LSC’s Climate Change school program offers an up-close look at a changing planet
Did you know Liberty Science Center offers a “Climate Change” program for school and camp groups, which can be booked at both the Science on a Sphere (SOS) interactive globe and in the planetarium?
In “Climate Change,” students learn that mainly through human activity, our climate has changed by over 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. Via the SOS, we can compare the extent of the polar icecap from the late 70s to modern times, getting smaller and smaller each year.
The SOS can also show us places on Earth that would be underwater with even a small rise in sea levels (one of the impacts of climate change).
In addition, the “Climate Change” program takes students to Mars and Venus, which are two planets with radically-changing climates. Venus, for instance, has a thick atmosphere mainly of carbon dioxide, which has caused the planet’s temperature to stay at 861 degrees Fahrenheit – twice as hot as your oven when you make a pizza. Although Earth will never be this bad, we can see that even a little increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere can cause dramatic changes to conditions on the planet.
The program also offers solutions to how we can minimize the impact of climate change, such as eating less red meat (meat production greatly contributes to greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide).
On July 21, 2023, a group of girls in the STEM program at the YWCA Northern New Jersey attended LSC’s “Climate Change” presentation.
“Something we’ve been focusing on a lot the year has been climate change, and specifically what young people can do to eliminate the effects,” says Maddy Doubet, the Girls Program Coordinator at YWCA Northern New Jersey.
“I think this program shows that climate change is not just this abstract idea – it’s something we all need to take really seriously, and it’s something we can all think about together.”
Jeanette Calderon, an 8th grader from Union City, says the presentation helped her learn how greenhouse gases, and the way they build up, have an impact on the planet.
“I saw that the way humans act and treat our world is going to affect future generations, and eventually ruin our nature,” says Jeanette. “There won’t be anything left for future people that will inherit this world.”
Alzahraa Hanafy, also an 8th grader from Union City, was surprised to learn how much warmer the planet is getting.
“Only ten years ago, it wasn’t like that,” says Alzahraa. “It’s just sad to see that we are mistreating our planet.”
Groups can 201.253.1337 or email partnerships@lsc.org for more information about booking a “Climate Change” program.
