Student-Adult Climate Conversation
Activity - Classroom
Grades5, 6, 7, 8Science, English Language Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by King's Centre for Visualization in Science
What it is
- In this resource from the King's Centre for Visualization in Science, students will discuss climate change with an adult of their choice.
- Students and their chosen adults will talk about climate change impacts, their hopes for the future, their feelings about climate change, and more.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This resource does a great job of promoting collaborative discussion, which may be more engaging for both parties than the typical question-and-answer interview.
- Students will enjoy leading the conversation with their chosen adult.
Prerequisites
- Teachers should be mindful that if asking students to complete this with a parent or guardian, some families will need translated copies of this sheet.
- Students should have at least a basic understanding of climate change.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers may want to ask other teachers and staff to volunteer to be interviewed by students who may not have adults at home who can participate in this discussion. Alternatively or additionally, teachers can have a long deadline for this conversation, giving families more opportunities to find the time.
- Teachers can use this survey as a formative assessment to guide instruction, focusing on impacts that students and their adults are most worried about or have questions about.
- Students can discuss some of their favorite outdoor activities and how climate change may impact their ability to do them. Many grown-ups may have already experienced things like not having as long of an ice fishing season or not being able to go play baseball because the heat index or air quality index is too high.
- To make math connections, students can compile the responses on the ruler into a graph or chart and analyze if and how responses changed after participating in the discussion.
From the scientist review
This guided conversation ties common values and activities to climate change. This resource is strongly grounded in actions that can mitigate climate change, and a series of links are provided to additional sources, including one to an interactive climate simulation. There are, however, a few broken links. All in all, this resource is strong and is recommended for teaching.
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