Our young people are more interested than ever before about sustainability, climate change and doing the right thing for our planet. I’ve put together some links to resources which will help you to address these issues in the classroom, or at home.
COP27 is nearly here. this blog post was written ahead of COP26 in Glasgow – 2020’s delayed 26th United Nation’s Conference Of the Parties (COP) – perhaps the most important climate change conference to date. More than 30,000 people attended from more than 200 countries and organisations and it is hoped that agreements will be made to change the course of the current global climate crisis.
Take a look at this blog post on how Kate Sutton is incorporating teaching about climate science in her school in Yorkshire.
and some top tips on BBC Teach from Primary Science guru and environmental enthusiast, Claire Seeley on how to teach children about climate change.
***NEW*** resources for 2022
Educational resources by teachers for teachers on embedding sustainability, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), into lessons from a pan European Science On Stage project.
BBC Teach Live Lesson Mon 7th November 2022 at 11am inspired by Attenborough’s Frozen planet II – exploring the coldest places on earth and the impact of climate change on the icy habitat of harp seal pups (7-11 year olds).
Royal Society of Chemistry have added new climate change and sustainability education resources.
Great Science Share for Schools
There is already a bank of fantastic resources linked to sustainability and climate change on the Great Science Share for Schools website, which will grow over the coming months up to GSSfS2023 on June 13th 2023.
These resources are all within a members’ area this year – still free to access, just a quick sign up so you can access all the wonderful stuff!
Topical Science
Updates
Primary Science Teaching Trust fellow, Paul Tyler, creates a monthly #TopicalScienceUpdate and has made a fantastic schools’ resource guide for COP26.
You can find Paul @glazgow on twitter and the topical science updates here.
The resources include links to WWF, PSTT, Practical Action, BBC Teach, The Royal Society of Chemistry and LEGO!
Earth Day
I put together lots of links in this blog post for Earth Day back in April this year.
Educational resources from the Countryside Classroom, Eat Farm Now, Surfers against Sewage, Green Choices, Transform Our World and lots, lots more, including some extras below!
More resources
There’s a wonderful Royal Society animation about biodiversity narrated by Sir David Attenborough explaining why we need the natural world and what we can do to save it.
The ASE webinar on best practice in including environmental education in primary teaching, included ways to incorporate this into the curriculum and highlighted useful resources which are also included below.
There’s a fun and informative scrolling graphic about water as a precious resource from Every Last Drop.
Live lesson on YouTube from COP26 by AimHiEarth: The GreatBig Lesson for Climate and Nature, 9am Friday 5th November 2021 (11+)
PSTT have an online Primary Science Climate Science Symposium 1st-12th November 2021, and resources and webinars are now available to download.
There are also Earth day Lesson Ideas for Teachers from Engage Education .
The Royal Society have an extension of their partnership grants for Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists.
Farming and food sustainability
- Eat Farm Now
- Farming STEMterprise
- FarmerTime
- Growing Food in Schools
- LEAF education and COP26 resources
Environment and sustainability
- Practical Action Schools – Fantastic STEM projects linked to the Global Sustainable Development Goals
- Green Choices
- The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Steps Into Science Primary website has great sustainability resources
- Get a Blue Peter Green Badge!
- National Association for Environmental Education curriculum guides for schools
- Sustainability resources from CIEC
- SEED collated list
- PSTT’s Earth Explorers resources
- ASE Best practice guide on teaching environment and sustainability
The Natural world
- Great Bug Hunt
- RSPB Bird watch (Big Schools BirdWatch and Big Garden Bird Watch) and wild challenges
- Nature Detectives – special school closure activities from The Woodland Trust
- Kew Gardens Learning at home resources
- RHS Gardening activities
- The Natural History Museum resources
- Cambridge University Botanic Gardens
- Wildlife Trust activities for families
- The Countryside Classroom
- Five minute field trips – useful list of quick nature activities to do with minimal resources and preparation
- The Week Junior Science and Nature magazine
- Gardening for Biodiversity
- Zooniverse – gives people from all ages and backgrounds the chance to take part in real research with over 50 active citizen science projects, many of which are nature and environment based.
- Our Planet – nature documentary exploring the wonder of the natural world and the impacts of climate change.
- You might also find London Zoo’s YouTube channel interesting – including a series of ZSL Science and Conservation Events on animals, climate change and biodiversity, cutting-edge technology conserving species on the brink of extinction, and more. Find the programme here.
- Outdoor Learning resources from Gratnell’s
Pollution
- Oceans and plastic pollution from WWF
- Resources from Anglian Water
- Surfers Against Sewage – lessons and resources
- Clean Air Day
- Kids Against Plastic
Climate change
- Climate science, biodiversity and citizen science resources from WWF
- Wildlife Trusts have produced a new handbook for schools on climate change
- STEM Polar explorers
- Oxfam – Climate challenge to investigate the human causes of climate change and what can be done about it (KS2).
- Waterwise competition
- Guide to talking to children about Climate Change
- Dynamic graphic showing what’s warming the world
- Met Office data and resources for KS2
- British Antarctic Survey ice core data
- Climate kids from NASA
- European Space Agency (ESA) #ClimateDetectives project
- British Council Climate resources for teaching
- #LetsGoZero school campaign
- STEM Learning competitions, challenges and games
Other resources
- You will also find lots of schools resources at Transform Our World.
- Practical Action have incredible activities and projects linked to Sustainable development Goals
- Curious About Our Planet resources from Glasgow Science Centre
- WalkWithUs Science and Arts AR project on coastal erosion and climate change
- Chris Woods’ latest issue of Daily STEM has some special activities for Earth Day
- Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT)’s #IBetYouDidntKnow cutting edge research resources for Earth day
- Always great for stimulating wonder and discussion, why not try some of the Explorify resources
- BBC Bitesize Climate Change The Regenerators live lessons
- Maddie Moate and Greg Foot have a number of #LetsGoLive episodes including climate change and electricity.
- The latest Talk4Writing English booklets all have an environmental link
There’s a discussion on embedding climate science into the curriculum from the Ministry of Eco Education on 25th October.
If you’re interested in research, you can find out more on how the breadth of climate change impacts on biological systems in Emerging Topics in Life Sciences journal.
Dr Jo Science Workshops
Dr Jo Science live virtual workshops are available on a range of topics to support environmental issues, including:
- Plastics and recycling challenge
- Habitats and bird feeders
- Owl pellet dissections
- Playdough Poo Detectives
- Rocks and soils
- Plants, seeds and pollination
- Microplastics pollution
- Polar science and global warming
- Dirty water – separation and filtering
Many of these are also available as asynchronous, pre-recorded video workshops accompanied by downloadable activity packs. Contact me for more information or go to Virtual Visits.
I hope these resources will inspire you and your children. I’d love to see what you discover and investigate. You can tag me on social media @DrJoScience.
I am not responsible for external links. Always stay safe, you are responsible for your and your children’s safety.