Climate change is on our students’ minds. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that climate change “poses real threats to children’s mental and physical health.” With this in mind, it’s more important than ever to address this topic in our classrooms. It’s vital, however, that we inspire our students to take positive climate action rather than leave them feeling fearful about the future.
That’s why we’re so excited to have worked together with our friends at World Wildlife Fund to create “Youth for the Planet: Taking Climate Action in Your Own Community.” This climate action resource kit builds an understanding of the impacts of climate change and encourages young people to take what they have learned to make real and meaningful changes close to home.
What’s in the Climate Action Resource Kit?
The versatility of this kit is awesome. It can be used as a stand-alone unit on climate change/climate action that can last for one to two weeks. Or it can separated into individual activities you can use to supplement your already-existing climate change lessons. The kit includes:
- Youth for the Planet: Taking Climate Action in Your Own Community Slideshow/Lesson: This slideshow lesson covers the basics of climate change and its impact in the United States. It showcases young people taking climate action in their states. Teacher notes provide research-based information for you, while presenting and a student note sheet helps students organize information.
- Together We Can Take Climate Action! Picture Book Activity: This creative lesson encourages students to apply their knowledge to create a picture book capturing the most important information that younger students should know. A detailed teachers’ guide supports you in facilitating this activity, and planning pages assist students in structuring their picture books.
- We’re Taking Climate Action! Bulletin Board Activity: Harness your students’ competitive spirit with a fun activity showcasing the cumulative impact of small climate actions. The kit includes everything for a bulletin board. Students identify actions at school, home, or in their community to address climate change. As they display these actions on the board, it becomes a visual testament to their collective effort and positive impact on the community.
- Working Together for Climate Action: Student Project Plan: The student project plan inspires your students to lead a comprehensive climate action campaign in their community. It provides a step-by-step guide for brainstorming, planning, implementing, and reflecting on a larger scale. A detailed teachers’ guide and student planning sheets for each step make the project manageable. Conferences and reflection activities are strategically planned to support students in choosing actions, implementing meaningful change, and reflecting on their successes and what they should work toward in the future.
