Why Humans Are So Bad at Thinking About Climate Change
Provided by: Vox|Published on: April 27, 2021
Grades: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Videos
Subjects: Science
Authors: Vox
Region: North America, United States, Global
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
- This video shows how guilt-inducing climate change messaging has had little impact on individuals or policy makers while a new psychology-based approach to communication has yielded better results.
- Students will learn that large companies are using behavioral science methods to get people to reduce their electricity and fuel use.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This video shows students how behavioral scientists at UCLA developed experiments to determine the best way to get people involved and interested in solving the climate crisis.
- Students will see how collective action can make a big impact.
Prerequisites
- This video contains advertisements at the beginning and the midpoint.
- Students should have some background knowledge of the Montreal Protocol, the global agreement to halt CFC production in order to heal the hole in the ozone layer.
- The video focuses on the impact of electricity conservation without explaining that a lot of electricity is generated from the burning of fossil fuels.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Psychology or life skills classes could discuss how social competition can have positive and negative impacts on people.
- Ethics classes could discuss why people were more motivated by learning about the health impacts of climate change than they were by the money-saving information.
- Other resources on this topic include this video that explains the psychology behind desirable food and food waste, this lesson that teaches students how to have climate change conversations, and this SubjectToClimate lesson plan on learning how to conserve energy.
The resource underscores the importance of changing our behaviour towards climate change. As a global challenge, it presents the need to measure successes, communicating hope to get everyone involved in action irrespective of geographies. This 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 →
