Climate Disagreement
Teacher Resources
Lesson 1.2 Teaching Guide
Check out the Lesson Guide for sample answers, pacing, and instructional tips.
OER Teaching Sensitive Topics in Social Studies Guide
Climate change is a complex issue, and this lesson is all about reasons for disagreement. Prepare for a thoughtful and productive discussion with the Teaching Sensitive Topics in Social Studies Guide before you dive in with your students.
Driving Question: Why is it so difficult to agree when it comes to climate change?
If the scientific community agrees that climate change is real, why do some people deny it? Investigate the reasons people disagree about climate change, and learn how to determine for yourself what to believe.
Learning Objectives:
- Analyze why disagreement about climate change exists.
- Identify what makes a source of information credible.
- Critically evaluate common climate-change claims.
Vocab Terms:
- disinformation
- fossil fuel
- greenwashing
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
- misinformation
Opener: Climate Disagreement
New to claim testing? We recommend starting with this intro activity.
Remember the claim testers? You’ll want them handy when examining climate disagreement.
Why Do We Still Disagree?
Annotation strategy: Students use the margins of their reading to write notes, ask questions, or make connections to content from previous lessons. Once they’re done reading individually, discuss the reading as a group and have students share their “margin moments.”
If 97% of scientists believe that climate change is happening, why is there still disagreement? Let’s take a look…
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How do politics within a country contribute to its population’s disagreement over climate change?
- How do politics between countries contribute to the disagreement over climate change?
- What is one economic challenge to tackling climate change?
- How do social factors influence opinions of and action around climate change?
- What strategies might be effective in building consensus and encouraging action around climate change?
After you read
Respond to this question: Why do you think it’s important to be able to understand and overcome disagreements surrounding climate change?
Who Can You Trust?
Why do we believe what some people say but not others? It’s a key question to ask yourself as you confront claims about climate change.
Closer: Climate Disagreement
Exploring Climate Disagreement
Turn students into AI detectives by teaching them how AI works, where it fails, and how to critically evaluate its responses.
Try this: Have students use AI to verify the claims in this activity. Then, prompt them to ask the AI agent to cite its sources and assess its credibility. Create a classroom culture where claim testing or asking “How do we know this is true?” is encouraged.
It happens—people disagree. Be prepared to respond to common claims about climate disagreement.
