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The article presents a study of the effectiveness of a new climate lesson for youth that includes the ocean-climate nexus in nine classes in British Columbia. Topics discussed include the importance of using formal education to improve knowledge of climate change, the use of the 7E instructional model, namely, engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate, elder and environment in the lesson, and improvement in students' understanding of climate change science due to the lesson.

Over the course of six days, extreme temperatures in the Pacific Northwest exacerbated chronic respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as caused heat-related illnesses, claiming the lives of 445 people in British Columbia. The purpose of this commentary is to frame the heat wave of 2021 as a health crisis, explore the effects that extreme heat events have on health, and discuss the necessity of incorporating emergency preparedness for future health consequences of global climate change into medical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students from three different British Columbia grade six classes were followed through two weeks of instruction on climate change. Pre, post, and follow-up surveys were used to determine the differences in knowledge gained and retained by students that received direct instruction from their science teacher, and by those who received equivalent content instruction from outside presenters. The teacher participant also completed a survey on her experience with the researcher-designed lesson plans. Students’ results on the surveys were compared to results from a control group with no intervention. The teacher-based setting resulted in significantly higher knowledge gain, although no difference was found between the groups’ rate of knowledge decline thereafter. Highest gains in knowledge were for the carbon cycle and the human impacts topic, followed by understanding the difference between climate and weather. The students and teacher alike appeared to struggle with the topic of global warming and the greenhouse effect. The research suggests that with the appropriate background information the classroom teacher is likely to be more effective at conveying the science of climate change, particularly when it is taught through an understanding of the carbon cycle and its human impacts. It also suggests that those non-governmental organizations engaged in climate change education might be better served by investing their limited resources in the development of learning materials and subsequent professional development for teachers rather than focusing on in-school presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]