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Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Hot Potato: Climate Change, Food Systems, and You

A teenage girl holding a paper plate and picking up a piece of food from it.

Live Video School Program for Grades 6-12

During this museum-educator-led program, students will investigate the connections between their lives and climate change through the lens of food! This interactive virtual program offers an opportunity to explore agricultural systems, review data, and learn about the relationship between climate change and potatoes. Together we will examine how scientists study food as a natural resource, and explore some innovative solutions that can have a positive impact on long-term food sustainability.

Formats

Designed to accommodate classes, grades, or groups with 15-1,000 students. Students will not be visible to the museum educator or other students, but they will be able to submit questions in writing through the Q&A, and interact through polls.

Designed to accommodate classes of 15-35 students. Students will be visible to the museum educator and their classmates, and will have the ability to raise their hand to ask and answer questions. In order to participate in this format, those registering will need to provide proof of parental permissions to participate in onscreen programs. If you would like to register for more than 35 students you will need to book a second slot.

Designed to accommodate individual students or small groups with less than 15 students. Students will not be visible to the museum educator or other students, but they will be able submit questions in writing through the Q&A, and interact through polls. Homeschool Days available the first Monday of the month, October 4, November 1, and December 6, 2021; and January 3, February 7, March 7, April 4, May 2, and June 6, 2022.

Register

  • Registered programs, 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. ET from October 4, 2021, to June 17, 2022. DCPS teachers please contact us if classes need to be scheduled at alternate times. 
  • Registration is now open for all classes, groups, and homeschool participants from October 4, 2021-June 17, 2022. Register for Digital School Programs

Supplemental Video

More Videos

A girl holding a craft ball she made during a science program at the museum.
Kids, you are just like scientists!
Bathsheba Bryant-Tarpeh smiling in front of a bookcase
Food Security and Urban Gardening
Ecologist Dr. Kimberly Komatsu
Exploring Climate and Land Use

Upcoming Science How Live Webinars

Bring Smithsonian and other scientists into your home and classroom with Smithsonian Science How, a series of live video webinars that connect science experts with students. These new webinars will connect your students with the core content of the Hot Potato school programs and provide students with an opportunity to extend their learning in the content area.

Extension Resources

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides lesson plans, datasets, career resources, multimedia resources, articles, and activities for multiple topics on climate and climate change.

https://www.noaa.gov/climate-education

These resources are bundled into four themes:

  1. Changing seasons
  2. Climate data monitoring
  3. Climate change impact
  4. Carbon cycle

 

Discover why the climate and environment changes, your place in the Earth system, and paths to a resilient future. This website designed for formal educators and curious individuals breaks down the causes of, and the solutions to, a changing climate and environmental change by creating models that explain what drives global change.

https://ugc.berkeley.edu/ 

Science education can take many forms — from textbooks and museum exhibits to documentaries, news articles, and yes, even poetry! And you don’t need to be an adult in an education career to talk to others about science. Amanda Gorman, former National Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, was only 16 years old when she presented her poem "Earthrise" to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps in 2018.

Watch and Read the Poem
Watch the video linked below of Amanda Gorman’s poem and follow up by reading the text of the poem.

Reading Questions

  1. The full title of this poem is "Our Purpose in Poetry: Or, Earthrise." What is Gorman’s purpose in writing this poem? Who is her primary audience, and what does she want her audience to do? 
  2. Do you think Gorman is more hopeful or pessimistic about the future of the planet? Provide evidence from the text to support your answer.
  3. Do you agree with Gorman’s statement that "climate change is the single greatest challenge of our time"? Why or why not? 
  4. Identify a specific environmental concern of your own and write a poem to teach your peers about it. Be sure to include details about the issue, why you are concerned about it, and steps your audience could take to improve the situation.

Download a PDF of This Activity

Students can download the PDF to their devices, type answers into the PDF, and then save the file.

ELA Connections through Poetry (PDF)

"Food!" is a freely available community research guide developed by the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) in partnership with the InterAcademy Partnership, as part of the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project. These Smithsonian Science for Global Goals community research guides use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to focus on sustainable actions that are defined and implemented by students.

https://ssec.si.edu/food

Teaching materials developed by Yale covering a wide array of climate change topics for 6th -12th grade. These lessons utilize Yale Climate Opinion Maps and Yale Climate Connections stories to immerse students in climate change issues in accessible, digestible, and interactive activities.
https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/for-educators/