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How Does Climate Change Work?

Provided by: Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick & Sprout |Published on: May 16, 2025

Lesson Plans

K12

Synopsis

In this lesson from Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick & Sprout, students learn where some greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane) come from, how greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, and some of the effects of climate change.
Students play a game of hot and cold to find the sun, watch a short video about the greenhouse effect and climate change, and color a "happy" Earth versus a "hothouse" Earth.

Related Teaching Resources

Subjects: Science

Authors: Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick & Sprout

Region: Global

Languages: English

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Teaching Materials

Positives

This lesson explains fundamental science concepts in ways that young learners can access.
Students engage in different kinds of learning activities in this well-paced lesson.
This lesson provides SEL opportunities for students to process climate emotions.

Prerequisites

The lesson does not provide a link to the video needed for the main lesson. You can find the video on YouTube here.
The lesson does not provide the printables needed for the lesson. You can find them here.
Materials needed: cardboard cut into circles, markers or colored pencils, glue sticks or glue, paper clips, and string.

Differentiation & Implementation

This is the second lesson in a series to teach young learners about climate change.
Learning about climate change can bring up strong emotions for students. This resource can help teachers have these conversations with students.
This lesson on clean energy can be used as a follow-up to discuss solutions to climate change with students in more depth.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format