Civics Lesson: Grassroots Environmental Strategies
Lesson Plan
1 hour 30 minutesGrades9, 10, 11, 12Social Studies
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Written by Yen-Yen Chiu
About this lesson
Students examine real grassroots environmental campaigns recognized by the Goldman Environmental Prize to identify the strategies activists use to create change. Students then compare two campaigns and propose a civic action strategy for an environmental issue in their community.
Inquire: Students discuss prior experiences with grassroots action and predict what strategies activists use to create environmental change.
Investigate: Students analyze a whole-class case study and choose two case studies from the Goldman Environmental Prize winners to compare grassroots strategies.
Inspire: Students synthesize their case study comparisons into a civic action proposal for an environmental issue in their own community.
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Everything you need to teach it
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Suggestions
- Teachers can select any previous prize winner from the Goldman Environmental YouTube channel for the whole-class study at the beginning of the Investigate section. Teachers can also select or assign winners from the Goldman Environmental Spanish Language YouTube channel.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be completed in two different class periods. Additionally, parts of the Investigate or Inspire sections can be assigned for homework.
- Teachers and students can use the provided rubric to guide and assess student learning.
- This lesson can be taught during a unit on civic engagement, social movements, or environmental justice.
- This lesson can be used to reinforce the skills of comparing primary sources and evaluating evidence.
- This lesson highlights diverse voices in the global environmental movement, including youth-led, Indigenous-led, and community-led campaigns.
- Some of the Goldman Environmental Prize winners are fighting fossil fuel projects or climate policy directly, while others are protecting ecosystems and communities from environmental harm more broadly.
- Students can explore the meaning and history of grassroots activism using these resources as starting points:
- Students can explore current youth-led global grassroots activism using these resources as starting points:
- Forus International
- Gen Z: Voice of a Global Generation - Contributions from Africa, Asia, Latin America, East & Southeast Europe, and MENA.
- Global Goals: From TikTok to policy change
- UNICEF: Young climate activists demand action and inspire hope
- Earthday.org’s “Growing Change: How Young People are Transforming Food Systems Worldwide”
- “Meet South Korea’s Young Activists Spearheading Climate Action in Asia” from earth.org
- Students can explore the Goldman Environmental Prize blog to learn more about environmental topics and Goldman Prize winner campaigns around the world.
- Students can interview a local activist or community organizer about a specific strategy they have used and compare it to the strategies studied in the case studies.
- For a deeper exploration of historical and geographical understanding, students can research the history of environmental colonialism or resource extraction in one of the six winners’ regions.
- For a deeper dive into government, students can research how a democracy, an authoritarian government, and an international governing body like the United Nations each respond to grassroots activism. Students can use examples from the home countries of various Goldman Environmental Prize winners.
Prerequisites
- Students should have a basic understanding of their national or local government's branches and structure, since several case studies reference courts, constitutional rulings, and government agencies.
- Students should have practiced close reading or media analysis of a primary source at least once before this lesson.
- The Student Document includes a vocabulary page for students to write down 3-5 new vocabulary words they encounter through the lesson along with their context and use. Teachers should decide if this is optional or required.
- If teachers want to select a different Goldman Environmental Prize winner from previous years for whole-class modeling, teachers should preview and select one ahead of time.
- Teachers should note that this lesson's video note-taking questions and discussion prompts are adapted from the Goldman Environmental Prize Teacher Video Guide and can reference the full guide directly for additional context or alternate note-taking formats.
- Teachers should preview Alessandra Korap Munduruku’s video and all six 2026 winner profiles before teaching and be aware of any sensitive content based on their classroom context.
Differentiation
- To support student learning, the Investigate research activity can be done in pairs.
- For visual learners, the class can locate all six 2026 winners’ locations on a global map, then analyze whether certain grassroots strategies are more effective in certain regions or political systems.
- Teachers can provide a partially completed comparison chart for students needing support.
- Students needing support can fill out one column of the comparison chart with the winner from the whole-class study, then work independently to select another winner to complete the chart.
- Students can research other grassroots environmental and climate-based campaigns in their own region or state and use the same comparison chart for discussion.
- Explore these extension activities:
- Students can research the process of how a bill becomes law in their state or how a local ordinance gets passed. Based on their process map, students can identify key places where a grassroots campaign like the ones they studied would apply best. Students can then apply this process to an actual local issue.
- Students can examine a historical grassroots movement like civil rights, labor, suffrage, anti-apartheid and compare its strategies to those of the Goldman Environmental Prize winners. Students can identify and discuss what has and hasn’t changed about grassroots movements.
- Students can research Gen-Z grassroots activism around the world, comparing and contrasting strategies and tactics. Students can read Sharing the Gen Z Struggle, and explore the larger dossier of youth-led grassroots activism in Africa, Asia, Latin America, East & Southeast Europe, and MENA.
From the scientist review
- This lesson challenges the narrow view of climate change as students are asked to consider how environmental issues are often caused or exacerbated by climate change.
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About the teacher writer
Yen-Yen Chiu
Director of Education
Yen-Yen Chiu, Ed.D., is SubjectToClimate's Director of Education. She holds a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of San Diego, and taught public school for 22 years specializing in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Music for grades 6–12, including Advanced Placement. She is credentialed in English, Mathematics, and Introductory Music, with extensive experience designing interdisciplinary curricula that foster student choice, meaningful assessment, and authentic learning.
