Public Opinion and Climate Change

• This lesson plan discusses media literacy, climate change in politics, and the motivations for creating controversy about climate change. 
•  It discusses availability bias, confirmation bias, the error in presenting "both sides" of an issue that is not two-sided, and a recent survey of climate opinions in the United States.
  

Positives

• The materials included with the podcast make it easy for educators to use this resource in many subject areas.
• It encourages students to think holistically.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with the terms bipartisan, regulatory action, economy, and salience. 
• The podcast explains that in the early 2000s, the media reported on both sides of the issue of climate change. It may be helpful for students to see an example of the media downplaying the scientific consensus that climate change is human-caused.
• The link for Conservatives for Energy Freedom in the Dive Deeper section is broken.
• The link to Common Sense Media on page four of the teacher pages is broken.

Differentiation

• Civics, government, or media literacy classes could discuss how all types of media (including social media) influences public opinion. Students could think about the role that the influencers and others they follow on social media have on their own beliefs.
• The interactive media bias chart could be used for social studies or language arts classes to investigate the reporting of an issue from a number of different media outlets. Consider looking up a specific topic on multiple media websites to see how they covered the topic differently.