Tackling Climate Change through Environmental Justice Elementary School

EcoRise

This lesson set serves as an introduction to the topic of environmental justice via a tag game, flash card activity and discussion, and an art lesson for students to create their own environmental justice heroes. It includes thorough background materials and activities to think about before leading the lesson, including cultural adaptation notes and social and emotional support suggestions.

Click to View

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

Some of the materials, such as the EJ hero posters, feature language and concepts that will be above an elementary literacy level. Consider annotating these resources as a class to help students work through the text. The Just/Unjust cards may be confusing for younger learners encountering these concepts for the first time. Consider going with the obvious rather than the subtle examples and working through them slowly as a class. Environmental justice may be challenging to teach in some formal classroom settings and political environments. If that's the case, focus on compassion, empathy, and community.
This lesson set is focused on empathy and compassion rather than science. It asks students to consider inequality and justice in the context of their own lives and the environment. Though hard science and data are not the focus, the concepts presented are vital to conducting responsible science. Students are also involved in inquiry and observation throughout the lesson, which are important skills to cultivate. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
The lessons provide engaging activities that serve as an introduction to environmental justice. They celebrate diversity and engage different types of learning styles and help students empathize with other viewpoints. Depending on the age and maturity of students, the concepts may be difficult to understand and require substantial scaffolding and discussion. Consequently, the times listed for activities may not be accurate. Allow space to delve into these topics at the students' speed. Teachers know their classrooms best and will want to consider how to thoughtfully guide students through these lessons and provide the necessary support to address the concepts presented. For example, connecting the dots between the tag game, which features multiple times in this lesson set, and the broader concepts of community justice/injustice may take additional activities and background information not provided here.
This is a clear and very comprehensive lesson plan that considers different issues that may come up with this difficult topic and how to talk about it with various students. Each lesson has background information to discuss, and follow up instructions. There is a social - emotional focus on how to cultivate observation, empathy, and compassion. Extension activities and reflection questions are located at the end of each lesson. Cross-disciplinary connection ideas are included in language arts, social studies, art, social emotional learning and community. These lessons require prep time for teachers to print and prepare materials. While there is a considerable amount of information and support for teachers provided within the lessons, the format may be challenging to work through. Spend time with the lessons beforehand and consider rewriting them in your own style.