Activity: Earth Hour: Climate Change Documentary – Year 5 & 6

Quick summary: In this activity students work in groups to create a short documentary or film about climate change, in particular its impacts, risks and the personal actions that can be taken to fight climate change. Students present their videos to the class. This lesson meets selected Australian Curriculum outcomes for Years 5 and 6 in the subjects of English and Geography.

This activity 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.

Learning goals:

• Students understand that there are a range of risks and impacts associated with climate change.
• Students recognise that there are many different personal actions that we can all take to help fight climate change.
• Students understand that video can be a useful tool for communicating positive messages about climate change.

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and creative thinking

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.1, OI.6.

Australian Curriculum content descriptions:

Year 5 English

• Use interaction skills, for example paraphrasing, questioning and interpreting non-verbal cues and choose vocabulary and vocal effects appropriate for different audiences and purposes (ACELY1796)
• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations for defined audiences and purposes incorporating accurate and sequenced content and multimodal elements (ACELY1700)
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704)
• Use a range of software including word processing programs with fluency to construct, edit and publish written text, and select, edit and place visual, print and audio elements (ACELY1707)

Year 5 Geography

• The influence of people, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, on the environmental characteristics of Australian places (ACHASSK112)
• Reflect on learning to propose personal and/or collective action in response to an issue or challenge, and predict the probable effects (ACHASSI104)

Year 6 English

• Use interaction skills, varying conventions of spoken interactions such as voice volume, tone, pitch and pace, according to group size, formality of interaction and needs and expertise of the audience (ACELY1816)
• Plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for modality and emphasis (ACELY1710)
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714)
• Use a range of software, including word processing programs, learning new functions as required to create texts (ACELY1717)

Year 6 Science

• Scientific knowledge is used to inform personal and community decisions (ACSHE100)
• Communicate ideas, explanations and processes in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

Year 5 & 6 Design and Technology

• Investigate how and why food and fibre are produced in managed environments (ACTDEK021)

Time needed: 2 to 3 sessions.

Resources required: Internet access, Student Worksheet.

Key words: Climate change, Earth Hour, personal actions, film, documentary.

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