Sustainable Climate Solutions

Lesson Plans

Grades9, 10, 11, 12Earth and Space Sciences

Scientist Reviewed

Provided by National Center for Science Education

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What it is

In this unit, students will work through five activities to become familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, understand how they are related to climate change and climate solutions, learn how climate change impacts humans, determine the most effective solutions, and discover that a combination of solutions is necessary to achieve net zero.
The unit also includes optional Side Quests where students will find out the causes of climate change and how climate change is measured, how to work through strong climate-related emotions, the impacts climate change has on different ecosystems, the effects of fossil fuels, and other related topics.
The resource also emphasizes challenging misconceptions and media literacy skills.

Teaching tips

Positives

The Climate Mental Health Support Activities in Activity 2a are excellent resources for all grades.
Many of the activities include opportunities for extension, modification, and implementation of pedagogical strategies.

Prerequisites

The QR code on Slide 7 of the Activity 1 Slide Deck_Solutions is disabled. Students will need to copy and paste the link themselves.
The Green Revolution link on page 22 and the link for enactingclimate.org on page 23 of the Climate Mental Health Support Activities in Activity 2a are broken.
If students are not familiar with the claim, evidence, and reasoning format, they may need additional guidance, especially with using reasoning to explain how their evidence supports their claim.

Differentiation & Implementation

Language arts teachers can use the claim, evidence, and reasoning activity to build toward more extensive persuasive and informative writing projects.
The SubjecttoClimate resource database has several resources for region-specific citizen science projects to support the Activity 1b Side Quest, especially for Wisconsin, Maine, and Connecticut.
To extend Activity 3, students can choose a solution from the cards to research and create a poster or infographic to post around the school.

From the scientist review

This resource combines peer-reviewed research, data, and science to help students understand the full reality of everything related to climate change, from causes to impacts to solutions. All external links have been vetted and verified. This resource is recommended for teaching.

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At a glance

Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences
Other types: Articles/Websites, Videos, Data, Graphs, and Maps, Assessments, Activity - Classroom, Worksheets, Presentation Slides, Activity - Outdoors
Format: Google Slides, PDF, YouTube Video
Language: English
Location: Earth
Provider: National Center for Science Education
Authors: National Center for Science Education
Published: February 16, 2025
Last updated: July 16, 2026
: Reviewed by our climate scientists How we review

Standards alignment · D2.Civ.10.9-12 + 15 more

Core

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards

D2.Civ.10.9-12Analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
D2.Civ.13.9-12Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
D2.Civ.14.9-12Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
D3.2.9-12Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.4Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

HS-LS2-7.Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
HS-ESS3-C.1.The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources. (HS-ESS3-3)
HS-ESS3-D.1.Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts. (HS-ESS3-5)

New Jersey Climate Education Hub

English Language Arts

RI.CR.9–10.1cite a range and thorough textual evidence and make clear and relevant connections, to strongly support an analysis of multiple aspects of what an informational text says explicitly and inferentially, as well as interpretations of the text.
RI.AA.9–10.7Describe and evaluate the argument and specific claims in an informational text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and reasoning.
RI.CI.11–12.2Determine two or more central ideas of an informational text and analyze how they are developed and refined over the course of a text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex account or analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
W.AW.9–10.1Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient textual and non-textual evidence.

Science

HS-LS4-5.Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.
HS-ESS3-4.Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
HS-ESS3-6.Use a computational representation to illustrate the relationships among Earth systems and how those relationships are being modified due to human activity.

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