Teaching Climate Science in the Elementary Classroom: A Place-Based, Hope-Filled Approach to Understanding Earth’s Systems

Discover new ways to help elementary students engage with and understand the world around them through place-based, hope-filled learning about the causes, impacts, and responses to climate change. This book features foundational climate concepts, easily implementable activity plans, and inspiring examples of student engagement. Each chapter begins with a short vignette pulled from the author’s considerable teaching experience in engaging students in concepts of climate change and climate justice, followed by content-focused sections and recommendations for student activities and projects. The author provides stories of hope-filled action to invite teachers to look for and reflect on similar narratives in their own communities. Sample units of study for grades K-5 show teachers how key ideas from each chapter come together into an instructional plan that incorporates the three dimensions of NGSS and can fit into the broader outline of their school year. This resource is an accessible tool to support any elementary educator in building their own knowledge base and integrating the important and timely issues of climate change into their classroom.