High School Senior Course
Decarbonize Your Life
Climate science, ethics, technology, economics, and action for a livable future.
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Local evidence, field observation, and student-designed action.
Course Mission
“To offer students an intellectual, ethical, and practical grounding in how to reduce their carbon emissions and contribute to global sustainability goals.”
The course aligns with climate literacy principles: understanding climate systems, human impacts, mitigation, adaptation, justice, and informed action. Following NOAA climate literacy framing, students learn that climate literacy means understanding one’s influence on climate and climate’s influence on society.
What Students Learn
A Liberal Arts Toolkit For Climate Action
Students connect scientific mechanisms with moral reasoning, local choices, and public consequences.
Carbon Footprint Analysis
Air Quality & Environmental Justice
Ethics and Carbon Inequality
Food Systems and Consumption
Renewable Energy Technologies
Climate Policy and Economics
Environmental Anthropology
Personal and Community Action
Course Journey
From Climate Systems To Local Strategy
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Labs and Activities
Hands-On, Evidence-Based Learning
Students work with local data, everyday systems, design constraints, and community-facing choices.
Guest Speakers
Expert Voices Across Disciplines
Climate scientist
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
Environmental anthropologist
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
Physician/public health expert
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
Economist
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
Policy advocate
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
Sustainability practitioner
A practitioner perspective that helps students test ideas against real evidence and real communities.
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A public-facing strategy rooted in place, evidence, and ethics.
Final Mini-Project
Final Decarbonization Strategy
Students design a personal or community-based decarbonization strategy for their hometown, integrating scientific understanding, technology choices, economic reasoning, and social and ethical considerations.
No written paper required
Visual presentation required
Speaking component
Q&A defense
Conditional and ethical use of AI
Must be realistic, evidence-based, and locally grounded
Assessment Philosophy
Serious Work, Human Measures
Evaluation emphasizes growth, practice, collaboration, and public communication.
ParticipationLab engagementReflectionCollaborationApplied problem-solvingPublic presentation
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Teaching climate action through anthropology, design, fieldwork, and care.
About the Instructors
Marilyn Lord & Tom Lord
Marilyn Lord is a senior educator, curriculum designer, and longtime Kimball Union Academy teacher with expertise in anthropology, climate education, experiential learning, and game-based curriculum design. Tom Lord joins the course as an additional instructor, supporting students as they connect climate science, ethics, technology, and practical decarbonization strategies.