Tool to help teachers use local climate data, engage students' emotions on topic proves to deepen conversations

LAWRENCE — Talking about climate change can be tough. The topic is more politicized than ever, and thinking about the long-term effects often provokes anxiety or despair. New research from the University of Kansas reveals that a simple shift — asking students how they feel about local impacts from climate change — can transform classroom conversations. The approach deepened discussions, drew more students into scientific conversations, reduced feelings of hopelessness and even fostered constructive hope and civic empathy.

Imogen Herrick, assistant professor of STEM education in KU’s School of Education & Human Sciences, helped develop Community Science Data Talks, also known as CSDTs. The practice invites teachers to bring in local data such as visualizations, maps, photos or narratives that show climate impacts in their region. CSDTs create recurring discussions of 15-20 minutes that build across a unit or school year, giving students regular opportunities to analyze evidence and connect it to their own lives. 

The practice was tested in 15 K-12 classrooms across four schools in two countries, involving 332 students over two years, demonstrating its adaptability across grade levels, cultures and contexts.

“I wanted to figure out if there was a way to spark climate conversations that could thrive in any classroom,” Herrick said. “Local data can be common ground — when students investigate climate change close to home, they notice patterns in their own backyards. Each conversation layers another lens of data onto the community, gradually complexifying, building a more complex picture and creating space for hope or innovation. Because the practice is flexible, it works across grade levels, subject areas and with teachers at any stage of experience.”

For the study, Herrick and co-authors analyzed classroom recordings from schools in California and Colombia. Teachers prompted students to describe how local data made them feel. Emotional pathways emerged from these conversations, both student-led and teacher-led, that supported powerful sensemaking about local places. By naming emotions, students were able to engage more deeply with evidence, think critically about local climate impacts and move from passive worry toward active reflection, the authors found.

Students discussed coyote sightings in Los Angeles, the legacy of redlining and green space disparities in U.S. cities, and the link among rainfall, landslides and city infrastructure in Colombia. In each case, conversations expanded when students connected evidence to their emotions.

“As they shared their emotions, it activated the discussions,” Herrick said. “Students named their worries about the future or grief over environmental loss — but they didn’t stop there. Many shifted into constructive hope, brainstorming what they could do next. Some wanted to write their mayor, create a space for community discussions or create art and poetry about climate issues in their communities. When classrooms made space for emotions, those emotions became resources for deeper thinking.”

The study, co-written with Michael Lawson of Kansas State University and Ananya Matewos of Wilder Research in St. Paul, Minnesota, was published in a special issue of the journal Science Education. The authors demonstrate that CSDTs are an effective classroom tool that can help both teachers and students  discover local climate impacts. They also found that CSDTs show the power of centering both cognition and emotion in science classrooms, challenging the traditional idea that feelings are distractions rather than assets.

“Classrooms are sociocultural spaces,” Herrick said. “When students share what they know and how they feel, they support each other in agentic ways. The purpose isn’t to hand them a perspective but to support them in using their emotions as fuel for sensemaking and innovation.”

To expand the practice, Herrick and colleagues have begun training more teachers to identify and intentionally integrate local data into their teaching routines. A recorded webinar is available online for interested educators. Future projects include developing a geo-locatable platform where teachers can share local data stories and discover local nonprofit organizations engaged in climate resilience.

For now, CSDTs are already showing progress as a scalable practice.

“What we’re seeing is that even though climate concerns look different in each community, students' emotional responses share common threads. When teachers recognize and support these pathways, groups of students move beyond worry into deeper dialogue, stronger connections to place and more robust critical thinking around how to create more resilient futures.”