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Provided by: OER Project |Published on: August 29, 2025
Lesson Plans
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Synopsis
In this module from the OER Project: Climate, students will learn about the indirect impacts caused by the effects of climate change, focusing on health and environmental justice.
Students will understand how pre-existing inequalities make climate change impacts disproportionately felt around the world, and how climate change impacts will cause health problems for many people.
This is one of many lessons in the online Climate course by OER Project.
Understanding the difference between correlation and causation is an important skill for students to utilize in their daily lives beyond the classroom.
This module includes opportunities for students to have some autonomy in what they produce and study.
Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with climate change and its impacts.
The Health Impacts of Climate Change activity asks students to read a chapter from a linked reading. This link may be broken. Teachers can find the resource here.
Discussing climate impacts and life-threatening circumstances may bring up difficult emotions for students. Teachers should support these students and allow them time to process their feelings as needed.
Differentiation & Implementation
To learn more about environmental justice and redlining discussed in this module's video, teachers can use this lesson.
Teachers can have students check the box under the video to pause it periodically and ask questions about key points. Students can record their responses on a piece of paper.
After finishing this module, students can discuss how indirect impacts of climate change are interconnected with various aspects of society. Teachers can illustrate this by having students create a similar graphic to the opening activity, this time using the UN Sustainable Development Goals and showing how they are connected by climate change and its impacts, both direct and indirect. Teachers may want to fill in hexagons with Goal 3, Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 7, Affordable and Clean Energy, Goal 10, Reduced Inequalities, and Goal 13, Climate Action. Students can fill in the remaining spaces with the impacts discussed throughout the module.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider
OER Project
OER Project equips teachers with free, innovative curricula and teaching tools that spark curiosity and inspire critical thinking in students. Our courses place student inquiry at the center of learning, and are designed to be adaptable across age levels and state standards.
Related Teaching Resources
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