Overview

In this Curriculum Jams process, the group focused on materials that adults can use to facilitate lessons about climate. Our goal was to identify resources that could support youth in developing greater understanding and agency around the topic of climate.

Scope

Early on, the planning team identified a need for materials to address climate from several perspectives, adjusting the criteria to be developmentally appropriate for each age group.

We used the following criteria to evaluate the content of high school resources, adapting it for younger audiences:

• Developing awareness around:
  • How to identify reliable information
  • Understanding habitats and ecosystems
  • Climate impacts
  • Emotional responses
• Understanding climate justice through:
  • Understanding climate injustice
  • Local, national, and global policy
  • Climate just futures
• Approaching climate action:
  • Pursuing sustainable action as a response to eco-anxiety
  • Frameworks for action
  • Understanding local and global actions and impacts

We also looked for resources that represented different perspectives on climate:

• Indigenous ways of knowing and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
• Western scientific research and evidence
• Place-based knowledge

The planning team also identified some criteria for how the content should be delivered. We prioritized content that emphasizes:

• developing climate literacy skills
• inviting youth to teach, collect data, and take action
• sharing stories of youth making a difference
• youth development
• frameworks that highlight marginalized voices
• place-based approaches
• creative modes of engagement