Climate of Concern - A Search for Effective Strategies for Teaching Children about Global Warming

Fiona Taber
The Armidale School, Australia
Neil Taylor
University of New England, Australia

Recent research suggests that the issue of global warming is one of great concern for Australian children. This point to the need for effective teaching about this issue. Children should be properly informed about actions that help reduce carbon emissions as this may give them a sense of empowerment and go some way to alleviating concerns. This study followed the development in the knowledge of global warming of 29 primary school students in year 6 (the final year of primary) from two regional Australian schools over one school term. A hands-on science unit dealing specifically with global warming was prepared and taught over a period of eight weeks. A mixed methods approach was adopted and data was gathered through pre- and post-testing, through post intervention interviews. The findings of the study indicated that after the unit, students had a clearer understanding of the science of climate change, with the largest improvement in student knowledge occurring where the students had engaged in hands on activities or had effective visual aids. The data also indicated that an increase in knowledge was accompanied by an increase in levels concern in some cases. However, there was also an overall increase in students’ belief about their ability to make a positive impact in relation to global warming and climate change.
Key Words: climate change, global warming, teaching intervention, effect size, environmental knowledge, primary school students