Climate Change Awareness

Overview

In this fourth day of the unit Earth Day Exploration, students learn basic climate change causes and effects and then create posters that raise awareness and propose practical mitigation actions.

Learning intentions

• Students will be able to explain key climate change terms using evidence from a short reading.
• Students will be able to describe causes and effects of climate change in their own words.
• Students will be able to propose at least two realistic actions to reduce climate impacts.
• Students will be able to present ideas clearly in a poster using facts and strong visuals.

Success criteria

• I can define important climate terms (such as climate, greenhouse gases, mitigation, and effect).
• I can list at least two causes and two effects of climate change using sentence starters.
• I can write a poster that includes a clear claim, facts, and at least two mitigation strategies.
• I can explain my poster to a partner and revise it after feedback.

Curriculum links

• Writing: introduce and develop a topic with relevant facts and clear organization.
• Speaking and listening: participate in collaborative discussions and present information with supporting details.
• Reading for informational text: cite evidence from text to support understanding.
• Language: use appropriate academic vocabulary and revise for clarity.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 5 min — Warm-up prompt Students respond in journals to: “One way climate change can affect people is… because…” Briefly share 2–3 responses to surface prior knowledge.

2. 10 min — Mini-lesson: terms + causes/effects Teacher models definitions using a simple graphic organizer: Climate (long-term patterns), Greenhouse gases (heat-trapping gases), Mitigation (actions that reduce harm), Effects (impacts on people/ecosystems). Students fill in a class “term bank” with short, student-friendly definitions.

3. 12 min — Guided reading and evidence sorting Students read a teacher-provided short informational text (1–2 pages) and highlight evidence sentences for “cause” and “effect.” In pairs, they complete a two-column organizer: Cause | Evidence | Effect | Evidence.

4. 13 min — Poster planning and drafting Students use a poster template with required sections:

• Title that states awareness focus
• “What climate change is” (1–2 sentences)
• Two causes (bullets with evidence)
• Two effects (bullets with evidence)
• Two mitigation actions (bullets beginning with “We can…”)
• A concluding call to action (1 sentence) Teacher circulates to check accuracy and clarity, and to remind students to use academic vocabulary.

5. 5 min — Gallery walk feedback Students do a quick partner gallery walk (or desk-to-desk share) using one feedback sentence frame: “Your strongest fact is… I wonder… One suggestion is…” Students record one suggestion to revise.

Resources

• Short informational reading: “Climate Change: Causes and Effects” (grade-appropriate, text-dependent)
• Climate term bank cards or anchor chart
• Graphic organizer: Causes and Effects (with evidence lines)
• Poster template (9x12 or construction-paper size) with labeled sections
• Markers, colored pencils, crayons, glue/scissors (as available)
• Highlighting tools (highlighters or colored pencils)
• Sentence starters for explanations and poster writing
• Feedback sentence frames for gallery walk
• Visuals: simple icons for greenhouse gases, seasons/weather, humans/ecosystems (optional)
• Classroom display area or poster boards for end-of-class sharing

Assessment

• Formative: review cause/effect organizers for correct identification and evidence from the text.
• Formative: check poster drafts using a simple rubric (accuracy, organization, use of vocabulary, presence of mitigation actions).
• Summative for the lesson: collect posters for display and quick teacher notes on student readiness for final unit presentation.

Differentiation

• Support: provide a partially completed poster template with sentence starters and a word bank; offer a teacher small group to review definitions.
• Support (reading): offer text at two levels or provide a read-aloud of the informational text with students following along.
• Extension: ask students to add one local/community connection (how climate impacts might show up in their region) and one additional mitigation action with a reason.
• EAL/SEN: allow oral rehearsal before writing; permit visuals instead of some written phrases; provide translated word banks if available; reduce the number of required sentences while keeping required sections.

Extension (optional)

None—this lesson includes the final poster creation and feedback needed for the unit’s poster display day.