Navigating the Yale Climate Opinion Maps

• This activity guides students through a series of questions related to the Yale Climate Opinion Maps, focusing on Louisiana data.
• Students will also get to put themselves in the place of the governor of Louisiana and make several climate policy decisions based on their constituents' climate opinions. 

Positives

• The Student Page is a fillable pdf, so students can type directly on the document.
• The Educator Page has an answer key for the Student Page.

Additional Prerequisites

• While the Student Page pdf is fillable, question #14 asks students to draw a picture, which students will need to do on paper.

Differentiation

• Students can complete this activity individually, in pairs, or small groups.
• Civics and government classes could use this activity to discuss how policy-makers identify and pursue policies they believe will pass.
• Students could discuss why certain regions of the United States hold non-scientific opinions. The class could make a list of reasons why people might mistrust climate science.
• Other resources on this topic include this ClimateScience course on climate politics, this lesson on fighting climate myths, and this lesson on researching the history of climate policies.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.