Sustainable Climate Solutions
Provided by: National Center for Science Education|Published on: February 16, 2025|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Authors: National Center for Science Education
Location: Earth
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 →
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 →
Synopsis
- In this unit, students will work through five activities to become familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, understand how they are related to climate change and climate solutions, learn how climate change impacts humans, determine the most effective solutions, and discover that a combination of solutions is necessary to achieve net zero.
- The unit also includes optional Side Quests where students will find out the causes of climate change and how climate change is measured, how to work through strong climate-related emotions, the impacts climate change has on different ecosystems, the effects of fossil fuels, and other related topics.
- The resource also emphasizes challenging misconceptions and media literacy skills.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- The Climate Mental Health Support Activities in Activity 2a are excellent resources for all grades.
- Many of the activities include opportunities for extension, modification, and implementation of pedagogical strategies.
Prerequisites
- The QR code on Slide 7 of the Activity 1 Slide Deck_Solutions is disabled. Students will need to copy and paste the link themselves.
- The Green Revolution link on page 22 and the link for enactingclimate.org on page 23 of the Climate Mental Health Support Activities in Activity 2a are broken.
- If students are not familiar with the claim, evidence, and reasoning format, they may need additional guidance, especially with using reasoning to explain how their evidence supports their claim.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Language arts teachers can use the claim, evidence, and reasoning activity to build toward more extensive persuasive and informative writing projects.
- The SubjecttoClimate resource database has several resources for region-specific citizen science projects to support the Activity 1b Side Quest, especially for Wisconsin, Maine, and Connecticut.
- To extend Activity 3, students can choose a solution from the cards to research and create a poster or infographic to post around the school.
This resource combines peer-reviewed research, data, and science to help students understand the full reality of everything related to climate change, from causes to impacts to solutions. All external links have been vetted and verified. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
