Why climate change is a perfect topic for teaching argument writing
Not to generalize, but…teenagers like to argue. TikTok or Instagram? Is “6-7” “washed”? Who’s the GOAT: Kobe or Lebron? Is Taylor Swift overrated? When is using AI cheating? You’ll hear these arguments in the halls, the classroom, and the lunchroom. And this makes sense. It’s not just a teen thing: To argue—at least about things that matter to us—is human.
And it’s not just social media, pop stars, athletes, and technology that matter to students. A 2024 study of nearly 16,000 young people in the US (ages 16–25) found that 85% of respondents were moderately to extremely worried about climate change. Other studies of different age groups in different countries show the same conclusion: Climate change matters to young people.
The passion students have for climate change opens up an opportunity in the classroom—regardless of whether or not you teach OER Project: Climate: building the skill of argumentative writing. Now, we’re not saying that students’ genuine concern and anxiety about the changing climate is something to be exploited in the interest of meeting learning objectives. Rather, the process of argumentative writing is a good way for students to feel more control and agency regarding a situation that, too many, feels out of their control.
In return, writing about an issue they’re invested in will help students develop their argumentative writing skills so that they know what to do when prompted to “Evaluate the effectiveness of the Byzantine Empire’s administrative system” on an exam. (Not that students don’t care about the administrative system of the Byzantine Empire! We would never suggest that.) Climate change is a topic where students often arrive with lots of opinions and emotions but lack the evidence or structure to make compelling and effective arguments. The process of backing opinions with strong evidence and a clear focus will help them better understand the topic themselves—and create confidence in navigating the complex issues of climate change. The more students know about how to create strong, evidence-backed claims, the better they’ll be at sniffing out unsubstantiated claims in the wild.
Just because climate change is a topic that generates emotions and disagreement doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take a little work to create meaningful prompts and assignments. Here are a couple of tips for kicking off the process in your classroom:
- Maybe we don’t need to say this aloud, but it doesn’t hurt: Don’t ask students to evaluate whether climate change exists. There is an established scientific consensus that climate change is real—it’s not up for debate.
- It’s hard to argue about something you don’t know much about. Make sure your students have at least a fundamental understanding of the topic, whether it’s a basic understanding of climate change; the importance of collaboration between government, business, NGOs, and individuals; or the tradeoffs of different climate-change solutions.
- While students may love to argue, there’s generally a lot less love when it comes to writing. So, start them in a comfortable place. Create an engaging prompt (more on that later) and before you ask them to write, let them talk. (We have some discussion tips here.)
- Provide a scaffolded outline that includes some sentence stems. It helps the students who need a little assistance getting started and it doesn’t hurt those who don’t.
- At the heart of argumentative writing are a strong claim and focus. OER Project has designed a variety of activities to help students better understand this section of the writing rubric, and then apply that to their own writing. (The activities below are designed for World History: Origins but they’re easily adaptable to any subject or prompt! Remember: All OER Project activities are available in Google or Word for easy modification.)
- Pre-writing and post-writing activities: Swap in your own prompt (see below or try one from the sidebar) for the pre-writing activity and then have students review their own writing for post-writing.
- Identifying and revising activities: Swap in any article (like this one or this one) for identifying, and then use a student sample (or an AI-generated student sample) for revising.
Finally, let’s talk prompts. They’re key here. Engaging prompts elicit responses that require making a choice, making personal connections, or both. The prompts you’ll find in OER Project: Climate are intentionally designed to be a bit “spicy” and get students thinking.
- Why should we care about climate change?
- How will climate change impact your life now and in the future?
- Are there any climate solutions that are too risky to pursue?
- What's the most-effective solution for addressing climate change? Why?
And because climate change is something so tangible in everyday lives, there are many opportunities for prompts that engage students to think about how climate change affects them personally. The possibilities are endless! We’d love to hear about prompts you use to elicit strong argumentative writing—share them in our online teacher community.
We want to emphasize that this isn’t about tapping into student emotion and interest just because it will lead to more-engaged writing. There is real value in writing about the things that matter as a way of processing and making meaning of them. Making connections to issues that impact their community allows students to feel emboldened to take action. Helping students learn to back their arguments with evidence—rather than emotion or opinion alone—is a skill that goes far beyond the classroom. And climate change allows them to practice this skill with a topic that is personal, relevant, and important.
Header image: Composite image: Iceberg, by Jesus Lopez on Unsplash, CC0. Man on a scaffold by Jay Ee on Unsplash, CC0.
About the author: Chelsea Katzenberg is the Academic Lead at OER Project where she is responsible for managing the content development and updates for all OER Project courses. Before joining OER Project, Chelsea was a founding member of a charter high school in the South Bronx, where she taught world history (before OER Project’s World History courses existed) and Big History.