This set of activities was designed to enhance student knowledge and engagement with environmental issues and climate change as part of a high school freshman Global Studies course. The materials have been adapted for use during the COVID-19 school closure period.
Through concrete case studies, students learn essential content information about what climate change means, its causes, its consequences on people and the world, and different strategies – big and small - that can be implemented to mitigate, adapt, and solve the problem. Students also reflect on their own impact on the planet through an ecological footprint quiz, learn about youth activism, and participate in their own form of civic engagement through the collaborative writing and performance of rap lyrics from the perspective of teenagers from the future (e.g. 2100) suffering from the effects of climate change. Tables of Contents What is Climate Change? Consequences of Climate Change - Coffee production, Kiribati, Bangladesh
Sustainable Development and Solutions - Solar panels, bamboo as a sustainable resource, plant-based diets, drawdown climate change solutions
Ecological Footprint - Student reflection on their own impact on the planet through interactive quiz and engagement with storymaps
Climate Change Action - Broader strategic categories of climate change responses by government, society, and business groups
Climate Change and Youth Engagement - Greta Thunberg and youth movements Climate Change and Youth Engagement - Collaborative student rap writing and performance Please view the lesson set here. More sections (e.g. globalization, poverty and development, global health, stereotypes and prejudices, and migration and refugees) of the course will be shared in future posts.