New Thematic Educator Guides: Teaching About Climate Change

By Kaitlyn Spotts | January 14 2022 | GeneralScienceHigh SchoolMiddle SchoolEnvironmental Science

Educating our students about climate change can literally change the future. According to a 2020 article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, educating young people about climate change could result in them making choices to decrease greenhouse gases, reduce pollution, and increase Green programs.

While science class is a natural place to address the realities of climate change, social science and literature classes provide the opportunity for students to investigate the historical, social, and ethical implications of a world where temperatures and waters are rising. Integrating fiction, poetry, and nonfiction with climate change themes can help students develop empathy, hope, and optimism. While data and science are essential to the climate change fight, these less tangible themes are vital to making real change. The titles in this collection serve as a gateway for teachers and students to begin grappling with these ideas.

Click here to download the free middle school guide.

Click here to download the free high school guide.

The Story of More (Adapted for Young Adults)
How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here
978-0-593-38112-0
This young adult adaptation of acclaimed geochemist and geobiologist Hope Jahren's highly respected nonfiction work is the perfect book for those interested in learning about climate change and how they can contribute to creating a more sustainable future.
$17.99 US
Nov 02, 2021
Hardcover
208 Pages
Delacorte Press

All We Can Save
Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis
978-0-593-23708-3
For educator resources for All We Can Save, visit the editors' website at allwecansave.earth/for-educators.
$20.00 US
Jul 20, 2021
Paperback
448 Pages
One World

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
978-0-14-313356-8
The groundbreaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist who has become the voice of a generation, including her history-making address to the United Nations
$12.00 US
Nov 12, 2019
Paperback
160 Pages
Penguin Books

Imaginary Borders
978-0-593-09413-6
"It won't take you long to read this book, but it will linger in your heart and head for quite a while, and perhaps inspire you to join in the creative, blossoming movement to make this world work." -- Bill McKibben, environmentalist, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Nature, journalist, and founder of 350.org"An inspiring story that will change the way all of us think about the climate crisis - and how we can solve it." -- Van Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Green Collar Economy and Rebuild the Dream, and co-founder of Dream Corps"A hopeful, well-argued book on climate change written in a refreshing new voice."-- Kirkus Reviews, starred review"Martinez presents a meaningful, heartfelt call to action with content that reflects current issues. Additionally, the book's short length will appeal to reluctant readers. An essential purchase for any high school or public library."-- School Library Journal, starred reviewIn this personal, moving essay, environmental activist and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez uses his art and his activism to show that climate change is a human issue that can't be ignored.
$8.99 US
Jun 02, 2020
Paperback
64 Pages
Penguin Workshop

Parable of the Sower
A Novel
978-1-60980-719-1
A New York Times Book of the Year · Nebula Award nominee · Featuring an introduction by Gloria SteinemFrom the pioneering New York Times bestselling science fiction author of Kindred.The radically speculative odyssey of a young Black woman in a post-apocalyptic America and the community she cultivates despite the horrors of climate change and social inequalityThe time is 2025. The place is California, where small, walled communities must protect themselves from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicted to a drug that activates an orgasmic desire to burn, rape, and murder.When one small community is overrun, Lauren Olamina, an 18-year-old Black woman with the hereditary train of "hyperempathy"—which causes her to feel others’ pain as her own—sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown.
$24.00 US
Feb 28, 2017
Hardcover
336 Pages
Seven Stories Press

American War

Strange Birds
A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers
978-0-425-29045-3
From the award-winning author of The First Rule of Punk comes the story of four kids who form an alternative Scout troop that shakes up their sleepy Florida town.
$9.99 US
Sep 01, 2020
Paperback
384 Pages
Puffin Books

Hello from Renn Lake
978-1-9848-9632-2
The environmental activism of Hoot meets the summer friendship of Lemons in this heartfelt story about community, conservation, and standing up for the things you love.
$16.99 US
May 26, 2020
Hardcover
256 Pages
Wendy Lamb Books