Activity Instructions

Part A: What do we already know?

Step 1.

Begin by having a chat with your kid/s.

What have you heard about climate change?
Where did you hear this?
What is climate change, according to you? What do you think it means? Can you give me an example?
How are you feeling about climate change?

While climate change is a real-world issue essential for kids to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future, which seems to be turning darker and scarier by the day.

Reassure your kids that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this issue, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider this PD course.

Step 2.

What do we want to know about climate change? This may have already come out in your conversation in Step 1, but it can be useful to clarify what we're trying to find out.

One your paper, write down three "I wonder" questions.

For example:

I wonder what is making the planet warm up?

It's important for you, the adult, to get engaged as well! Don't assume you already know everything - or, at least, don't make your kids think you're not interested in going on this learning journey with them.

Asking Quality Question

- Open-ended questions encourage kids to develop their language by using a wider range of vocabulary to answer the question in a more nuanced way. Open-ended questions require them to provide more information and detail, and to actively process how to structure their thoughts in order to deliver a coherent answer and provide sufficient details.

- Position yourself as genuinely curious, about the world but also a kid's thoughts

- Ask genuine questions (those that you don’t know the answer too)

- Try to avoid judging answers as right or wrong (posing questions such as “I wonder…” questions helps to take the wrong and right out of the answer, and allow kids to explore and test their own ideas without fear of being wrong)

- Work to invite a genuine response, rather than expect a specific response

- Continue questioning after kids have answered, asking, “Why do you say that?” This further reveals their thinking.

For more evidence-based advice on developing oral language in students, click here.

Now, let's see if we can find some answers.

Part B: Exploring climate change

Step 1.

Grab out your climate change factsheet and have a read-through of the first page together.

You might need to stop and define any new or unfamiliar words. See if you can use the context of the rest of the sentence to figure out the meaning of the word. for example:

"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change." It sounds like assessing means they're trying to figure out the science.

It's great to write down these definitions in your own words.

Step 2.

Now sit back and watch:

Cool Australia Presents Climate Change (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHo5M5Q3QqQ)

You might like to do a quick check-in with your 'I wonder' questions. Have any of them been answered? Or, as we've learned more, some new wonderings might have occurred to you! Write these down as well!

Step 3.

Discuss a list of all the things you and your kid/s can think of that cause pollution and might be contributing to global warming. Things like cars, factories burning fossil fuels, burning wood in your fireplace.

Spend 10 minutes drawing a picture of this heavily polluting world. You might like to add some other environmental issues you're worried about, such as landfill, deforestation (cutting down trees), and rubbish in the ocean.

As you go, discuss with your kid:

What words would you use to describe the place you're drawing?
How do you feel about living somewhere like here? Why?
Do you think we can change a place like this? How?

Remind and encourage your kid/s that change is possible, if we're willing to work for it.

Step 4.

Together, read page two of your climate change factsheet. Maybe you can take turns reading a paragraph each.

If you're seeing a lot of interest in the energy side of things, you might like to take a detour to check out another Cool lesson Everything you need to know about energy. This lesson is Cool's one-stop-shop on fossil fuels, renewable energies, and how they impact climate change. It's a little bit different to this activity because it's designed for teachers in a classroom, but that shouldn't stop you giving it a go.

Step 5.

Together, read page three of your climate change factsheet.

It's important to remember that the IPCC report is only one possibility. It sounds like a pretty bad future, but it is not inevitable (which means it's not a certainty to happen). If we make changes to the way we're polluting starting right now, we can avoid this climate change future.

Remember to keep the focus on being optimistic and hopeful, and not to get caught up in all the negative impacts. This lesson called Imagining our Climate Future gets kids to think, draw and write about a future where we've solved all of our climate problems, and is a great vision of hope.

Part C: What can we do?

Step 1.

By now you might be feeling like we're in a black hole of climate pollution. But that's not the case. We're not helpless.

Discuss with your kid/s whether they have any ideas about what they could do to help the environment, and start writing a list.

Here are some suggestions, both big and small:

Australians generating methane equivalent to around 6.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by sending food scraps to rot in landfill. Get your kids to set up a compost bin in the backyard and be responsible for separating out foodscraps from your dinner waste.
If 50% of electricity worldwide comes from zero-emissions sources (ie: wind or solar power) by 2025, and 90% by 2035 (up from 38% in 2020), this will result in a reduction of 16.5 gigatonnes of carbon emissions. Ask your kid/s to spend some time on an energy compare website and present you with the most green energy supplier within your budget. If possible, also ask them to start researching solar panels, and presenting you with a money-saving case for getting some panels installed.
Grab your bikes out of the garage, dust them off, and try to ride or walk as much as possible while leaving the car at home.
Refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle – Cut the waste, save on resources and eliminate unnecessary emissions. Do you really need that thing you're about to buy? Think carefully about all your purchases, and where possible, choose the greenest option. Things like individually wrapped muesli bars, whilst convenient, create a lot of single-use plastic waste. Encourage your kid/s to hold you accountable on purchases and look to reduce or reusable packaging.
Start getting involved. Joining organised climate action is a great way to spend time together and support your kid/s in taking initiative and being passionate, confident leaders. Look for opportunities to be involved, or start your own action, perhaps by writing letters to the government. You could also look at joining a group like AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition – https://www.aycc.org.au/).

Where to next?

Cool's Climate Change Digital Library has a wealth of up to date videos, infographics, factsheets, and news articles to help you learn even more about climate change.

Remember to keep up to date on what's happening locally and around the world. The news can be overwhelming at times, but have regular check-ins with your kid/s about how they're feeling about the state of the world, and bring focus to stories of hope and improvements when they are reported on.

One of the most important things you can is to spread the word to your family, neighbours, school, community, and government members so that small climate action becomes a huge movement. You're welcome to share this resource with others to get them started.

And Cool would love to hear about what changes you've made after engaging with this resource with your kid/s. Let us know in the form on the original webpage if you have any feedback on what works well, or how to make these resource even better.

What is climate change? (for parents)

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Lesson Guides and Printables

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What is climate change? (for parents)

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Summary

Lesson Guides and Printables

In this lesson