This interactive map shows polling data about climate change for a variety of questions and statements that are mapped down to the county level for the entire United States.
It also provides the results for the United States as a whole, displayed in bar graphs for each question or statement.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This data shows the strong belief in the U.S. that climate change is real, which is often not the perception of U.S. opinion.
This resource is also a great jumping off point for discussions about polling, data science, and the connection between public opinion and government policy.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should have some understanding of the differences between counties, metro areas, and congressional districts.
Students should have a basic understanding of climate change.
Differentiation
Some students will need guiding questions and more time to process before discussing. There is a lot of data that can be viewed, so give some guidance or direction for what students should do when on the site.
Scientist Notes
This article presents data on the perception of global warming in U.S. counties, cities, and states. The 999 bootstrap simulation used to visualize the map showed 95% confidence level, indicating accuracy of the entire dataset across Columbus, Colorado, Ohio, Texas, San Francisco, and California. Thus I recommend this resource to educate students to understand the belief patterns, perception risk, and opinions on global warming in the USA and the consequences if urgent action is not taken.
Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Geography
D2.Geo.2.9-12 Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
D2.Geo.3.9-12 Use geographic data to analyze variations in the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics at multiple scales.
