Teaching Sequence

20 minutes	Part A: About Climate Change (optional)
30 minutes	Part B: Looking Back

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: About Climate Change (optional)

Step 1.

Explain to students they are going to create a future news story for Earth Hour based on how their own actions today can positively affect the future. Explain that in Earth Hour is celebrating over 10 years of raising awareness about climate change. Earth Hour is looking back over the past 10 years at the achievements of Australian households and communities with regard to climate change and looking forward to imagining where we will be in 10 years' time. The theme for Earth Hour 2017 was “Switch off to join the future.” For this year's theme, visit the Earth Hour website. Ask students to record their interpretation of this year's Earth Hour theme on the Student Worksheet.

This lesson assumes a basic understanding of the causes and potential impacts of climate change, both in Australia and around the world. If students need further information about climate change or would like to refresh their knowledge on this topic, invite students to complete this Flipped Classroom lesson before completing this Earth Hour lesson.

Part B: Looking Back

Step 1.

Explain to students that climate change is often seen as a recent phenomenon, but in fact, people have been looking at the effects of human activity on the climate for more than 150 years. Joseph Fourier - a French mathematician from the 1820s - tried to understand the various factors that affect Earth’s temperature. While studies into human impacts on the climate continued from this time, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the warming effect of carbon dioxide gas became increasingly convincing. And by the 1990s, a consensus position had formed: greenhouse gases were deeply involved in many - if not most - climate changes and emissions caused by humans and were leading to global warming.

Since that time scientists have lead the charge to change human behaviour to limit our impact on the climate. Many of us are now actively engaged in actions to help reduce the threat of climate change.

While the threat still exists it is important to acknowledge the steps we have already taken and the successes we have already seen.

Explain to students that they will now be looking back in time over the past 10 years to see how we were talking about climate change 10 years ago and how things have changed since then. Students will be asked to find 3 news articles about climate change from 10 years ago and analyse the article and the headline.

Why is important to get the headline right?

A headline is designed to grab your attention and draw you into reading the article while not revealing too much about the article. The choice of words used in a headline can have a powerful effect and can influence the choice of words used in the article itself, and finally, the choice of words used in a headline is influenced by the space available.

Break students into pairs. Each pair is to find three news articles about climate change from 10 years ago and three from the present day, and using the tables on the Student Worksheet, analyse the perspectives, attitudes and persuasive techniques presented in these texts using the questions below (also available on the Student Worksheet in Table 1):

How does the headline contribute to the sense of drama in this article?
Does this article follow the Inverted pyramid model of journalistic writing?
Does this article use any persuasive techniques?
What perspectives or attitudes about the topic are presented in the article?
How reliable do you think this news source is for stories about climate change?

This How to be persuasive presentation is available on the Student Worksheet to support students where necessary (PDF version here).

Students can simply conduct a Google search using search terms such as 'climate change news 2007', 'global warming articles 2007' or could visit your library and conduct a search with the help of the librarian.

Once students have answered the questions in the tables, ask them to answer the following questions comparing the articles from the past with those from the present day (also available on the Student Worksheet in Table 2):

Do you think newspapers are reporting on climate change now in the same way as they were 10 years ago?
Is there a difference in the tone of the articles from the past to the ones from now?
Are there differences in the techniques or language used to attract the attention of readers of the articles from the past and now?
What other differences did you identify between the articles from the past and the present day?
How do you think newspapers will be reporting on climate change in 2027?

Step 2.

Once complete, invite students to share what they have found with the class. Create a table on the board with three columns, and label one column 'the Past', another with 'Present day', and the last column with '2027'. Add the headlines drawn from the news articles found by students under the 'the Past' and 'Present day' columns.

In addition, invite students to share a short summary of the articles they found and ask them to discuss the following:

What is surprising or interesting about this article?
Is this an article you would expect from this source? Why or why not?
What does this article tell you about how far we have come in the last 10 years?
Is this an article that might be written today? Why or why not?

Step 3.

Again working in the same pairs, invite students to create alternative headings and leading paragraphs for one of the articles they found from the past and one from the present day. Students can use the spaces provided on the Student Worksheet to write their new headlines and leading paragraphs.

Once complete, ask students to share some of the headlines and leading paragraphs they created.

Why is the lead paragraph important?

The 'lead' is the first paragraph and is the opening to the article. It should hook the reader. It should answer the five w's:
who, what, when, where, and why (and sometimes how).

Part C: Looking Forward

Step 1.

Now explain to students they need to think about what the news in 10 years' time might be based on the actions that they themselves could commit to doing for climate change right now. Students will be asked to think of an action they could commit to now and then think about the positive effects of this action 10 years in the future.

For example, some headlines could be:

“28 students recycle truckloads of plastic, saving emissions”
“Over 10 years, students turn wasteland into forest”

Working in pairs or small groups, students need to create a news piece, such as a TV news segment, newspaper article, or news presented in another format of your students’ liking (for example, how might we be presenting the news in the future?) that is reporting from the future, looking back at how the action of students has positively affected climate change.

The scale/calculation of the future change that will occur as a result of the proposed student action does not need to be technically accurate. For example, it is not necessary for students to calculate the actual amount of CO2 they will save. Instead, what is important is that students demonstrate an understanding of how their one behaviour can affect positive change and the creativity they demonstrate in communicating this information to an audience.

Step 2.

Invite pairs or small groups to follow the suggested steps (also available on the Student Worksheet) for brainstorming, researching and creating their news piece.

Developing an idea – What will your news piece be about? Think about how you can help fight climate change now, what this action involves, and how this action will lead to positive change in the future.

Tips for group work

- move into your groups quickly
- stay in your groups
- speak quietly and take turns
- perform your role
- be respectful

Deciding on a format – What format would be best for delivering your news? You could choose a format that already exists, such as a news article or a TV news segment, or imagine a format that might exist 10 years in the future. What would a futuristic format look, sound or feel like?
Writing – Write your newspaper article or script for a TV new segment. How will you engage your readers/audience? What techniques and language will you use to inspire and persuade your readers/audience? Students can use the Tips for writing a news article - Secondary and Tips for creating a news report - Secondary (also available on the Student Worksheet).
Resources/Assets required – Think about what materials you might need to create your news piece. You might need a camera (a tablet or phone should be fine), you might need images (you could take your own photos or check the Cool Australia Earth Hour Digital Library), you might need props or costumes (what does your school already have?), or you might need a particular location (such as the beach or a forest). Is accessing these resources and assets realistic within your timeframe? If not, is there an alternative?
Creating your news piece – What is the time limit for creating your news piece? What other obstacles or challenges might you face and how might you overcome these. It's good to be prepared!
Editing – Does your headline have an impact? Does your lead hook the reader/audience? Does the headline and lead relate to your news piece? Do they draw the viewer/reader in? Does your news piece clearly convey the story/issue you are relating to? Does the news piece inspire change in others? Is your news piece free of errors?
Sharing – Present your news piece to the class!

Ensure you have parental permission for students appearing in films or photographs.

Encourage students to use this How to be persuasive presentation (PDF version here) when incorporating persuasive techniques into their news piece.

In addition, provide students with the Assessment Rubric - Years 9 & 10 prior to starting the news pieces, and encourage them to use this document to strengthen their news pieces.

The news piece could be:

A TV news segment
A newspaper article
News presented in another format of your choosing (for example, think about how might we be presenting the news in the future)

The news piece needs to:

Include a heading (if creating a video presentation you must accompany your piece with a written heading and lead)
A lead paragraph or sentence (if creating a video presentation you must accompany your piece with a written heading and lead)
Subsequent information presented in the Inverted pyramid model of journalistic writing
Include at least two persuasive techniques (see this presentation for more information - PDF version here)

Tips for guiding students through a project:

- be clear about time allocation - remind students how much time they have to complete the project and encourage students to be realistic about the tasks they have to complete in that time
- keep communication high, making sure everyone has everything that they need to complete the work they have been allocated and that everyone knows what they should be doing
- talk to your principal, parents and staff about what the students are doing and how/why they are completing their projects.
remind students to prepare for setbacks and encourage them to continue even in the face of obstacles or challenges.

Step 3.

Allow students to share their news pieces with the class. Invite students to use the Assessment Rubric - Years 9 & 10 to assess the news pieces of other groups.

Return to the table you created on the board with the news headlines from the past and the present day. Add the new headlines students created to the '2027' column.

Once complete, engage students in a class discussion around their news pieces. Consider the following questions:

Which news piece was most interesting or inspiring and why?
Which news piece was most realistic and why?
Which news piece was most persuasive?
Which news piece would most inspire people to "Switch off to join the future"?
How different are the headlines from the past, the present day and 2027? How are these differences represented?

Reflection

1. Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

Why do you think it is important to imagine a positive future around climate change?
Do you think governments should force people to act for climate change, or should it be voluntary? Explain your answer.
What would you like to see in 10 years time with regards to climate change?

2. Invite students to think about the Earth Hour theme for this year. What action will students pledge to now to help reduce the impacts of climate change in the future? Students can complete this Pledge poster, or create their own.

Differentiation Learning

Extension - Invite students to analyse the lead paragraph of the articles they find online using the following questions:

Does the lead paragraph answer the five W’s of the story: who, what, when, where and why?
Does the lead paragraph hook the reader? Why or why not?

Why is the lead paragraph important?

The 'lead' is the first paragraph and is the opening to the article. It should hook the reader and answer the five w's:
Who, what, when, where, and why (and sometimes how).

Take it further

Has your school been involved with Earth Hour before? Have you got a record of our involvement? Consider creating an exhibition/display to celebrate your involvement and to share how far your school has come!

Download posters to promote Earth Hour at your school:

Earth Hour - Investigating Climate Change

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