Young Voices for the Planet: Words Have Power
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Provided by: Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation|Published on: April 27, 2021
Videos
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Synopsis
- This video presents the story of Jaysa Hunter-Mellers, a young activist from Bridgeport, Connecticut whose testimony helped shut down a coal-fired power plant.
- Students will see that children can fight for environmental justice and address environmental threats through civic actions and words.

Subjects: Civics, Health
Authors: Young Voices for the Planet
Region: Connecticut
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This video and the additional links in the description can inspire students to take action to protect the environment.
- This video has a powerful message related to environmental justice, environmental racism, and one person's ability to make change.
Prerequisites
- Students should be familiar with the following concepts: air pollution, environmental racism, activism, and burning fossil fuels.
- Teachers can check out the various articles and videos on Jaysa's awards, projects, and press releases.
Differentiation & Implementation
- In ELA classes, teachers can show students the video and ask them to write a paragraph about the impact of words to make a positive change.
- In art classes, teachers can ask students to make a piece of art that depicts the powerful words Jaysa Hunter-Mellers.
- This video can be used for a class discussion about environmental racism.
- It can be used as a starting point for a lesson on actions to restore the environment or on air pollution and its impacts on human health.
Scientist Notes
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About the Partner Provider

Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation
The Children's Environmental Literacy Foundation (CELF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2003 with the mission to make Education for Sustainability (EfS) an integral part of every child's K-12 learning experience. CELF engages educators, students and community leaders through award-winning programs that are designed to succeed in a wide range of education settings, including multi-day Summer Institutes, school professional development workshops, custom curriculum and instruction consulting, green career speaker series, and outdoor learning experiences. CELF's programs aim to help cultivate a society of global citizens with deep understanding of the dynamic interdependencies among human systems nested within natural systems, and the critical role education plays in cultivating healthy, equitable communities in a changing climate.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →




