Lesson 1: Find Your Entry Point

Ask students: What is something about the weather or environment where you live that you would change if you could?

• Give students 2–3 minutes to write or draw their ideas. Encourage creative answers.
• Turn & Talk: Have students share their ideas with a partner.
  • Why did you choose that change?
  • How would that change affect people, animals, or your community?
• Explain the connection between daily weather and long-term changes to the climate: Weather affects our everyday lives. But what happens when weather patterns begin to change over many years? Today, we’re going to explore climate change and how it can affect the places we call home.

Watch: “Call to Learning for Climate Education” (3:10) by the United Nations

• Ask students: What is one thing you learned, noticed, or wondered about?

Show and discuss the video “Friendly Guide to Climate Change” (16:52) by Henrik Kniberg. As you watch, pause and discuss the following questions. You may also have students record their answers on LESSON 1: VIDEO NOTE CATCHER in their CIC PRIMARY STUDENT WORKBOOK.

• 0:00–1:22: What is global warming?
• 1:22–2:57: What are the consequences of global warming? Which ones have you noticed in your life? How do they affect you, your family, and your community? 
• 2:57–5:25: What is the main cause of global warming? How are humans responsible?
• 5:25–7:33: Why do we burn fossil fuels? Can you think of examples from your life or daily routine?
• 7:33–11:46: What are the alternatives to burning fossil fuels? Have you seen clean energy being used in your community or at home? Where?
• 11:46–12:25: What is the second biggest cause of global warming? What can we do about it?
• 12:25–16:52: What are some ways people can help stop climate change? What is one change you can make at home to help the environment?

Ask students: What questions do you still have about what causes global warming? What evidence would you want to investigate to answer one of those questions?

Show one problem-focused climate message (example) and one hopeful, action-oriented message (example). Facilitate a brief discussion about which message is more motivating.

• Which message made you want to learn more?
• Which message would motivate you to take action?
• Why do you think those messages had different effects?

Key Idea: Climate education is not only about understanding problems, it is also about imagining solutions and believing that change is possible.

Provide the following introduction to students:

We’ve learned about the causes of climate change including the systems, choices, and activities that are changing our planet’s climate. It can be a lot to take in. Climate change is a huge global challenge, and it can sometimes feel like the problem is simply too big for any one person to make a difference. But, here’s where we’re going to shift our thinking. The Climate Innovation Challenge (CIC) is about moving from “What’s wrong?” to “What could we do about it?”

CIC invites students around the world to investigate climate challenges that matter to them, discover solutions that are already making a difference, imagine new ways to create positive change, and when possible, take meaningful action in their own communities. You don’t need to solve climate change by yourself, and you don’t need to invent something completely new. Instead, we want you to start with an entry point. 

Your entry point might come from something you care about, something you’ve noticed in your community, a problem that affects people you know, or a question you can’t stop thinking about. Maybe you’re interested in food, transportation, energy, water, wildlife, buildings, fashion, sports, technology, health, culture, or something completely different. 

The goal is to find a climate connection that feels meaningful to you. From there, you’ll research the problem, explore solutions, talk to people with knowledge or experience, consider what could realistically be done in your community, and eventually create a short video that communicates your ideas to others.

Have students work individually to create a mind map, starting with their name in the center. NOTE: It’s a good idea to model this process for students with a teacher-led example first. See this video for more information on how to create mind maps. 

• Ask students: What do you care about? 
  • Have students add these ideas to create a mind map with branches extending from their name.
  • Possible prompts include: family, friends, hobbies, sports, art or music, food, animals, technology, community, culture, future career, favorite places, personal values, etc.
• Then ask: How could one or more of these things be connected to climate change?
  • Students add these ideas to their mind map.
  • As they brainstorm, remind students: You don’t have to solve climate change. Find one place where you can make a difference.
  • Provide examples if needed:

Have students pair up or form groups of 3–4 students and share one or two connections from their mind maps.

• Ask students to listen for:
  • Something that surprises them
  • Something they also care about
  • An idea that makes them curious
  • Connections between different students’ ideas

Have students individually return to their mind maps and circle one idea or climate connection they would most like to explore. As students choose an entry point, encourage them to consider whether it is something they could learn more about and potentially take action on in their school or community.

TEACHER NOTE: The next step of this activity can help determine how students will work for the remainder of the Climate Innovation Challenge. Students can identify an entry point individually, in small groups, or as a whole class. The grouping structure they use here can carry through the research, action, and video production stages of the challenge. Teachers with younger students often prefer choosing one entry point for the entire class, making it easier to guide and coordinate the project together. For more support with this step, please reach out to CAVU staff or email cic@cavu.org

Option 1: Students Create an Individual Entry Point 

If you have students who wish to work alone on their CIC project, they will need to create an individual entry point.

Have these students write their entry point in one sentence. Students should record this on LESSON 1: MY/OUR ENTRY POINT in their CIC PRIMARY STUDENT WORKBOOK.

“I am interested in __________ because __________, and I want to learn more about __________.”

Option 2: Students Create a Group Entry Point

If students want to work in groups, have them share their entry points with classmates and look for shared interests or connections.

• Encourage students to form groups based on these shared interests or connections, rather than simply choosing their friends.
• If group members have different interests, challenge them to find a connection between their ideas. Example:
  • Student 1: I’m interested in sports.
  • Student 2: I’m interested in extreme heat.
  • Student 3: I’m interested in public health.
  • Shared entry point: How can communities help athletes stay safe during extreme heat.

Once groups are formed, have each group create a shared entry point in one sentence. Students should record this on LESSON 1: MY/OUR ENTRY POINT in their CIC PRIMARY STUDENT WORKBOOK.

“We are interested in __________ because __________, and we want to learn more about __________.”

Option 3: Students Create a Whole-Class Entry Point

Re-create the mind map from the previous activity on a whiteboard, Smart Board, or projector with input from the whole class. 

• Make connections between the students’ interests and how these interests connect with climate change, particularly at the local level. 
• It might be helpful to consider issues that the class could address at the school or community level and where students may have an opportunity to test, implement, or contribute to a solution. For example: food waste in the cafeteria, pollinator gardens, growing food locally, excess clothing/lost and found items at school, plastic waste at school, recycling, etc.

Create and post a shared entry point in one sentence. Students should record this on LESSON 1: MY/OUR ENTRY POINT in their CIC PRIMARY STUDENT WORKBOOK.

“We are interested in __________ because __________, and we want to learn more about __________.”

Examples of student entry points include: 

• I am interested in basketball because I care about athlete health, and I want to learn more about how extreme heat affects athletes.
• We are interested in protecting endangered species because we care about animal welfare, and we want to learn more about how climate change is affecting local wildlife and how we can protect their habitats.
• I am interested in food because I want to become a chef, and I want to learn more about how reducing food waste could help address climate change.
• We are interested in art because we all want to go to art school after graduation, and we want to learn more about how artists can help people understand and take action on climate change and how our art could be used to tell our story.

Students share their individual/group entry points as a whole class or in small groups.

• Ask students: Do you notice any themes in our class’s entry points? Does anything surprise you?
• Remind students: Your entry point is a starting point, not your final project idea. Your research may change your question or lead you in a new direction.