. Climate Science Engagement Opportunities for Teachers and Students in Puerto Rico

Abstract
Climate change is an issue that is especially impactful for residents of island communities such as those in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is increasingly subject to intense hurricanes, coastal erosion, agricultural uncertainty and threats to marine life. Over the past year, CIRES Education and Outreach has been collaborating with communities near Arecibo, Puerto Rico to develop engagement activities around local climate effects. Using materials from two existing Education and Outreach programs: Lens on Climate Change and the Climate Literacy & Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), four workshops have been offered to members of the Arecibo community that also drew participants from across the island. Lens on Climate change is an informal education workshop that engages students in self-motivated research and learning about a climate topic of their choice. This program was designed for students in Colorado, but activities and program structure were modified to reflect the differing community needs, climate threats and technological limitations in Puerto Rico. Students in this program created three films that used interviews with members of their communities as the basis for investigating local climate effects. A teacher training workshop was also developed to provide materials and resources for exploring climate topics in the classroom. Materials for this workshop were drawn from the CLEAN collection, a collection of learning resources that are free for teachers to use and are rigorously reviewed by scientists and educators. emphasized active learning projects and inquiries that utilize authentic data and data visualizations showing long term patterns and trends in climate science likely to impact Puerto Rico.