Teacher preparation:

Overarching learning goal: In this activity students explore the different types of weather through creating and acting in a class play. Students recognise different types of weather and understand that weather affects plants, animals and people.

Teacher content information: While climate change is a complex concept with science that is beyond the reach of most young children, students in years 1 and 2 can still engage with the topic by exploring the topic of weather and its impact on plants, animals and humans.

Consider organising a performance of your play for parents or other students.

The IPCC

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was created to:

provide policymakers (governments) with regular scientific updates about climate change;
highlight the impact climate change will have on the planet in the future; and,
offer some ideas about how to tackle the challenges of climate change's potential effects on the planet.

In 2021-22, the IPCC released their sixth assessment report. This is the most up-to-date physical understanding of the climate system and climate change.

The report makes a number of important points:

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.
Global surface temperature will continue to increase until at least mid-century under all emissions scenarios considered. Global warming of 1.5°C and 2°C will be exceeded during the 21st century unless deep reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades (B1). The report describes five possible climate futures, where #1 is not great and #5 is extremely bad. If we want to keep global warming at less than two degrees, which the IPCC says is the best-case scenario, we need to reduce our CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions significantly and start right away.

'Net zero' or 'carbon neutral' are terms that refer to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, so long as we're doing something else to reduce the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere at the same time, kind of like balancing a set of scales (more info).

Psychological safety. The IPCC Report sets a hard challenge. While this real-world issue is essential for students to understand, there is no doubt it can make them feel sad or anxious about the future is becoming darker and scarier by the day.

So, reassure students that we can have a hopeful and optimistic outlook on this report, rather than one of doom and gloom. Explain that optimism involves looking objectively at a situation and making a conscious decision to focus on the good (more info), and that hope is the belief that you can make an impact (more info). Explain to students that you are going to look ahead, identify what needs to be improved, and then work on the skills and confidence so that they can go out and do it.

If you're interested in learning more about how to approach challenging topics around climate change and sustainability in your classroom through a Hope and Optimism lens, consider our PD course.

Student and classroom organisation:

Step 1.

Begin this activity by engaging students in a class discussion about different types of weather and their movements. For example:

Clouds - Clouds moving across the sky
Wind - Gentle winds blowing and whistling through the trees
Storm - The howling and roaring winds of a storm
Thunderstorm - The banging and crashing of thunder and lightning
Rain - The pitter-patter of raindrops
Snow - Snowflakes gently falling to the ground
Hail - Hail stones pelting down from above
Storm on the sea - Waves crashing on the beach
Sunshine - The sun beaming down onto the hot earth

Write these types of weather and their movements on the board.

Step 2.

Still working as a class, discuss how each of these types of weather could be acted out:

What movements should accompany this type of weather?
What sounds can accompany this weather?

Encourage your students to take turns to act out these movements.

Step 3.

Work with your student to create a play to show how the weather affects nature and people. In your play show how the weather damages plants and animals, and decides where plants, animals and people can live. For example, if there is somewhere where there are always clouds in the sky then some plants won’t be able to live there. Or if there is somewhere where it snows all the time there might be some animals that can’t live there, or it might even be too cold for humans to live there!

You will need actors to play the many different weather roles. For example, you might need:

A thundercloud
A clap of thunder
Howling wind
Pelting rain
A lighting flash

Other actors should play the plants and animals that will be affected by the weather.

Other factors to consider in your play:

Can you use music in your play? What sort of music would suit the weather you have chosen and the plants and animals that feature in your play?
How will you show your audience that the weather is very important to where and how we can live?
What costumes could you use? How will you identify the different types of weather, and other plant, animal and people characters?

Consider having a small performance of your play at your school.

Assessment/Reflection

Ask students to answer the reflection questions on the student worksheet.

A weather drama

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