Teaching children about climate change is absolutely essential — but it’s not easy. To help KS1 and KS2 pupils understand topics like pollution, global warming and deforestation, you need to bring them to life within the classroom.
You can use now>press>play to engage your pupils in the climate crisis first-hand through sound, story and movement (in fact, 85% of teachers say now>press>play brings topics to life). In these nine climate Experiences, pupils can explore the Earth’s rich natural habitats, take on destructive companies and politicians, and even explore the possible future of our world.
Read on to see how you can take action in your teaching ahead of key dates such as World Environment Day…
Key Stage 2 Climate Change Topics
Reducing our Carbon Footprint
You reduce your carbon footprint while investigating a sabotage of the National Grid.
In this Experience:
- Explore how to reduce our own carbon footprint
- Learn about renewable energy and its different sources
- Discover engineering as a job opportunity
Rivers
Navigate the Indus river as you discover how human activity can pollute precious natural resources such as water.
In this Experience:
- Explore humans’ historical use of rivers, both harmonious and harmful.
- Learn about river features, including their source, meanders, tributaries and more.
Climate Crisis
Travel across our world and discover how human activity has caused the climate crisis — and how we can fix it.
In this Experience:
- Explore the causes and effects of global heating.
- Compare renewable and non-renewable energy sources.
- Learn about the role of government and the public in solving the climate crisis.
Recycling
Travel 100 years into the future to explore a world ruined by waste and discover the importance of recycling.
This Experience covers:
- How to reduce, reuse and recycle responsibly
- The risks of not recycling, such as landfill and resource shortages
- Our individual responsibility to the environment
Rainforests
Voyage into the Amazon and learn how human deforestation is destroying this vital natural habitat.
This Experience covers:
- How and why the rainforest is being destroyed by deforestation
- How people in the Amazon live sustainably in nature
- The rich ecosystem of animals and plants found in rainforests
Electricity
Visit a coal power station and a wind farm as you investigate the debate over renewable energy sources versus fossil fuels.
This Experience covers:
- The importance of electricity in our daily lives
- Renewable energy as a sustainable way to generate electricity
- The essential components of a circuit
Water Cycle
Visit an Ethiopian village and experience how human-made droughts and water shortages affect people around the world.
In this Experience:
- Learn about water shortages and droughts in other countries.
- Explore the stages of the water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation and collection.
Key Stage 1 Climate Change Topics
Everyday Materials
When your pet dog is turned into plastic by the Wicked Witch of the Waste, save the day using your investigative science skills.
In this Experience:
- Investigate the properties of different materials.
- Learn how to dispose of rubbish responsibly.
- Witness how plastic can harm wildlife and the environment.
Habitats
Visit different habitats across Earth and learn how human activity threatens many animals’ and plants’ natural homes.
This Experience covers:
- How animals are connected to their environment
- How habitats provide for living things’ basic needs
- The dangers humans pose to many natural habitats
Arctic
Live as an Inuit person in the Arctic and witness the damaging effects of global warming on the Earth’s polar regions.
This Experience covers:
- How people in the Arctic live and rely on natural resources such as ice, reindeer and fish
- The visible effects of global warming on Inuit communities and the North Pole
Oceans & Seas
When you stumble across a polar bear in Fiji, you resolve to navigate together the oceans of the world back to her home in the Arctic. You’ll experience on the way plastic pollution, melting ice caps, and fishing trawlers.
This Experience covers:
- The environmental threats faced by seas and oceans
- The different oceans and seas, their characteristics and where they are in the world
“It was an hour the children will never forget; an hour which brought to life for them the topic work in a way which quite frankly I could never have achieved in such a direct and engaging manner.”
To see the impact of using now>press>play in your climate change teaching across KS2 and KS1, you can book a free two-week trial for your school on our website.
