Coastal communities are experiencing an increase in flooding due to storms, high tides, and sea level rise. Educating students on these issues is not only a great science and math exercise, it helps build informed decision-making skills around climate adaptation and mitigation measures.

Jayma Koval (Georgia Tech Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing) and Dr. Alex Robel (Georgia Tech School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) created a 1-2 week curriculum for middle school students to actively investigate these issues. The curriculum follows the 5E Model of Instruction and is aligned with middle school earth science and statistics and probability standards. Topics covered include tides, sea level rise, coastal flooding, climate change, statistics, and probability.

In this phenomenon-based module, students are transported to Savannah and Tybee Island to better understand how flooding, tides, sea level rise, and climate change are impacting coastal communities. The curriculum provides foundational science and math principles and allows students to engage with real data from the Smart Sea Level Sensors project. The curriculum also leverages Georgia Climate Stories videos and gives students the opportunity to tell their own "climate story." Through this experience, students will learn the science behind these impacts, create data visualizations, and brainstorm methods to mitigate the effects of climate change.

For more information, visit https://www.sealevelsensors.org/education/ or https://secoora.org/education-outreach/sea-level-rise-curriculum/.