{"id":49430,"date":"2019-09-16T13:18:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T20:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=49430"},"modified":"2019-09-16T13:18:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T20:18:03","slug":"a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/","title":{"rendered":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nIt\u2019s too late to protect them from it, so how do teachers tell children about climate change without scaring them? The good news is that young people are already engaged \u2013 the students taking part in\u00a0climate strikes<\/a>\u00a0show that young people want action and are willing to skip school to show how serious they are. But while in class, children shouldn\u2019t feel their time is wasted. Primary school teachers have an ethical responsibility to bring climate change into their classrooms and they\u2019re well placed for the task.<\/p>\n

Imagining a climate change curriculum is no mean feat. How to cover the range, scale and scope of the climate emergency? From the\u00a0global effects on Earth\u2019s biodiversity<\/a>\u00a0to the human sources of\u00a0greenhouse gas emissions<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 climate change will dominate the future of today\u2019s children and reshape every aspect of their lives.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the biggest question of all \u2013 what are we going to do about it? This seems to\u00a0animate children more<\/a>\u00a0than the adults in power, and the free imaginations we usually attribute to children are needed to remake the world in light of the climate crisis. A key task of educators in the 21st century is to make such abstract concepts tangible.<\/p>\n

Springboard stories<\/h4>\n

Storytelling offers a way through for the educator and every primary school teacher I\u2019ve ever met seems to have a gift for it. I saw how powerful storytelling could be when I worked at the\u00a0Eden Project<\/a>\u00a0in Cornwall \u2013 the world\u2019s largest indoor rainforest. Here, visitors learn about the natural world while immersed in it.<\/p>\n

One teacher told a story about ancient Polynesians who travelled the Pacific taking plants they grew with them to use for medicine, food and clothing. He explained to the school group that this led to the dispersal of plants \u2013 like coconut-carrying palms and bananas trees \u2013 all across islands in the Pacific. \u201cYour island is sinking,\u201d he told the children. \u201cYou\u2019re setting off to find new lands and changing your life. What plants would you take with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

With that thought, the children wandered off amid Eden\u2019s rice plants, the banana and rubber trees that make tires and the\u00a0periwinkles that cure childhood leukaemia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Their lives might feel a million miles from those ancient travellers, but the dynamics are the same \u2013 we all rely on the natural world. It\u2019s not just something pretty to look at, it\u2019s vital for our survival. Stories can act as springboards that catapult young people into new ways of seeing, thinking and being in a constantly changing world.<\/p>\n

Reading time<\/h4>\n

Every primary school should amass a climate change book shelf. This could inspire an enduring love of nature and begin to build familiarity with ecological terms and concepts. A good example is Rob McFarlane\u2019s\u00a0Lost Words<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 something of a rescue mission for nature words that have been erased from the Oxford Junior Dictionary. The book introduces children to otters, conkers and kingfishers through poetry and beautiful paintings.<\/p>\n

Books that deal more directly with environmental destruction and climate change are also needed. Lara Hawthorne\u2019s\u00a0Alba, the hundred-year-old fish<\/a>, tells the story of a beautiful coral reef that becomes a littered graveyard. Alba the fish gets stuck in a plastic bottle and is only saved by a little girl who recruits her community to clean up the ocean and release Alba.<\/p>\n

Telling these tales could lead into discussions about helpful activities for outside the classroom. With a well-planned reading list, language can be a surprisingly effective bridge to the great outdoors, and a powerful motivator for taking care of it.<\/p>\n

From students to stewards<\/h4>\n

Schools by the sea might read \u201cAlba\u201d before taking part in a beach clean. Teachers could help pupils record data in citizen science projects, like\u00a0spotting seagrass<\/a>\u00a0along sheltered coastlines to help scientists understand where these underwater meadows are and protect them. Urban schools might find patches of ancient woodland, parks and gardens to\u00a0undertake surveys<\/a>. Here they might identify lichen and moss on trees to\u00a0measure air pollution<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 where there\u2019s more growing on tree bark, the air quality tends to be better. They might also dip test paper in ponds to understand local water pollution or plant trees and sow new wildflower meadows.<\/p>\n

There are also opportunities to explore nature within school grounds.\u00a0The Natural History Museum\u2019s Microverse project<\/a>\u00a0helps children identify the species that live on walls and in the little nooks and crannies of a playground, and the ecological roles they play.<\/p>\n

Children may learn the effects of climate change in great detail throughout their time in school, but for the sake of hope, we need to take them through ways of mitigating those effects.<\/p>\n

An ambitious climate change curriculum in primary schools could empower young people to understand the natural world and to see themselves as part of it, before giving them the chance to engage with and help it. It\u2019s important, however, that the climate strike generation aren\u2019t allowed to feel their efforts are hopeless \u2013 school should nurture their passions and help them shape the future they stand to inherit.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Ria Dunkley is a Lecturer in Geography, Environment and Sustainability at the University of Glasgow<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s too late to protect them from it, so how do teachers tell children about climate change without scaring them? The good news is that young people are already engaged \u2013 the students taking part in\u00a0climate strikes\u00a0show that young people want action and are willing to skip school to show how serious they are. But […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":49431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[545],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-49430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-curriculum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s too late to protect them from it, so how do teachers tell children about climate change without scaring them? The good news is that young people are already engaged \u2013 the students taking part in\u00a0climate strikes\u00a0show that young people want action and are willing to skip school to show how serious they are. But […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"468\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":885,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/climate_blackboard2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Curriculum\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/\",\"name\":\"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/climate_blackboard2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/climate_blackboard2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/climate_blackboard2.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":468},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"It\u2019s too late to protect them from it, so how do teachers tell children about climate change without scaring them? The good news is that young people are already engaged \u2013 the students taking part in\u00a0climate strikes\u00a0show that young people want action and are willing to skip school to show how serious they are. But […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":468,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation","datePublished":"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/"},"wordCount":885,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg","keywords":["Curriculum"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/","name":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg","datePublished":"2019-09-16T20:18:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/climate_blackboard2.jpg","width":680,"height":468},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/a-climate-change-curriculum-to-empower-the-climate-strike-generation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A climate change curriculum to empower the climate strike generation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49430"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=49430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}