Taking the Kids: Continuing the discussion about climate change

Dublin adds, "We have made it our goal to make a visit to the aquarium more than a moment of inspiration, but rather a call to action that can last a lifetime."

He notes that the aquarium's newest exhibit, Ocean Wonders: Sharks! asks visitors to take a pledge to reduce their consumption of single-use plastic, consume only sustainably sourced seafood and reduce their carbon footprint through smart choices while shopping. "The response has been phenomenal, with over 95 percent of exhibit visitors leaving with a better understanding of conservation issues and the majority of them making the pledge," he said.

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago notes that 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes ecosystem each year. Plastic straws, which cannot be recycled due to small size and plastic type, consistently show up among the top 10 items collected in beach cleanups around the world. Americans use 500 million a day! The Shedd Aquarium now is urging visitors to #SheddtheStraw they don't really need, as well as other single-use plastics.

Visitors often connect to a specific animal -- a sea turtle, a panda, a sea otter, which in turn can encourage a dialog about how climate change might impact that animal and what we can do to help, Anderson said. At the San Diego Zoo (where kids will be free all-October) special kids programs like the Kinderzoo early morning and overnight visits help to make that happen.

At the Monterey Bay Aquarium there is a popular sea otter exhibit that explains how they nearly became extinct from hunting. And while their numbers have grown, they still face serious risks -- oil from a single tanker spill near San Francisco or off the Central Coast would threaten the entire California sea otter population.

There are colorful sculptures here made completely out of plastic that has been collected from the ocean; The Deep Sea Exhibit includes "sea watch cards" that encourage visitors to buy and eat sustainable seafood -- choose seafood that's fished or farmed in ways that support a healthy ocean, now and for future generations. The aquarium has just held its first-ever Climate Action Project Summit, geared to teachers with the idea that they can return to their classrooms and engage students to create projects in their own communities.

See what special family activities at your local zoos and aquariums can help kids better understand climate change.

Suggest your middle-schoolers talk to their classmates and teachers and make changes that can reduce energy consumption -- using public transportation, carpooling and packing waste-free lunches and snacks -- good bets whether at home or traveling, the National Aquarium's Anderson suggests.

"I hope the politicians hear us," one teen told reporters in Copenhagen during the protest. "They don't really seem to be doing anything,"

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