Climate change is increasingly becoming a topic laden with anxiety, grief, anger, and other emotions, especially for today’s youth (Marks et al., 2021), leading to a need for educator resources that can help address these emotions. To support the whole student, the following activities explore the relationship between climate and mental health, focusing on accessible, youth-friendly resources that aid teachers in approaching complex and sensitive topics in the classroom.
We recognize that teaching about climate change may give rise to controversy in some classrooms. For strategies to help facilitate difficult discussions, please see the CLEAN teaching support pages on managing climate change discourse. The activities in this set are structured by objectives, overview, and delivery method. They are also aligned with a social-emotional learning focus and the strategies listed in the graphic on the next page.
For educators teaching about specific hazards or using the HEART Force curriculum, the following adaptations of this lesson may be used:
- Visioning Possibility with Flood
- Visioning Possibility with Wildfire
- Visioning Possibility with Drought (in development)
Context for Use
In this lesson on visioning possibility, students will find inspiration from innovative solutions, envisioning a hopeful future and their role in it.
Two girls standing side by side holding a sign that reads "The seas are rising but so are we!"
Goals Header
What Students Will Do
- Envision a resilient and hopeful future.
- Envision one’s role in a resilient future.
Teaching Materials
User note: To make an editable copy of the teaching materials in Google Drive, select File > “Make a copy”. This will make a copy for you to save to your drive and edit as you see fit.
