Climate change is a hot topic to talk about right now... a topic that is also controversial. Some people believe in climate change and the science behind it, whereas others deny its existence and declare it a hoax. Of course, there are plenty of people in the middle who have heard about climate change but don't really understand what it is. So... what is climate change? What are the causes of it? Is climate change something cyclical, something brought about by humans, or a combination of both? If climate change is for real... is there anything that can be done about it? To help answer these and other questions children may have, three authors from ClimateScience wrote the book Saving Planet Earthly. Saving Planet Earthly is a lighthearted children's book that takes a serious look at climate change and what we can do about it. Read on to learn more about this book and how it can be used in the classroom.
Author Summary
Thoko's friend Earthly is sick, but why? Join our friends Thoko and Earthly in Johannesburg as they learn about climate change. This book is the first in a series of adventures in which Thoko and her friends from around the world learn how climate change is affecting them and the plants and animals they live with.
🍎 Title: Saving Planet Earthly
🍎 Authors: Juan Pablo Arellano, Ghislaine Fandel, and Claire McPhee
🍎 Illustrators: Susan Brigham-Ward, Tania Chiang, Federica Merante, and Alex Shuttleworth
🍎 Online Publisher: Climate Science https://climate-science.com/children/
🍎 Date: October 30, 2020
🍎 Pages: 34
About Saving Planet Earthly
Saving Planet Earthly is an online children's book that is not available in print. In order to read it, you need to go to the ClimateScience website. If you have tablets or e-readers in your classroom, you will be able to read it with your students in the same way you'd read any printed book. ClimateScience is a nonprofit organization that allows teachers and students to access its website free of charge.
Saving Planet Earthly is the first book in a series. Visit ClimateScience's website to access Saving Planet Earthly (available now) and the other books as they are released: https://climate-science.com/children/
What Is Climate Change?
Before reading Saving Planet Earthly, take a few minutes to discuss with your students what they think climate change is and to establish a working definition of it. NASA Climate Kids provides this simple definition:
There are a lot of stories about climate change online that are based on rumors and inaccurate information. Children may read or hear other people talking about climate change and get the wrong idea about it. While talking with your students, it's important to provide information about climate change that is factual and appropriate for their age level. If a student looks you in the eye and declares that climate change is a hoax, stay calm. Your job is to teach and not to judge.Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time. Global climate change refers to the average long-term changes over the entire Earth.
Reading for Comprehension
Saving Planet Earthly is the kind of story the can be read multiple times and for a variety of purposes. It can be read like a fictional story during your language arts instruction or used as a reading for information lesson during science. When used during your language arts instruction, Saving Planet Earthly would lend itself well to a story elements minilesson in which students have to identify characters, setting, problems, and solutions. You could also use it to teach cause-and-effect and the difference between fact vs. fiction. The basic story elements of Saving Planet Earthly include:
🍎 characters: Thokozani ('Thoko'), Earthly, and the doctor
🍎 setting: Modern-day, Johannesburg, South Africa, playground, and the doctor's office
🍎 problem: Earthly started feeling sick due to climate change.
🍎 solution: Thoko took Earthly to the doctor's office and the doctor explained what climate change is, how it's hurting Earthly, and what needs to be done to make Earthly feel better.
Reading for Information
Reading for information requires a different skill set than reading for comprehension. When you and your students read Saving Planet Earthly, look for the important details about climate change. What is it? What is causing it? What are the effects of it? How can we slow it down or stop it altogether? Is it even possible to slow it down or stop it?
While your students are reading Saving Planet Earthly, hand them some sticky notes. On these sticky notes, your students can write down facts they have learned, new or confusing vocabulary words, and any questions they may have. You could use three different colors of sticky notes for this task, but it's not necessary. When your students are finished reading Saving Planet Earthly, collect their sticky notes and place them into groups on the board or wall. Talk about what's on the sticky notes. What things did your students learn well? What things are still confusing for them? Are there any vocabulary words that need to be talked about? Review important concepts as necessary.
How Can Our Students Help?
Children are naturally compassionate and have a strong sense of right vs. wrong and fairness. Most children are eager to help one another, animals, and the environment when they are able to. At the end of Saving Planet Earthly, the authors give readers hope and empower them with strategies that can be implemented easily. Some of these strategies include:
🍎 riding a bike or walking to go places
🍎 turning off the lights and electronics when they aren't being used
🍎 taking shorter showers
🍎 not wasting food
🍎 recycling
Of course, these aren't the only things students can do. Brainstorm a list with your students of additional ideas. Can your students think of a related project they can do at school? For example, one year my students made little signs to hang up next to the light switches around the building. The signs reminded people to turn off the lights when leaving their rooms. A small project that made a big impression on everyone involved.
About ClimateScience
ClimateScience is an international non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating young children about climate change and the real-life solutions they can implement. ClimateScience provides educational opportunities such as online books for children, online videos, online courses for students and teachers, and premade lesson plans for kindergarten to high school. All of these resources are available to everyone, free of charge.
To learn more about ClimateScience and its initiatives, please visit:
Thank you so much for sharing this with you community Kelly! I'm so happy with how your post has turned out and I truly hope this book (and the following ones!) will be able to help teachers around the world to teach climate change in an engaging and factual manner :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing! We really appreciate it :)
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