This podcast addresses climate anxiety and what to do about it, the impact of the food industry on climate change, food waste, and the myth that plants and animals can adapt to climate change.
Students will hear interviews with environmental author Cheryl Leutjen and Sydney Koby, the inventor of cricket-based protein snacks, about ways to take a personal approach to climate change.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This podcast is hosted by students and is humorous and relatable.
It touches on a handful of topics but a significant portion of the episode focuses on food waste, the meat and dairy industry, and alternative sources of protein, providing students with some direction on how to take personal action.
Additional Prerequisites
Listeners have the option to listen to this podcast on the site, download it onto a computer, or download the free RadioPublic app.
Several short ads are interjected throughout the podcast.
Differentiation
Consider providing students with a note-taking guide that breaks the material up into sections (climate anxiety, Cheryl Leutjen, food waste, Sydney Koby, wildlife adaptation, etc.), since so many topics are covered within this podcast.
Have students watch thisvideoabout how to cope with climate anxiety and participate in a journaling assignment about ways students can choose to take action.
Ask students to watch this short video about food waste and work in groups to brainstorm some solutions to address food waste in their own schools.
Consider having students explore thisTED-Ed resource about whether wildlife can adapt to climate change and compare it to the new learning from this podcast and this other podcast.
This StC lesson plan for students in grades 6-8 explores the complexities of food waste and its connections to climate change.
Scientist Notes
In this podcast episode, the host sits down with some experts to talk about alternative sources of protein, which may play a vital role in shaping how we combat climate change, because it is a fact that consuming meat and dairy are one of our biggest sources of emissions for our personal carbon footprints. This resource 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.
HS-ESS3-4 Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.5.9-12 Evaluate citizens' and institutions' effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
Dimension 4: Taking Informed Action
D4.7.6-8 Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
