Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Climate change headlines

30 minutes

Find Out: Modelling the science

15 minutes +

Take Action: Create a model

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune In: Climate change headlines

Step 1

Share the following online newspaper headlines with students. You could project them onto the board and invite students to read them out one at a time. Or you could print and cut out each headline, giving each student one headline and inviting them to move around the classroom and share and discuss their headlines with their classmates. Note: These headlines were all published in late 2023 or early 2024.

‘Heading towards a very unsafe world’: Vanuatu’s climate change minister fights to end fossil fuel projects
Australia not prepared for how Antarctic ice changes will hit economy, scientist warns
Australia’s black summer bushfires ripped billions from the tourism industry. Is global warming making the cost of natural disasters worse?
Growing concerns climate change is impacting asthmatic Australians
Pakistan's children are feeling the human toll of climate change: stunted growth and school dropouts
No more chocolate, coffee or wine? ‘Last supper’ shows stakes of climate crisis
Meadow brown butterflies ‘adapt’ to global heating by developing fewer spots
Ghost forests: Australia’s snow gums under threat from climate change
Red handfish taken into captivity to protect them from severe marine heatwave in southern Tasmania
How do you stop a glacier from melting? Simple – put up an underwater curtain
Hurricanes becoming so strong that new category needed, study says
Severe hot weather forces farmers to look for ways to keep cattle cool

Step 2

Pose the question:

What do these headlines tell us about the impacts of climate change?

For example, they mention bushfires, heatwaves, hurricanes, and severe hot weather. They also mention different animals, plants and ecosystems. They include news about tourism and the economy. Overall, they indicate that climate change could impact many different parts and places in our world.

Please note that many young people have strong feelings about climate change and can find it upsetting and challenging to discuss, especially when faced with headlines like these. Please reassure students by explaining that many people all around the world are working hard to meet the challenges posed by climate change and that the websites where these articles are sourced also include stories of these people and the great work that is being done. Many of the stories attached to these headlines include those people. However, news headlines are made to catch our attention, and news editors look for headlines that grab the eye; scary headlines are one strategy for attracting attention.

An important part of talking about this topic is first to acknowledge the challenging bits and allow students time to talk about these issues. In this way, students are more likely to feel like their concerns about these issues are real, and that school is a good place to explore them. As a result, students are more likely to feel supported and be more invested in their learning. Find out more on the Talking About Climate Change fact sheet.

Find Out: Modelling the science

Step 1

Explain to your students that the headlines you just looked at all come from stories that are based on work by scientists worldwide who are working hard to understand climate change and how it is affecting our world. Many fields of science (and other disciplines, such as geography and economics) are looking at different aspects of climate change. Together, they are building ‘pictures’ of the climate, how it is changing, and what the impacts of those changes might be.

Share this video:

A Scientist's Life in 99 Seconds: Climate Scientist Kate Ricke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBQDiHAf9U)

Explain to students that this is one example of work carried out by a climate scientist.

Step 2

Students can work in pairs to research scientists' work on climate change.

Distribute the following among students, with each group to look at 3 different examples of scientists working in a field related to climate change (also available on the Student Worksheet).

Australian Antarctic Division	Students select scientists who work on climate change
Australian Academy of Science	Students can search the scientists on the link provided or select from the scientists below (for supported students): Dr Wenju Cai Professor Andy Pitman* Dr Beth Fulton* Dr Janice Lough* Professor Brajesh Singh*

Alternatively, students requiring extension can find their own examples.

Each group should research and record the details of the 3 scientists they looked at. For each scientist, students need to record:

The name of the scientist and where they work
Their area of study/research
How this research is being used to understand climate change.

Invite students to share their findings through peer-to-peer or class discussions.

Step 3

Return to the video of Climate Scientist Kate Ricke

A Scientist's Life in 99 Seconds: Climate Scientist Kate Ricke (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBQDiHAf9U)

Invite students to share what they noticed about how the science was being communicated.

Lead students to the idea that there were many models displayed in this video. Models represent things from the real world in ways that make it easier to understand what is happening or that help to make predictions about what might happen in the future under different scenarios. This is crucial for helping us plan for the future.

Note: If time permits, students could read and discuss this article: Three reasons why climate change models are our best hope for understanding the future.

Step 4

Share the following examples of climate models. You could do this as a class or invite students to access this information on the Student Worksheet.

This Climate modelling clip from the CSIRO shows how climate models provide weather forecasts and climate projections: Climate modelling.
This Comparison of future temperature change between 4 climate models video shows 4 different models of projected temperature on a world map under different greenhouse gas levels: Comparison of future temperature change between 4 climate models.
This Coast Adapt website predicts sea level rise in coastal areas around Australia.
The Keeling Curve website shows atmospheric CO₂ levels over the past day, month, year, 2 years, 300 years, 2000 years, 10000 years, 800,000 years, and 70 million years.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology forecast maps are also interesting.

Analyse these examples as a class using the following questions:

How effective are these models at communicating risks associated with climate change?
What could be improved?

Step 5

Once complete, discuss what you observed in these examples and pose the following question:

Climate sceptics like to argue that no one can predict the future and that climate models don’t know the truth about what will happen in the future; therefore the predictions they make shouldn’t be used to guide government and economic policies. What can scientists do to ensure their models are as accurate as possible?

Suggested answer: One way is to use a wide variety of data from different sources, as this provides a deeper insight into the issue being looked at. This means that scientists studying different aspects of climate change (such as the atmosphere, the ice sheets, biodiversity or the oceans) can contribute their findings to global models.

Take Action: Create a model

Step 1

Explain to your students that the topic of climate change can cause us to feel worried, anxious and upset. But it’s important to remember that many people all around the world are working hard to address the challenges of climate change through their roles as politicians, scientists, engineers, industrial designers, energy technicians and more. In addition, many people are also having feelings of worry, concern and fear, and are committing to and taking personal actions to tackle climate change.

Students will now view some data around attitudes to climate change and will create their own model to communicate this information to an audience.

Suggested data could include (also available on the Student Worksheet):

In inviting your students to create their own model to communicate this information, consider the following:

the model could be a reworking of the graphs above, a different simple graph, an animation, a drawing, or even a short performance. The aim is to communicate the data in a way students feel is most effective. They should be prepared to justify their choice of model.
students can be selective about the data. For example, in the graphs above, students could choose just one line of data to focus on, as long as it tells an interesting ‘story’ and they can convey the message in a compelling way.
students can work individually or in small groups.
models need to include references and sources.
models may include a description that helps the viewer understand what they are looking at; however, the model needs to do most of the work and shouldn’t rely on long descriptions.
each model that students create needs to have a catchy headline that is upbeat rather than scary.

Step 2

Students can share their models with classmates for feedback and improvement (consider 2 stars and a wish).

Reflection

Work independently to respond to the following (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How helpful do you think climate change models are in communicating information about the climate to the general public? Explain your answer.

Climate Literacy: Climate Science And Modelling

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Summary

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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