Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part A: A glimpse into the future
20 minutes	Part B: Exploring climate change in the future
10 minutes	Reflection (can be completed as homework)

Preparation

Print and cut out the questions from the The Future - Discussion questions, ensuring that you have one question for each group of three students. These will be used as part of the group discussion in Part A.

Part A - A glimpse into the future

Step 1.

Ask students to look at the following images and describe the following for each image (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Write a question the image brings to mind (e.g. “What has changed in the world to make the sky that colour?”).
Write a detailed observation about the image (e.g. “There are no signs of nature in this image”).
Make a guess as to what type of future the creator of this image imagined (e.g. “The person who created this image imagines a bleak future”).
Write a caption for this image (e.g. "The aliens have landed!").

Once complete, ask students to share their ideas in groups of three, comparing the similarities and differences between perceptions of these futuristic images.

Each group should then briefly report back to the class the results of their comparisons.

Step 2.

Once complete, give each group one of the questions you have cut out (The Future - Discussion questions) and ask them to discuss their responses to each question. Once groups have spent a minute or two on a question, ask them to swap questions with another group. Repeat this until all groups have looked at all questions.

Briefly engage students in a class discussion around key issues or interesting points raised in group discussions. Through your discussion lead students to the idea that many people are concerned about how the future will look because of climate change. Explain to students that in the next activity they will be looking at climate change in more detail, specifically how it will affect the future. If students need more information about climate change, ask them to watch the following clip:

Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris - Joss Fong - (https://youtu.be/ztWHqUFJRTs)

Part B – Exploring climate change in the future

Step 1.

Students should now explore the Choose Your Climate Future website. (In the next activity - Part C. Imagining the future - students will be creating a diary of someone living in the future and will need to base their diary on the information provided on this website.)

Ask students to explore the website, looking the consequences of different rises in temperature and answering the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Create a flow chart to explore the flow on effects of the impacts of a three degree rise on one aspect of community. (Sample flow chart)
Create a flow chart to explore the flow on effects of the impacts of a three degree rise on one aspect of the environment.
Why do you think ‘sports’ is one of the categories explored by this website? Why is it important that people have access to sporting facilities?
Which of the predictions on the Choose Your Climate Future website do you think would affect you the most and why?
What – in your opinion – is the most alarming prediction featured on the Choose Your Climate Future website and why?

Part C. Imagining the future

Once students have spent enough time on the Choose Your Climate Future website to build their knowledge of the potential impacts of climate change on Australia in the future, they can begin working on their stories.

The stories should be written in the style of a diary, with each entry revealing a little more about the future the main character is living in, the plot of the story, and the characters featuring in the story.

Stories must (information also available on the Student Worksheet):

Contain a description of the future imagined by the student
Contain at least three characters
Adhere to general fiction conventions (see Diary writing tips)
Adhere to diary writing conventions (see Diary writing tips)
Adhere to language conventions (spelling and grammar)
Include a title
Include images to support the story.

Students can also use the Diary writing tips sheet to help them create their diary.

Reflection

Ask students to complete the Reflection Questions on the Student Worksheet.

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Students requiring extension can create a Facebook page for one of the characters in their story using the Facebook this worksheet: Facebook this.

Provisional Learning Support: Students can work in pairs to describe the images in Part A. Students can work in pairs to explore the Choose Your Climate Future website in Part B. Student can work in pairs to create a diary for Part C.

Earth Hour - Choosing Your Climate Future

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