Lesson video

Hi team, and welcome to today's lesson with me, Mrs. Garrard.

I'm so excited to see you again.

Today, our lesson is going to be all about climate change.

Let's share my screen.

So the first thing we're going to need to do today is gather some resources.

Then we'll think about the causes of climate change.

We'll think about how we can help, and right at the end, we'll create a poster to raise awareness of climate change.

So for today's lesson, you will need some paper, some colouring materials, like pens or pencils or crayons, and maybe even a pair of scissors.

Pause the video now and gather the resources that you'll need to complete the lesson.

Come back and press play once you're ready.

Great, now that you're back, we can start to think about the causes of climate change.

Now first, let's think about what climate change is.

Climate change is the changes in weather and temperature.

So currently, scientists have noticed that our weather, our temperatures, are becoming warmer and the weather is becoming more unpredictable, so the amount of rain we get is less predictable than it used to be.

And our temperatures are warmer, and that's a problem for our Earth.

So let's think about some of the causes of climate change.

So burning fossil fuels like oil and coal and gas, that's a cause of climate change because it produces large quantities of carbon dioxide, which is a type of gas.

Carbon dioxide is a gas that we call a greenhouse gas, and greenhouse gases contribute towards climate change.

Deforestation, that means cutting down trees, Hmm.

Deforestation, that's a new word, isn't it? My turn, deforestation.

Your turn, deforestation.

It just means cutting down trees.

And that's another way of causing climate change because as trees grow, they remove, they take out carbon dioxide.

Remember, that was one of our greenhouse gases.

It takes away the carbon dioxide from our air.

So if we have less trees, they're not able to take as much carbon dioxide out of the air, so that means that there's more carbon dioxide and more greenhouse gases.

Farming practises also contribute towards climate change.

So the vehicles that are used produce carbon dioxide and also methane, which is another type of greenhouse gas.

It's produced by the animals and farming practises.

So let's think of ways that we can help.

So the first thing we can do is we can use less fossil fuels.

And one of the easiest ways to do that is to think about walking or riding a bike instead of taking a bus or going in your car.

So for short journeys, like maybe going to school, rather than getting a bus or driving a car with your families, you could walk or ride your bike, and that's a great way of cutting down on the fossil fuels that we're using.

Turning off the light when you leave a room is a great way of using less energy, of using less fossil fuels.

So we'll remember that once we leave a room, we'll turn the light off and also turning off appliances at the plug.

That's obviously not something that children do 'cause children shouldn't touch plugs, but you could remind your families to turn off the kettle at the plug when they're not using it.

Another way of using less fossil fuels is to buy your vegetables and your fruit and the food that you eat locally so that you can walk to the shop and you don't have to drive.

We also need to try and buy local produce so that vegetables and foods are not flown across the world from other countries in aeroplanes because that creates a lot of greenhouse gases too, and we're using lots of fossil fuels to power planes and trains and cars.

So we could help reduce our fossil fuel use by buying local produce.

Now, what can we do to combat, to stop deforestation? Hmm, let's think about that.

So we can buy sustainable wood products.

So our furniture needs to be from some sustainable wood sources.

Pine, that's a type of tree.

It's a sustainable wood source because pine trees grow faster than other trees such as oak or beech, which are slower growing.

So if we cut them down to use pine trees for our furniture, we can replace them quickly by planting new trees that grow quicker.

Recycling paper is another great way to combat deforestation because trees are used to make paper.

So if we recycle old paper, then we won't need to cut down more trees to make it.

Recycling paper saves landfill space as well, and it reduces the amount of pollution in the air that we might create by burning old paper.

So think about when you're drawing, instead of drawing on one side and then choosing another piece of paper, you could reduce the amount of paper you use by turning that piece of paper over and drawing on the other side.

And another thing we could do to combat deforestation is to plant new trees.

Supporting farmers will also help with climate change.

So we need to think about the foods that we are eating.

We need to eat seasonal foods, so that means things like eating strawberries in the summer because that's when they grow.

If we choose to eat strawberries in the winter, they have to be flown here from another country that is warmer because strawberries only grow when it's warm.

So we need to remember to eat seasonal produce.

We need to use recyclable bags as well when we go to do our shopping.

We won't use plastic ones because they end up in landfill, and that can create climate change too.

And we'll remember to shop locally, so that means we won't need to use a car or a bus to get around.

If we shop locally, we could maybe walk to the shop.

That would be another great way of helping to prevent climate change.

Another really great thing that we can all do is to recycle our things at home.

So when we've finished with bottles and cans and plastic, we need to make sure that we put them in the right recycling container so that they can go to the recycling station and be made into other products and they won't go into landfill, which causes greenhouse gases, which then causes climate change.

Now it's time for us to create our poster to raise awareness of climate change.

So think of all of the things that we've just been speaking about, and we're going to create a poster to put all of those things together.

This is my climate change poster.

It says that the Earth is in our hands.

It means that it's our responsibility to take care of the Earth.

And there are things that we can do that we've just talked about, so I've made a poster to show that.

I chose to draw around my hand and then use some scissors to cut out my hand shapes.

If you would like to do that, then you'll need to ask an adult to help you to supervise you while you're using scissors to make sure that you're using them safely.

Another way that you could make hand prints would be to paint your hands and make prints, or maybe you could just draw round your hands to make your hands.

I've drawn a circle and cut that circle out to make the Earth.

Then I've coloured it in with green for the land and blue for the sea.

I've put on the fingers of my hands some of the ways that we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are in our atmosphere.

So we can do things like shop locally.

We can walk and cycle instead of use our cars.

Those are all things that I've written on the fingers of my hands.

Team, I'm really looking forward to seeing your posters.

Maybe you'll choose to make a poster like mine with your hands and the Earth in it, but maybe you'll have a different idea.

That's okay.

If you have a different way of showing how we can stop climate change, it would be really great for you to show me it.

And if you'd like to do that, you'll need to ask a parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and using the hashtag LearnwithOak.

I'm really looking forward to seeing all of your fabulous posters about climate change.

That brings us to the end of our lesson today.

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of the facts of climate change, and I'm really looking forward to seeing your creations.

Bye for now, team.