With our free teaching resources and workshops, Born Free is here to help young people understand climate change and empower them to take action, explains our Head of Education Laura Eastwood.Did you know Born Free has produced a range of curriculum-linked classroom resources to help school students aged 7-11 understand the climate crisis? Available free of charge, our accessible, engaging materials explain how climate change is linked to biodiversity, how nature plays a key role in our fight against global warming, and how each of us can get involved. Laura EastwoodYou’ll be surprised to hear that a recent government study found pupils leaving school have a ‘very poor’ understanding of the impact and mitigation of climate change. The Department of Education’s survey (see below) reveals 17% of school leavers from England could not remember ever being taught about climate change, and concepts such as net zero and 1.5°C/2°C climate change goals are ‘very poorly understood’.Increasing young people’s understanding of the climate crisis is vitally important to ensure we can each mitigate against its impacts, and help us sustainably transition, across all sectors, to a greener society. Yet, across the Department of Education’s 105-page curriculum for all KS3 and KS4 subjects in England, ‘climate’ is mentioned only six times, and ‘climate change’ or ‘change in climate’ just twice.As a result, most students do not understand that the climate crisis can be mitigated against, nor the implications of personal greenhouse gas emissions such as having pets and eating meat. School leavers are not empowered to make informed, positive decisions for the climate and wider environment through their daily lives and choices.The Geographical Association, representing thousands of geography teachers, says this study spotlights the need for primary and secondary curriculums to increase coverage of climate change. During the government’s recent curriculum review, Born Free’s Education team also highlighted this need, recommending that climate change and biodiversity were included throughout the national curriculum.Here at Born Free we’re committed to helping young people understand the impact of climate change on biodiversity loss and vice versa – highlighting the critical link between these two current crises. To do this, and to support wider climate education goals, we have recently updated our KS3 (11-14yrs) Great Debate teaching resources (with KS4 to follow), covering topics including climate change, mitigation strategies and biodiversity loss. These resources are available on the TES website, or you can contact us about a ½ day secondary school workshop, by emailing [email protected]TES Teaching resources CONTACT USDownloading these resources or booking a workshop is completely free and covers the following learning objectives and curriculum links:Key Learning Objectives: To understand what climate change is and what c
