• Learn
• Get the Facts
• Teach

Climate Change lesson plan

The Climate Change Lesson Plans provide teachers and students with the opportunity to investigate the impact climate change has had on the environment through individual or classroom activities.

This lesson challenges students to learn more about pandemics by asking them to:

• Get the facts
• Take time to investigate!

Teacher notes and assessment ideas are also included within these lesson plans as are more detailed curriculum links.

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Key Learning Areas

The Key Learning Areas (KLAs) for this lesson plan include:

• English/Literacy
• Science
• SOSE

Objectives

The objectives of this lesson plan are to ensure that students are able to:

• begin to understand the key concepts of climate change
• develop an awareness and understanding of the effects of climate change.

Please note: This lesson can be modified to incorporate other KLAs and to meet the needs of the students and specific content taught.

Get the Facts

Climate change is the result of changes in the weather due to the increases to the Earth’s average temperature. This is caused by increases in greenhouse gases from activities such as burning fossil fuels, land clearing and intensive agriculture. What effect will this rise in temperature have on the Australian climate and environment? How does this affect the people and the land (emotionally, economically and quality of life)?

Teachers can begin to discuss Australia’s climate and the impact of increased temperatures. As a class you can brainstorm how this will impact on the environment in terms of changes in rainfall and rising sea levels.

Climate Change Resources

• Department of Climate Change and Efficiency
• Bureau of Meteorology
• CSIRO – Climate Change
• Australian Conservation Foundation

Take Time to Investigate

Students can investigate climate change individually, in pairs or in groups to find answers to the following:

1. What is climate change?
2. What is the difference between climate change and global warming?
3. During the past 100 years what has been the average global temperature increase?
4. What has been the average temperature rise in Australia since the middle of the twentieth century?
5. Why is the absorption of CO2 in the ocean harmful to coral?
6. How much has the global average sea level increased between 1870 and 2007?
7. What is the biggest source of greenhouse pollution?
8. How are greenhouse gases warming up the planet?

Assessment Guide

Teachers can assess with questioning, through group discussion and direct observation how students are able to answer the Take Time to Investigate! questions.

To make learning more interactive, students could be put into groups, assigned a set of questions and then they could present their answers to the classroom.

Teachers can also observe individual participation in each of the groups as they present their responses.

Students can then use this information as the basis for their research to help them complete the activities.

Additional teacher notes on assessment are contained within each of the lesson plans as well curriculum links.