What lesson plans can be used to explain climate change to children?

Question

It will be useful to have a collection of climate change lesson plans that teachers or parents can use to help children understand the subject. These could be descriptive guides on what needs to be done in the lesson, contain tools & resources on the subject, indication on the time frame of the lesson, etc.

Answer 1

Resources below are free to access & download. These can be used for classroom teaching as well as at home by parents.

See the complete list of resources at “What Resources Can Be Used to Explain Climate Change to Children?” (OneSharedEarth, 2019).

Topic	Age	Curriculum Links	Resources	Info	Organisation	Notes
Transport	4-7	UK	Activity ideas, worksheets	Encourages children to think how they travel & the impact it has on the planet. Covers different forms of transport, global warming	The Pod	Email registration required
Climate change	7-11	Strand	10 lessons, activities, worksheets, photographs, web links	Covers climate, weather, carbon, fossil fuels, greenhouse effect, biodiversity, transport, causes, evidence, solutions, community, leadership	Dublin City University, 2013
Healthy food for a healthy planet	7-11	UK	5 activities, background info, approximate timings	Introduces the issue of climate change using food. Covers food production, impact of food choices, food labels, impact of climate change on growing food.	WWF
Shaping our Future: The Climate Challenge	7-14	UK	3 lessons, teacher guides, presentation slides, worksheet activities, debate cards, image bank, experiments	Covers climate, weather, water cycle, pressure, temperature, problems, goals	WWF
Climate Challenge	7-14	UK	6 sessions, 2 slide shows, activity sheets, approximate timings	Covers causes, human impact of climate change, action to be taken, greenhouse effect, analysis of carbon footprint data	Oxfam GB, 2019
Polar Bears & the Arctic	8-11	US	5 activities, background info, worksheets	Introduction to climate change using the topic of polar bears in the Arctic	Climate Classroom Kids, 2015
Design a climate change infographic	11-16	Global	Activity ideas	Design your own info-graphic explaining climate change	The Pod	Email registration required
Food Poster Presentation Activity		Global	Suggested activities, background info, approximate timings	About how food choices affect climate change. Covers transport, packaging, seasonal produce, food miles.	Carbon Partners
Climate Change Summit Activity		Global	Suggested activities, background info, approximate timings	Activity to simulate a climate change summit. Covers carbon footprint, greenhouse gases, impacts, challenges, solutions.	Carbon Partners
A Guatemala case study		US	5 activities, background info, approximate timings	Uses the rain forests of Guatemala as an example. Covers carbon cycle, greenhouse effect, role of trees & forests.	Rainforest Alliance, 2014