In this video, Greta Thunberg explains why she walked out of school and organized a strike compelling listeners to take urgent action to address climate change.
Students will learn about greenhouse gas emissions, the 2015 Paris Agreement, extinction rates, and other issues surrounding this sustainability crisis.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This video is a compelling and emotional wake-up call urging immediate action.
Greta Thunberg is relatable to students as she is a young person who talks about how climate issues impact her own future.
Additional Prerequisites
This video has a highlighted transcript and subtitles available in 37 languages.
It may help students to have familiarity with the Paris Agreement.
Greta discusses her diagnosis with Asberger Syndrome and her period of anorexia, which may need to be addressed with students.
Differentiation
Language Arts classes could engage in writing tasks where students are asked to write reflection papers, citing the aspects of the video that they found to be most influential and inspiring.
Cross-curricular connections could be made in social studies classes as students do a deeper dive into the Paris Agreement and research civics and equity issues that surround this treaty.
Greta Thunberg claims that the climate crisis has already been solved. This interactive table of climate solutions from Project Drawdown lists solutions with their potential abilities to reduce global emissions.
Other resources on this topic include this video which is an apology to future generations, this article about the power of individual and household actions to fight climate change, and this podcast which pieces together interviews about global solutions to climate problems.
Scientist Notes
This is an inspiring piece, calling on everyone to take urgent climate action. Climate scientists have already provided accurate data on the climate system. It is now imperative to take actions for a better and sustainable planet. This video is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.13.6-8 Analyze the purposes, implementation, and consequences of public policies in multiple settings.
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.
D4.6.9-12 Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
