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems

Middle Grades Social Studies Curriculum Standards
Identifier MT Social Studies Standards Description
SS.CG.9-12.5 evaluate how citizens and institutions address social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international levels
SS.G.9-12.5 evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental, political, and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions
SS.G.9-12.7 evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at local-to-global scales
SS.H.9-12.3 identify ways in which people and groups exercise agency in difficult historical, contemporary, and tribal contexts

  • Essential Understanding #3: The ideologies of Native traditional beliefs and spirituality persist into modern day life as tribal cultures, traditions, and languages are still practiced by many American Indian people and are incorporated into how tribes govern and manage their affairs. Additionally, each tribe has its own oral histories, which are as valid as written histories. These histories predate the “discovery” of North America.

This website was prepared by the University of Montana under award NA21SEC0080001 from the Environmental Literacy Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S.Department of Commerce. The content is those of the ResilienceMT project personnel and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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