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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.

Register

  • Registered programs, 10:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. ET from October 4, 2021, to December 17, 2021. DCPS teachers please contact us if classes need to be scheduled at alternate times. 
  • Registration is open for programs from October 4-December 17, 2021. 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

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/ 

"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/