A recent conference on climate change and education, organized by SustainableED, a Brown University program, highlighted the impact of data centers and air pollution on student math performance.
Research presented at the conference showed that students attending schools near data centers were more likely to see their math scores decline.
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This decline was also associated with attending schools near noisy airports.
After participating in a math lesson incorporating information on renewable energy, U.S. students were more likely to say they knew about climate change and felt some hope about combating it.
Similarly, children in India who learned about air pollution in arts lessons were more likely to understand the environmental problem.
However, they were not necessarily more likely to change their behavior in ways that might alleviate it.
Connecting Climate Change to Other Issues
Matthew Kraft, an education and economics professor, emphasized the importance of expanding the conversation around climate change by connecting it to other issues people care about.
These issues include students’ health, their success in school, and their “sense of community and belonging.”
According to Kraft, discussing climate change in terms of dollars and cents, operational expenditures, and potential savings can also be effective.
This approach can include talking about operational performance, keeping school buildings open and functioning.
Research Highlights
The conference presented several research highlights, including the impact of data centers and air pollution on student math performance.
Other research focused on the effectiveness of incorporating climate change information into math and arts lessons.
These studies showed that students who learned about climate change in these subjects were more likely to understand the issue and feel hope about combating it.
The conference room, located on the second floor of a building in Providence, R.I., was filled with approximately 50 attendees.
The event started at 9:00 a.m. and lasted for about 8 hours, with a 30-minute break for lunch.
The attendees included educators, researchers, and policymakers, all of whom were interested in learning more about the impact of climate change on education.
One of the attendees, a teacher from a local school, noted that she had seen the impact of climate change on her students firsthand.
She said that her students were more likely to be absent from school on days when the air quality was poor.
This absence was often due to respiratory problems, which were exacerbated by the poor air quality.
The teacher emphasized the need for more research on the impact of climate change on student health and academic performance.
She also highlighted the importance of incorporating climate change information into school curricula, in order to educate students about this critical issue.
The Brown University program, SustainableED, was established to support research on schools, learning, and climate change.
The program aims to get this research in front of policymakers, in order to inform decision-making and drive positive change.
By connecting climate change to other issues that people care about, such as student health and success, the program hopes to expand the conversation around this critical issue.
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