Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Sing to the Power: A Social Justice Program for Children Grades 4-5

Activity 1: Story - Taking the Heat: 350.org and Action to Fight Climate Change

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story and prepare to share it with the group.
  • Read the discussion questions. Choose those that will best help the children share their interpretations of the story and relate it to their own lives.

Description of Activity

Read or tell the story to the group.

After the story, invite the group to be silent for a moment to think about the story.

Then, ask participants to recap the story in their own words. What they recall indicates what they found most meaningful or memorable.

Say something like:

Do you ever feel like the problems of the world are just too big to even think about-that it's too upsetting, and you can't fix them anyway? Climate change, also known as global warming, can feel like that kind of overwhelming problem. It's a serious problem that all of us contribute to. There isn't a single "bad guy" causing the problem, and so it's going to take a whole lot of good people with creative ideas to work on a solution.

Lead a discussion using these questions:

  • When was the last time you deliberately chose to do something because it would be better for the environment? What did you do? Why did you choose to do it?
  • Do you ever talk about climate change with your friends or adults you know? Have you talked with people who say that climate change isn't real? What do you think of what they have to say? What have you said to them?
  • Have you ever participated in a protest with other people? What was it like? How did it feel?