Teaching Sequence

20 minutes	Part A: Introduction – What is climate change? What is Earth Hour?
25 minutes	Part B: Looking Back
15 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: What is climate change? What is Earth Hour?

Step 1.

Begin this lesson by explaining to students that in this lesson, they will be looking at some of the good things Australia has done to fight climate change over the past 10 years. However, the first step in this process is to find out what students think and feel about climate change. Explain to students that they are not expected to know a lot about climate change: the aim of this exercise is to find out what - if anything - students have heard about climate change and what more they would like to find out.

Invite students to conduct a THINK PAIR SHARE routine around the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

What key words come to mind when you hear 'climate change'?
What questions do you have about climate change?

Think Pair Share
Think pair share is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question.
Think - Students independently think about an issue or questions and record their thoughts.
Pair - Students work in pairs to discuss their ideas and record new thoughts.
Share - Students share their thoughts with the whole group or with other pairs to reach consensus.

Once complete, invite pairs of students to share their ideas with the class and record key words and questions on the board. Use these key words and questions to guide a class discussion:

How do the key words you thought up relate to climate change? Why did you choose them?
Is there anyone in the class who can answer any of the questions you thought up?
What are some other ways we could find the answers to these questions?

Step 2.

Now share the following clip with students:

Climate change: Earth's giant game of Tetris - Joss Fong (https://youtu.be/ztWHqUFJRTs)

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion:

Were any of the key words thought up by students used in this clip? How?
Did this clip answer any of the questions thought up by students?
Do students now have new questions? How could they find the answers to these questions?
What other things does this clip make students think or wonder about?

Step 3.

Now explain to students that there are many people and organisations around the world who are working hard to limit climate change and raise awareness on what we can all do about climate change. One of these organisations is WWF, through their Earth Hour initiative.. For 10 years now they have been helping Australians understand how we can all help to stop climate change, including the annual 'Switch Off' event, where houses, schools and businesses are encouraged to switch off their lights for an hour, highlighting the connection between energy use and climate change.

If students are unaware of Earth Hour and how people have participated in the past, view these images, explaining that all these buildings and places are expressing their commitment to climate action by switching off their lights.

But this isn't the only thing we can do for climate change. Invite students to share some of the ideas they have about actions we can all take to help prevent climate change. This could include:

Be energy efficient - This means switching off lights, heaters, air-conditioners, computers, stereos, and TVs when not in use. This includes the standby function, which also uses energy. It also means not using the hot water tap unless you really need it.
Switch to green energy - Wind, solar, hydro-electricity and geothermal. There's plenty of options to choose from.
Cut down on the car - Walk or ride where possible. Take public transport, and car share where you can.
Reduce consumption - Everything we buy requires energy to produce - the less you use, the less impact you will have. Likewise, increase your rates of reusing and recycling.
Look after nature - Plant trees and gardens that support native habitats.
Grow your own food - And buy locally and in season where possible.

Invite students to record the ideas that most interest or appeal to them in their workbooks or on the Student Worksheet.

Part B: Looking Back

Step 1.

Explain to students as part of 10 year celebration Earth Hour is looking back at what Australia has achieved in terms of our fight against climate change over the past 10 years.

Invite students to think about why it is important to celebrate the things we have achieved. Engage students in a quick 'lightning round' discussion about what it means to celebrate, why we should celebrate our achievements and how celebrating makes us feel.

A lightning round discussion is where the teacher asks a specific question and students have to answer with one or two sentences. Give students a set amount of time to answer each question (e.g. 30 seconds). As you ask your questions, build anticipation for the nest question with phrases like "Are you ready for the next question? Here it comes." Ask the question before choosing a student to answer the question so that all students must be ready to answer. Students can either choose to answer or pass and no negativity is associated with passing. The lightning round should take no longer than ten minutes.

Use the following questions:

What is a celebration?
What is a recent example of a celebration at your school or at home?
Why do you think it is important to celebrate your achievements?
What are some ways we can celebrate?
What keywords can you think of to describe how you feel when celebrating your achievements? Think of a range of key words, such as hopeful, happy, proud, satisfied etc.
How does celebrating your achievements affect how you act in the future?

Explain to students that Earth Hour are asking students to join in their celebrations by looking at news stories that share what they have achieved over the past 10 years, and also to create a news report based on what we could achieve 10 years in the future if we were to act for climate change right now.

Step 2.

The first step in exploring news stories of the past and the future is to understand how news stories are created. Explain to students that news stories are written to a particular formula where the most important information is presented first, with less important information following, and the least important information coming at the end. Distribute or invite students to access the Inverted pyramid model of journalistic writing (also available on the Student Worksheet) which shows one model which students can follow when analysing and creating news stories. Use this model to analyse an article of your choosing online, or use this article to demonstrate how the model can be applied to the article below (or access here).

Frog princess find could be kiss of life for an amphibian that's almost croaking v2

Start by reading the article together, answering student questions about the content of the article where possible or necessary.

Next work through the article with students, discussing how it is has been written in a typical journalistic style based on the Inverted pyramid model of journalistic writing. Engage students in a class discussion as you talk through the article:

Does the article grab your attentions? Why or why not? How could it be improved?
Does the lead make you want to find out more? Why or why not?
Has the lead used a provocative quote or question (hook)?
Does the article present information from most-to-least important? Do you agree with the way the information has been presented? What would you change and why?
What else would you like to know about the issues/story presented in this article? How would you find out more?

Step 3. Next break the class into small groups or pairs. Ensure each group has a copy of the Earth Hour - Stories from the past 10 years - Years 5 & 6 (or invite them to access them on the Student Worksheet) and assign each group with one of these stories. Explain to students that each group is to rewrite the story using the inverted pyramid model.

Students will need to:

Write a headline
Include the authors names and the date
Write a leading paragraph
Place the order of information presented in the story from most to least important

Students will need to write their news stories either on the Student Worksheet or as a Word document. Each student needs to keep a record of the story.

Extend: Invite groups to create or source an image that complements or adds to the story they have written. Remind students that some images are subject to copyright. Students can freely use the images from the Cool Australia Digital Library; however the best solution might be to draw an image or take a photo.

Reflection

Invite students to write a news story of between 100-150 words about something they have already done for climate change. Again students should follow the Inverted pyramid model of journalistic writing, including:

A headline
Their name and the date written
A leading paragraph
Ordering the information from most to least important

Students should also include an image that supports their story.

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Invite students to work independently to rewrite the news stories. In addition/alternatively, increase the word count for the Reflection activity.

Earth Hour - News Makers of the Future (Part 1)

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