The Case for Climate Optimism
Teacher Resources
Lesson Guide
Find everything you need to know about lesson timing, sample answers, and teacher instructions in the Lesson Guide.
Blog: Climate Optimism
This lesson explores how to understand and critically evaluate optimism in the face of the climate crisis. For additional context, check out this blog post.
Driving Question: Why should we be optimistic when it comes to climate change?
With all the reports of doom and despair, is there any cause for hope? Explore different perspectives to determine if optimism is justified.
Learning Objectives:
- Evaluate evidence in support of climate optimism.
- Build and communicate your own perspective about climate change.
Vocab Terms:
Explore why perspective is important when thinking about climate change. Does your outlook matter?
Set the stage: Set context prior to watching a video with students: Why are we watching this video? What do we hope to learn from it? How does the information in this video align with or go against what we have learned in class thus far? Make sure students have enough background knowledge for the video to make sense.
Plenty of climate experts are optimistic. Watch the video to see if they can persuade you, and then use the activity to evaluate their evidence.
-
Guiding Questions
This activity is a useful way to informally assess students’ prior knowledge of climate solutions. If you choose to explore climate solutions more deeply, revisit this activity later and have students reflect on how their thinking has evolved.
Are you a doomer or an optimist? Gather information from the article, then work through the activity to decide which side you’re on.
-
Guiding Questions
This is students’ first opportunity in the course to use informal writing to practice skills and deepen their understanding of key concepts. The first formal writing assessment appears in the next unit. For more on informal writing, check out the first two pages of the Writing Guide.
You’ve been presented with plenty of arguments for climate optimism. Now it’s time to form your own opinion.
You’ve spent this lesson thinking about your own perspective and experience when it comes to climate optimism. Now, consider climate change while wearing someone else’s shoes.
