Our warming planet is altering weather patterns and the people most affected by events such as hurricanes or droughts are those who are already challenged by poverty and discrimination. This video describes how environmental racism has contributed to the disproportionate impacts of pollution and climate change on vulnerable populations. As students learn that wealth and politics influence how populations are able to contend with a changing environment, they will understand that a sustainable future depends on an equitable future where all citizens are involved in protecting Earth.
This video supports Grade 4-8 Social Studies curriculum investigating the connection between poverty, well-being and the environment. Students learn that environmental policies often lack meaningful involvement from minority groups and will develop an awareness of the connection between sustainability and social justice. The resource also complements Science units exploring how damaging weather results from warming oceans and changes in air currents. The social and economic costs of climate change are described from the context of how global citizenship can help reduce carbon emissions.
This film could become the basis of a social action project where a class higlights how traditional ecological knowledge should be used to support sustainabilty. Students could work with an Indigenous community to provide remediation to a local habitat that has been damaged by extreme weather. For example, a stream that lost trees along the bank during a heavy rain storm might be replanted with native saplings that provide shade for fish that are used for food.
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