Observatory and Education Bureau promote awareness of climate change

The Hong Kong Observatory has produced an educational package on climate change for schoolchildren in Hong Kong to promote general awareness and understanding of this topic. The Education Bureau has partnered with the Observatory to help teachers and students make the best use of information available in the package and apply knowledge of different school subjects in the study of the issue.

Acting Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Observatory Mr Leung Wing-mo said the objective was to put together the latest available scientific information on climate change for easy consumption by students and teachers so that the younger generation would understand the importance of the problem and take an active role in combating climate change.

Principal Assistant Secretary of the Education Bureau, Dr Catherine Chan Ka-ki said tackling climate change demanded an all-out effort.

"Education is one of the keys to success through enabling students to understand the rationale behind the changing issue and to take constructive action to resolve it. The Education Bureau is pleased to contribute to this project by facilitating concerted response and involvement of the education sector," Dr Chan said.

Presented in Chinese and English, the educational package consists of a DVD containing an animated cartoon, a cartoon booklet, a CD-ROM containing PowerPoint presentations and a collection of publications and press releases on climate change, as well as another DVD containing the Oscar Award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth".

While the underlying theme is the same, the different components of the educational package address the subject at a variety of levels and perspectives to cater for students of different levels.

The PowerPoint presentations, with different versions for primary and secondary schools, are intended to provide teachers with a ready tool for explaining to students the basic science of climate change, its impacts and the mitigation actions individuals could take. Brief notes are also provided to help teachers make the presentation.

The animated cartoon and cartoon booklet present climate change to young people in a medium with which they are familiar. It is hoped that the more lively approach will help drive home the message to students, in particular the responsibility of individuals in the mitigation of climate change.

The package will be distributed to schools in Hong Kong before the end of this month (September). The Education Bureau will follow by organising seminars to introduce how the package can be incorporated into the learning and teaching of different science and humanities subjects.

"The package provides simplified data and information on climate change useful to our teaching of the topic," said Ms Yeu Hau-yan, a geography teacher from Pooi To Middle School who helped develop a teacher's guide for the package. "It allows our students to study the issue from multiple perspectives and apply what they have learnt in different subjects."

A science teacher from Po Leung Kuk Yao Ling Sun College, Mr Yu Kin-wai, said the content of the educational package was very comprehensive and up-to-date. "It provides us with many useful resources to complement our science curriculum. It helps our school children to lead a less energy-intensive lifestyle, thereby reducing release of carbon dioxide and contributing to the protection of our environment."