On Thursday, May 6, 2021, the entire ninth grade participated in a United Nations Climate Summit simulation game, based on a curriculum developed by MIT, UMass, and Climate Interactive.
Students chose countries to represent, researched their country's commitments to mitigate climate change, and negotiated with each other in order to achieve the common goal of keeping the global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius. After three rounds of negotiations, interrupted by a group of climate activists and peppered with interviewing journalists, the group achieved a global temperature increase of 1.9 degrees C.
Students afterward reflected on how stressful the negotiations felt, how the power dynamics between developed and developing countries impacted their decisions, and their sense of satisfaction as they saw the real-time impact of their pledges on the global temperature in the computer module.