Climate Change, Biodiversity and Magazine Cover Priorities
Lesson Plans
Grades11, 12, APSocial Studies, English Language Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by Project Look Sharp
What it is
- This quick activity prompts students to analyze media choices for a magazine cover in different countries and think critically about why they might be different.
- Reviewing a blogpost about the magazine covers, learners notice that in many countries, the cover story was about global warming, but in the United States, the cover was about a political scandal.
- The teacher guide provides additional context about the Newsweek articles and includes question prompts to encourage students to provide evidence for their claims.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This would serve as an effective hook or introductory activity for a lesson on media literacy, bias, or social media literacy.
- This activity will likely prompt a rich discussion with students and could encourage them to consider who decides what news they receive.
Additional Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with various new outlets and the motivations for decisions in profit-based businesses.
Differentiation
- Before completing this activity, it may be effective to ask students where they get their news and what they like reading about.
- Address the fact that this example is older and ask students if they think editorial choices change in an environment where many individuals get their news from social media.
- As an extension activity, try to find additional examples where the same news piece is presented in different ways to different audiences.
From the scientist review
The reality of our media system is that what is put out as news is put out to make a profit, which may cause biases in what is considered news. While there isn't specific climate science to verify in this resource, it develops important skills for students.
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