Exploring climate change education in primary schools
Our young students must have the opportunity to learn the building blocks of knowledge, skills and capabilities so that they can, as they get older, tackle the challenges of climate change.
In this recorded professional learning session, Dr Chris Eames unpacks what teaching about climate change can look like at primary school. The session focuses on integrating climate change education into the school curriculum, emphasising the importance of developing climate literacy by helping students to understand how the climate system works, the impact of human actions, and the importance of making informed decisions about our environment.
Thank you Chris for offering this clear and concise framework to frame up an approach to teaching climate change in a way that is offering hope!
The presentation also stresses the importance of teacher and student wellbeing, acknowledging the challenges and anxieties associated with teaching and learning about climate change.
You can download the video and slideshow presentation.
Exploring climate change education in primary schools
This is an edited recording of the webinar Exploring climate change education in primary schools.
Looking forward to diving into some of those resources. I really appreciate the focus on student (and teacher) well-being too.
Exploring climate change education in primary schools – slideshow
This Slideshow, from the webinar Exploring climate change education in primary schools, provides additional support for the video tutorial.
Use the slideshow menu for further options, including viewing in full screen.
Index
| Topic | Slideshow number(s) | Video timecode |
|---|---|---|
Welcome and index | 1–2 | 00:00 |
Introducing the Science Learning Hub, NZASE and Dr Chris Eames | 3–8 | 00:48 |
What is climate change education? | 9–11 | 04:13 |
Building blocks: years 1–3, 4–6 and 7–8 | 12–18 | 07:38 |
Pedagogy for climate change | 19 | 20:14 |
Nature connection, Mātauranga Māori, and Systems and critical thinking | 20–25 | 20:59 |
Solutions and hope | 26–30 | 28:43 |
Decision making and action taking | 31–34 | 33:05 |
Teacher and student wellbeing | 35–37 | 36:43 |
Teaching towards climate change | 38–39 | 40:00 |
Resources | 40–42 | 41:45 |
SLH links, keep in touch and thanks | 43 | 43:16 |
Related content
Watch part one of this webinar series Understanding the basics of climate change and the complementary session Exploring climate change education in secondary schools.
The resources mentioned in the webinar can be found in this collection Climate change education – primary which you can copy, edit and share.
Start by exploring our PLD article Climate change resources – planning pathways.
Climate change – a wicked problem for classroom inquiry provides pedagogical suggestions on ways to approach this issue in ways that help to avoid overwhelming students.
Students investigate and plan their own climate action with the activity Drive it Down! – reducing emissions at your school. It uses the experiences of an Auckland primary school as a springboard for gathering their own data and taking action.
Agency in the Anthropocene article and presentation – provides current understanding and examples as well as exploring the PISA 2025 science framework and feature Chris.
To view all of our climate change resources, visit the Climate change topic – use the filters to see resources with a primary level focus.
Teaching futures thinking supports teachers with the Futures thinking toolkit and other resources and activities.
Useful link
Agency in the Anthropocene – a supporting document to the PISA 2025 Science Framework.
Acknowledgement
Thank you to Dr Chris Eames for sharing his expertise.
This webinar series is a collaboration between the Science Learning Hub – Pokapū Akoranga Pūtaiao and the New Zealand Association of Science Educators (NZASE).
