Climate Literacy in Education

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Mapping Connections and Incorporating Identity, Language, and Community in Middle School Science

Amanda Sell

Keywords: Place-based learning, collective climate action, interconnectedness, youth voice, climate crisis, Spanish immersion

Abstract

This unit was implemented with 6th grade students in a Spanish Immersion classroom in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The curriculum moves beyond traditional science instruction by grounding climate literacy in identity, language, community, place, and connection. Through multi-day instructional activities, students were asked to make personal, local, and global connections with the world around them. The following texts, Old Enough to Save the Planet / Ya soy mayor y puedo salvar el planeta and Our World Out of Balance were used to help students identify and explain relationships and interconnectedness with the Earth and with one another.