What is climate change, and how is human activity causing it? These lessons begin to delve into this complex topic, including straightforward information about some of the effects of climate change, the evidence proving that human activity is to blame, and what can be done to address it. Throughout the included teaching inputs, slides and activities, there are a number of questions to get children thinking deeply about the information presented – and to help you check for understanding along the way, too.

Each of the three lessons includes a choice of differentiated learning activities where children will build on their existing knowledge and demonstrate what they are learning about climate change, its effects here and abroad, and what might be done to combat it. Equip your class with some of the knowledge they will need in the future, as climate change becomes an issue that increasingly affects us all.

Causes of Climate Change

What actually is climate change? What's causing it? Take some time, in the first of three lessons in this Complete Series, to consider these questions and develop a better understanding of the fundamentals about our changing planet. There are detailed – but easy to understand – resources included with this lesson that explain what is happening to our planet's atmosphere, and how there is an overwhelming consensus in the scientific community that it is caused by human activity. With this knowledge, children are then challenged, during either of the included activities, to counter some common arguments made by climate change skeptics, or to find patterns and links between increases in greenhouse gases and changing climate.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, slideshow presentation, and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 1

Effects of Climate Change

Do you know some ways in which climate change is already affecting some people? In this lesson, children will start to learn about some clearly observable effects of climate change, as well as those effects which climate scientists predict will begin to occur more frequently in the near future. After that, there's a choice of differentiated learning activities where children may either continue to consider some wide-ranging effects of climate change, or learn about some ways in which citizens of North Carolina, USA are already being affected by climate change.

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 2

Green Careers

Having, in previous lessons, identified ways in which Earth's climate is changing and the potentially devastating effects these changes could have, it might feel like it's necessary to look at the planet's future with some optimism! Children will learn about green careers related to monitoring, protecting and improving the environment, then consider which green jobs they would like to do, and why. As with all lessons in this 'People and Planet' ESR scheme of work, there's an alternative learning activity included, too – where children can imagine what kinds of green jobs might exist in the future, and create posters to advertise them!

This downloadable lesson comes with a lesson plan, slideshow presentation and printable teaching resources.

View Lesson 3