Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative (MITEI) Deputy Director for Policy Christopher Knittel, a professor in the MIT Sloan School, is leading a promising new initiative called the Climate Action Through Education (CATE) program, an interdisciplinary climate change curriculum for U.S. high schools that is rolling out in pilot form this year in more than a dozen Massachusetts high schools, and eventually in high schools across the United States.
CATE aims to engage both students and teachers in a subject that can be overwhelming. “We will be honest about the threats posed by climate change but also give students a sense of agency that they can do something about this,” says Knittel. “And for the many teachers—especially non-science teachers—starved for knowledge and background material, CATE offers resources to give them confidence to implement our curriculum.”