This interactive story introduces the basics of climate change through the character Earthly.
Students learn about the history of Earth, the causes and effects of climate change, and what we can do to help the Earth.
There is an audio version powered by Spotify.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This book is excellent for introducing younger students to the basics of climate change in an engaging and age-appropriate way.
The book includes a glossary of keywords at the end.
Additional Prerequisites
Teachers should consider pre-teaching some important terms like climate, weather, climate change, energy, and extinction.
The book can be viewed in full screen.
Differentiation
Teacher can read the book to the class and pause periodically for students to do a quick write to process their learning. Students can share their quick writes with a partner.
If students have their own devices, they can independently listen to the audio while following along with the book.
The book connects well to social-emotional learning topics such as friendship, helping others, teamwork, and emotions like sadness and hope.
Students can do a 3-2-1 after listening to or reading the story. Students can share three new things they learned about climate change, two questions they still have, and 1 opinion they have now.
Scientist Notes
This is a storytelling piece. It is relatable and introduces climate and weather, the factors influencing our climate system, and the impact it has on the planet. Students can learn the basics to gain insights on how to take urgent climate action in their local environment. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and that their uses affect the environment.
5-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.2 Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.7 Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
