Earth Day 1970-2022: What's Changed?

Positives

• This video delivers a large quantity of high-quality information paired with simple and beautiful infographics. 
• There are no spoken words in the video, which may be helpful for students with certain processing challenges. 

Additional Prerequisites

• All of the information provided is written, so some students may need the video paused from time to time to process.

Differentiation

• Social studies classes could use this video in a discussion about the history of activism or the history of Earth Day.
• Language Arts classes could use this video as an example of using facts to persuade.
• This video would work well for a debate on the statement: we are worse off than we were on the first Earth Day. Teachers could use the following steps:
  • Students can choose a position to debate or teachers can assign students to a side.
  • When watching the video, have students take individual notes. Then, have groups meet in "caucus groups" to discuss their top points.
  • A representative from each side can speak for up to a minute about their strongest point, then the groups can meet again to craft a rebuttal.
  • Allow each side to present their rebuttal and closing statements.
  • As a class, reflect on what points were made and which side made the most compelling case. 
• Other related resources include this video about the success of the Montreal Protocol, this mind map that focuses on human responses to global warming, and this video about extinction.
• The video can be slowed down in the settings to accommodate younger learners or learners with learning differences.