The Constitution and Climate Change
Provided by: MIT Climate Action Through Education|Published on: January 18, 2025
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Civics
Authors: Michael Kozuch
Region: United States, Oregon
Languages: English
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 lesson, students will learn about the Julianna court case, where young activists collaborated with environmental lawyers in an effort to protect their futures against fossil fuel use in the United States.
- Students will explore the US Constitution to determine if it was right for the courts to throw the case out and discuss what can be done differently to ensure a victory.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Hearing young people talk about what needs to be done and seeing them fight for their rights can inspire and empower students.
- The Constitution scavenger hunt is an engaging activity to help students become familiar with the US Constitution.
Prerequisites
- Students should understand how burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change and know some of the impacts of climate change.
- Students will need to create an account to access the New York Times article.
- Some students may need legal terms defined before reading the articles.
- In the optional activity, teachers will need to request access to the presentation slides and the Google docs linked in Day 1, Part II C and Day 2, Part III. Additionally, the link for Reconciling the Founding Fathers on Day 2 is broken.
- In the Conclude section, the link to Connect, Extend, Challenge is broken.
Differentiation & Implementation
- After reading about the Julianna case being thrown out, students may feel overwhelmed, anxious, or defeated. These students may benefit from the Climate Emotions Wheel and related activities. It may also benefit these students to take a break to look at things that are successfully being done to curb climate change.
- Students can discuss ways they can affect positive change. They can look for inspiration in the Youth Climate Stories from Ohio, Wisconsin, or others.
- Greta Thunberg is a great example of youth climate activism outside of the United States. Students can watch this video about her story.
This resource investigates how the Constitution constrains climate action through analysis of the court case, Julianna v. U.S. The slide show has all sources cited, and a Harvard Law Review article is linked. The Julianna case highlights basic climate science and the importance of climate action coming from the "political branches" of government. 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.
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