This inspirational video and brief article shows that saving the polar regions and other precious ecosystems on Earth depends on how quickly we can transition to renewable energy sources.
Students will learn about important processes, such as carbon sequestration and rewilding, what it will take to transition to clean energy in time, and why it is imperative to make this transition.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video makes connections between changing environmental conditions, human health, habitat loss, and greenhouse gas emissions.
Sir David Attenborough narrates this video, which also contains riveting photographs and video footage.
Additional Prerequisites
The primary video is a part of Netflix's Our Planet documentary series, a collaboration with WWF International.
The video series is from 2019, so it is important to be aware of statistics that may have changed since its publication.
Differentiation
Ask students to watch the video one time without taking any notes, with the goal of absorbing information and also appreciating the captivating visual elements.
Have students watch the video again with the intention of recording as many data-backed facts as possible, and then ask them to use these stats to create an advertisement for clean energy use and protecting nature.
Language arts classes could write short essays about what carbon capture is and how trees and forests do this so well, explaining the process and why it may be beneficial.
Pair students up to discuss how the process of rewilding is essential to stabilizing our planet. Have one student look for references in the video and have the other student look for other sources to reference.
In groups, have students do a deeper dive into a specific benefit of clean energy, including creating new jobs, driving down the cost of electricity, or stimulating the economy.
Scientist Notes
This visually stunning video resource, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, examines how clean energy can “Save our Frozen Worlds” and clean up the air that we all breathe. This video is particularly inspiring, in that it paints a hopeful picture of the future if clean energy goals are pursued and then redoubled once goals are reached. The constant growth in clean energy is addressed as means of achieving climate goals, producing a strong, clean-energy economy and reducing air pollution. Finally, rewilding is suggested to capture carbon and restore habitat for animal and plant species. This resource is informative, includes a call for viewers to make clean energy choices, and is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
HS-ESS3-5 Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.
LS2: Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
HS-LS2-7 Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.6.6-8 Draw on multiple disciplinary lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and causes, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.1 Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.6.3 Delineate a speaker's argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.3 Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
National Health Education Standards
Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
1.12.3 Analyze how environment and personal health are interrelated.
