Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: Flipped classroom

20 minutes

Find Out: What is climate change?

35 minutes

Take Action: School-wide audit

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

explore climate change
build their thinking and questioning skills.

Students can:

conduct a school-wide energy audit
reflect on environmental behaviours that contribute to climate change.

Tune In: Flipped classroom

Step 1

In their own time, students will watch the video.

Climate Change Everyone’s Business - (vimeo.com/65187288/f6c1d94912)

Students are to take notes in the Student Worksheet while watching the video to record the facts and their feelings.

Find Out: What is climate change?

Step 1

Invite students to share their responses to the Facts and Feelings table in the Student Worksheet. Allow each student to discuss their viewpoints and clarify any questions.

Step 2

Read the excerpt below to students:

“Climate change is the large-scale and long-term shift in the average temperature and weather patterns over an observable period on both regional and global scales. While the Earth’s climate has been constantly changing, the last 200 years have seen it change at a rate that has not been seen in the past 10,000 years. Some of these shifts can be naturally occurring, occasionally altering due to changes in the sun’s activity or significant volcanic eruptions yet the term ‘climate change’ is widely used to refer specifically to human-made changes to the climate over the past 200 years, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.” (Source: WWF-Australia)

Step 3

Explain to students that they have ten minutes to learn about climate change. Direct students to read through the WWF-Australia webpage on climate change here. Students are to add new information in the Facts and Feelings table on the Student Worksheet as they build on their knowledge.

Step 4

Invite students to do a ‘turn and talk’ by engaging with one peer in the class to share a fact they recorded that they were surprised to learn.

Take Action: School-wide audit

Step 1

Divide students into pairs and assign each group a specific school area.

For example:

general classroom
specialist classrooms (science, technology, performing arts)
hallway
gym
admin/first aid
yard

Step 2

Explain to students that each group will be responsible for walking through their assigned area. Students will use the checklist in the Student Worksheet to identify unsustainable practices such as:

lights (left on or multiple lights in use in a specific area)
plugged in appliances (when not in use)
windows and doors (when heating/cooling on)
waste (multiple bins for different types of waste).

You should remind students of behavioural expectations while conducting their audit to ensure minimal disruption to the learning environment of all students as they move around the school property.

Step 3

Once students have returned to the classroom, allow them time to review their checklist. Lead a discussion about the audit. Ask students if they were surprised with their findings or had any interesting observations.

Literacy extension:

Students summarise the outcome of the audit in a written report. Students can include data, observations and recommendations that encourage sustainable practices in the school environment. Suggested ways could be:

replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs
use power strips to turn off multiple electronic devices easily
adjust thermostat settings for school-wide controlled heating and cooling systems
reminder posters near the exit of classrooms and buildings
clearly labelled bins with visual examples of what can/can’t be put in.
Plant more native trees in outdoor areas
Remove single-use plastics from classrooms

Share the audit findings with your school’s leadership team and school council. How can they use this information to change the environmental behaviours of staff and students? This could spread awareness, resulting in school posters reminding staff and students to turn off lights, close windows, and use the correct bins.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on what they think we can do to care for our environment and slow the progress of climate change.

Use the whiteboard to draw the table below and invite students to the whiteboard to write their responses.

Start Things we need to start doing:	Stop Things we need to stop doing:	Keep Things we need to keep doing:

Earth Hour - School Audit for a Cool Planet

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Summary

Lesson guides and printables

In this lesson