LEARNING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
I teach Grade 4 at Tecumseh Public School in Burlington, part of the Halton District School Board. Discussions around social jus- tice, the environment and mental health are embedded in much of what I do. Grade 4 has many entry points for dis- cussing the environment, and I found my class to be particularly passionate about ani- mals. The Science strand Habitats and Com- munities teaches children about food chains and webs and the direct impact human activ- ity has on animals. In fact, Overall Expecta- tion 1 is to “analyze the effects of human ac- tivities on habitats and communities.” Rocks and Minerals includes mining which can be linked to how fossil fuels are extracted from the ground. Many different curriculum areas provide
opportunities to examine climate change. I used the book Can We Really Help the Po- lar Bears! by Katie Daynes to introduce the topic to my class. This book is a fantastic resource. It shares information about cli- mate change from the perspective of polar bears. It is both honest and optimistic and provides many strategies for reducing our carbon footprint. Throughout this unit, I use a variety of
instructional strategies. A Think-Pair-Share strategy for discussions engages all learn- ers and facilitates accountability. I read one or two pages of the book and then provide a topic for discussion that uses a reading strategy. For example, when learning about fossil fuels, I asked students what connec-
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