Activity Introduction

wwf-reef-photoframeQuick summary: Students explore the future they would like to create by examining how they experience the present and how climate change might affect the future. They begin by spending time outside experiencing nature and imagining how this nature will be changed in the future. They then look at the Choose Your Climate Future website and analyse how climate change might affect various aspects of Australian life in the future. Finally, students are asked to imagine the future they would like to see through a visual storytelling activity.

earth-hour-160x160

This lesson has been created in partnership with WWF-Australia. Earth Hour is the world’s largest community-driven climate change campaign. At the centre of Earth Hour is switching off lights to show a commitment to taking action. Thousands of teachers use Earth Hour’s education program to enrich their curriculum and provide pathways for young people to create change in their world.

For the most up to date Earth Hour dates, times, and events, check here.

Essential questions:

  • How are we affected by our environment?
  • How do we experience nature?
  • How do we affect our environment?
  • What is climate change and how will it affect our future?
  • How can we affect our future?

21st century skills:

skills CF 5678 

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Content descriptions: This lesson can be used across multiple strands of the Australian Curriculum, including –

Year 5 English

  • Create literary texts using realistic and fantasy settings and characters that draw on the worlds represented in texts students have experienced (ACELT1612)
  • Create literary texts that experiment with structures, ideas and stylistic features of selected authors (ACELT1798)

Year 5 HASS – Geography

  • The influence of people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, on the environmental characteristics of Australian places (ACHASSK112)

Year 6 English

  • Create literary texts that adapt or combine aspects of texts students have experienced in innovative ways (ACELT1618)
  • Experiment with text structures and language features and their effects in creating literary texts, for example, using imagery, sentence variation, metaphor and word choice (ACELT1800)

Year 6 Science

  • Sudden geological changes and extreme weather events can affect Earth’s surface (ACSSU096)
  • Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena and reflects historical and cultural contributions (ACSHE098)

Year 5 & 6 PDHPE

  • Explore how participation in outdoor activities supports personal and community health and wellbeing and creates connections to natural and built environments (ACPPS059)

General capabilities: Critical and creative thinking, Literacy, Personal and social capability.

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.7., OI.9.

Syllabus Outcomes: EN3-7C, EN3-2A, ST3-9ES, ST3-4WS, ALS3.6.

Topic: Earth Hour, Climate change.

Unit of work: Earth Hour.

Time required: 60 mins x 2

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – Lead students in outdoor activity, initiate class discussion, oversee activities.

Resources required: Student Worksheet – one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet. Device capable of presenting a website to the class. Internet access and computers/tablets for students. Consequence wheel, Ranking ladder, Visual storytelling tips, Animation tips, Comic strip tips, Making a short film. Extension: About cool burning.

Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities, acquiring information from website to complete activities.

Keywords: Climate change, future, present, nature, environment, visual storytelling.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.

Worksheets

Teacher Worksheet

wwf-volleyball-photoframeTeacher preparation

Overarching learning goal: Students identify how they connect with nature and the environment and can imagine how the environment will be affected in the future. Students recognise some of the core concepts relating to climate change and develop an understanding of how climate change will affect the future of Australia. Finally, students imagine the future they want to see in the context of complex environmental issues like climate change.

Teacher content information: Earth Hour is a WWF-Australia initiative, and is the world’s largest community-driven climate change campaign. At the centre of Earth Hour is switching off lights to show a commitment to taking action. Thousands of teachers use Earth Hour’s education program to enrich their curriculum and provide pathways for young people to create change in their world.

Download the Earth Hour starter kit for your school: Earth Hour for Schools

The IPCC:
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- or - to view worksheets

Student Worksheet

Thought starter: What does your future look like?

Part 1. Thinking about the present and the future

PRESENT - Think of two sentences that describe what you experienced when you observed the nature around you:

Sentence 1 -

Sentence 2 -

FUTURE - Think of two sentences that describe what you imagined the future in that spot to be like:

Sentence 1 -

Sentence 2 -

Part 2. Our climate future

Spend several minutes exploring the Choose Your Climate Future website, then complete the following activities:

1. Create a graph to describe the changes in sea level rise from 1.5 degrees, 2 degrees, and 3+ degrees.

2. Create a consequence wheel for one of the following issues (you can use this Consequence wheel or create your own):

  • The impacts of warming oceans on humans
  • The impacts of drought on farming
  • The effects of more high fire danger days on rural communities

3. Ranking ladder – Use the Ranking ladder to describe which

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