Jr. Climate Scientist Activity Book
Climate Change Communication was a rollercoaster of emotions this semester. From talking about the doom and gloom of today's climate crisis to being so excited about new communication tools, this semester was great, to say the least. For my final action project, I wanted to take my new skills and translate them to children (the future voters and climate advocates). I designed an activity booklet inspired by the National Park Service’s Jr. Ranger program. I named the activity book “Jr. Climate Scientists” to break the silence surrounding climate change and inspire kids to learn about climate change. My primary audience was 3rd to 7th graders because preliminary research revealed that was the best age range to target for introducing complex science topics like climate change (Grater). My biggest hope for the project was to stay away from the gloom and environmental grief that climate change can cause. I want to teach about climate change without bringing children down or making them feel hopeless about their future.
Climate change denial is huge here in the United States, and I did not want that to get in the way of children learning about the climate emergency. Stoknes talks about how denial can get in the way of communication. I think that is especially true when parents pass their climate denial down to their children. I focused on the present with no past-focused or future-focused frame because during our class, we talked about framing and how it can be dangerous to frame things past-focused or future-focused because adults with strong political identities often get discouraged by these frames. I used friendly characters like a tree and the Earth which don’t have political ties. I tried to use sources that were the least politically biased. This was all in hopes that even parents with reservations about climate change would let their child participate in the Jr. Climate Scientist program. The booklet had an overall hopeful and fun frame in order to keep children’s interest and encourage them to be hopeful for the future. As we learned in class, climate change communication is best when framed to overcome boundaries, and create solutions by using opportunity framing as Stoknes discusses in great detail in his book. I included art and storytelling as ways to communicate feelings about nature and climate change. PBS says, "tackling the big issues of climate change through art allows students to face the particulars, whether that is making sense of data or tapping into their feelings" (Vaughan-lee).
The complete Jr. Climate Scientist booklet was 24 pages long with 15 of those pages being activities and the other nine being an assortment of stories, encouraging texts, a certificate, and the opening and closing pages. My original plan also included this booklet going to the Chief of Education in the National Park Service but due the coronavirus they were not really accepting new ideas and were very hard to get in contact with. A walk in the Wood is a company through REI who has agreed to use my booklet in their children's programs. The link to the activity book is below! Feel free to print it out and have fun!
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l4kv-Uv7Z2bQh4SPVE8wpoR0mcM_HQwq/view?usp=sharing
References:
VAUGHAN-LEE. (2020, May 8). Exploring Climate Change Through Art in the Science Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/education/blog/exploring-climate-change-through-art-in-the-science-classroom
Grater, R. K. (1976). The interpreter’s handbook: methods, skills & techniques. USA: Jackson Editor.
Kamenetz, A. (2019, April 25). 8 Ways to Teach Climate Change in Almost Any Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/716359470/eight-ways-to-teach-climate-change-in-almost-any-classroom
Kamenetz, A. (2019, October 24). How to Talk to Kids About Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/10/22/772266241/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-climate-change
Stoknes, P. E. (2015). What we think about when we try not to think about global warming: toward anew psychology of climate action. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
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| Check out this page from the booklet reminding kids to stay positive and learn more about climate change! |
Climate change denial is huge here in the United States, and I did not want that to get in the way of children learning about the climate emergency. Stoknes talks about how denial can get in the way of communication. I think that is especially true when parents pass their climate denial down to their children. I focused on the present with no past-focused or future-focused frame because during our class, we talked about framing and how it can be dangerous to frame things past-focused or future-focused because adults with strong political identities often get discouraged by these frames. I used friendly characters like a tree and the Earth which don’t have political ties. I tried to use sources that were the least politically biased. This was all in hopes that even parents with reservations about climate change would let their child participate in the Jr. Climate Scientist program. The booklet had an overall hopeful and fun frame in order to keep children’s interest and encourage them to be hopeful for the future. As we learned in class, climate change communication is best when framed to overcome boundaries, and create solutions by using opportunity framing as Stoknes discusses in great detail in his book. I included art and storytelling as ways to communicate feelings about nature and climate change. PBS says, "tackling the big issues of climate change through art allows students to face the particulars, whether that is making sense of data or tapping into their feelings" (Vaughan-lee).
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| Try this drawing challenge from the booklet! |
The complete Jr. Climate Scientist booklet was 24 pages long with 15 of those pages being activities and the other nine being an assortment of stories, encouraging texts, a certificate, and the opening and closing pages. My original plan also included this booklet going to the Chief of Education in the National Park Service but due the coronavirus they were not really accepting new ideas and were very hard to get in contact with. A walk in the Wood is a company through REI who has agreed to use my booklet in their children's programs. The link to the activity book is below! Feel free to print it out and have fun!
Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l4kv-Uv7Z2bQh4SPVE8wpoR0mcM_HQwq/view?usp=sharing
References:
VAUGHAN-LEE. (2020, May 8). Exploring Climate Change Through Art in the Science Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/education/blog/exploring-climate-change-through-art-in-the-science-classroom
Grater, R. K. (1976). The interpreter’s handbook: methods, skills & techniques. USA: Jackson Editor.
Kamenetz, A. (2019, April 25). 8 Ways to Teach Climate Change in Almost Any Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/04/25/716359470/eight-ways-to-teach-climate-change-in-almost-any-classroom
Kamenetz, A. (2019, October 24). How to Talk to Kids About Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2019/10/22/772266241/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-climate-change
Stoknes, P. E. (2015). What we think about when we try not to think about global warming: toward anew psychology of climate action. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.
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