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Climate Justice and Equity Learning Lab Lessons

Provided by: The Climate Initiative |Published on: May 24, 2024

Lesson Plans

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Synopsis

This unit about climate justice includes six lessons and two additional activities to gain familiarity with the topic.
Students will create land acknowledgments, become familiar with terms related to climate justice, look at climate justice through sociocultural, economic, and ecological lenses, explore case studies concerning different examples of climate injustice, write their own case study, analyze data about the impacts of industrial farming on marginalized communities, develop a youth engagement strategy, engage in community interviews, and develop a community action project.
This is a companion resource for the student lab.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Civics, Geography

Authors: The Climate Initiative

Region: Maine

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

The directions for the Bitmoji classroom are extremely detailed, allowing for seamless student exploration.
This unit's focus on young activists will empower students and help them see their ability to affect change.

Prerequisites

Depending on the length of class time, the activities may each take multiple days.
The link for the case study Youth Voices for Climate Change works in the teacher slides but not in the student lab document.
Students should know how to cite evidence from a text.
The links for some case study examples, the geography of climate justice, and Polluting Sites in Northern Manhattan in the Bitmoji links reference are broken.
Some of the extra articles and resources require subscriptions.

Differentiation & Implementation

Some videos, like the one featured in the first case study, rely on subtitles to convey the message. Some students may benefit from slowing the video playback speed or having the subtitles read aloud to them.
After analyzing the data on industrial agriculture, students can discuss individual actions, such as eating less meat or supporting regenerative agriculture.
Students may benefit from using the Climate Emotions Wheel to help them process difficult emotions or understand what they have read after learning about climate anxiety.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format

About the Partner Provider

TCI (The Climate Initiative)

The Climate Initiative is a nonpartisan, science-based climate change organization based in Kennebunkport, Maine whose mission is to empower youth voices for climate action. Through national education and empowerment initiatives, youth are learning about climate solutions and becoming agents of change in their communities and beyond. Learn more about TCI by connecting with us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Related Teaching Resources

All resources can be used for your educational purposes with proper attribution to the content provider.