This Spring National Geographic Explorer Will Steger and a team of young adventurers will bring their High Arctic dogsled expedition to educators and learners through multimedia dispatches on www.globalwarming101.com. Follow Will and his teammates, all in their early twenties, as they retrace historical expedition routes on Ellesmere Island, encounter endangered wildlife, photograph disintegrating ice sheets that are collapsing into the ocean, mush across frozen sea ice, and visit an area on the frontlines of climate change.

Endorsed by the National Education Association, this Adventure Learning project includes standards-linked multidisciplinary lesson plans that explore how climate shapes the past, present and future for members of the High Arctic community. The Global Warming 101 lesson plans are free, appropriate for middle school and older students and endorsed by NEA, National Geographic, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. In addition to lesson plans the site includes discussion starters that challenge high school and older students to think critically and form well-supported opinions. Action strategies give students an opportunity to learn citizenship skills.

This free downloadable curriculum meets standards in History, Social Studies, Geography, and Science. Teachers could adapt the lessons for use in Literature, Art, Drama, or other subjects as well. . The original six lesson plans cover the basics of how the atmosphere works, how human actions impact the atmosphere and climate, and possible courses of action. A free classroom map, sponsored by the National Education Association, is available at www.globalwarming101.com. Through the interactive website users will witness the impacts of global warming on the Arctic ecosystem, learn how to take part in global warming solutions, and come to appreciate the interconnected world in which we live.

The Global Warming 101 initiative seeks to inspire youth through peer role-models. The team includes 21-year-old Sarah and 23-year-old Eric McNair-Landry, a Canadian brother-sister team holding the speed record for crossing Antarctica and the youngest people to reach both poles; 27-year old Iditarod rookie of the year, Norwegian Sigrid Ekran; Sir Richard Branson’s 22-year old son Sam, an author, musician and explorer; American Ben Horton, a National Geographic Young Explorer, photographer, and Imax film-man; and 28-year-old Norwegian explorer and polar historian Tobias Thorleifsson.

The Global Warming 101 initiative also seeks to empower emerging leaders through highlighting youth who are actively working towards slowing climate change, sharing action strategies and providing opportunities for peer-to-peer cooperation.