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Coping with Climate Anxiety

A Mental Health Lesson

Middle, Secondary

Description

Coping with Climate Anxiety offers students the opportunity to explore and identify their emotions surrounding climate change while also investigating techniques to manage anxiety.

The lesson begins with a disucssion of the students' emotions related to climate change afterwhcih they complete a 10-minute meditation for eco-anxiety. The students then share their thoughts with a partner.

With the help of a Google slide document, the class defines eco-anxiety and considers some statistics.

Next the students work on a climate anxiety toolkit by choosing a strategy from a selected list to research. They complete a set of guiding questions in order to become an expert on their strategy.

As a culminating activity, the students create a mini-poster to highlight the important information about their strategy and how to use it. The posters are presented to the class and a debriefing discussion is also completed. 

General Assessment

What skills does this resource explicitly teach?

The resource explicitly teaches the students a mental health strategy to relieve eco-anxiety.  The skill, however, could be used at any time they are feeling anxious.

Strengths

  • Engaging activities that teach skills that are applicable to a variety of situations
  • All links are functioning and all materials are provided
  • Alternatve suggestions are made for those who may not feel comfortable sharing or completing some of the activities
  • Strong resource to expose students to a variety of strategies they may not be familiar with

Weaknesses

  • No assessment strategies are suggested

Recommendation of how and where to use it

Coping with Eco-Anxiety is a resource with an aim to help students cope with their feelings and thoughts related to climate change.  Ideally, this resource should be used prior to teaching about climate change so that the students can process their learning in a healthy manner. However, it could also be used after a unit related to climate change should the teacher sense it is necessary. Even though the resource is centered around eco-anxiety, the strategies suggested are suitable to help students deal with general anxiety as well. It does address outcomes related to mental health and well being.

Relevant Curriculum Units

The following tool will allow you to explore the relevant curriculum matches for this resource. To start, select a province listed below.

Themes Addressed

Air, Atmosphere & Climate (1)

  • Climate Change

Human Health & Environment (1)

  • Quality of Life

Sustainability Education Principles

Principle Rating Explanation
Consideration of Alternative Perspectives Good

Students develop a sense of empathy and understanding of the variety of emotions and reactions to climate change through the discussions and activities. 

Consideration of Alternative Perspectives:
  • Satisfactory: absence of bias towards any one point of view
  • Good: students consider different points of view regarding issues, problems discussed
  • Very good: based on the consideration of different views, students form opinions and  take an informed position
Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions Poor/Not considered

The focus of this lesson is entirely on the social dimension of the topic of eco-anxiety. This lesson would be best used as a follow-up to climate change outcomes in order for students to manage their feelings and also for the economic and environmental aspects of the issue to be addressed.

Multiple Dimensions of Problems & Solutions:

Effectively addresses the environmental, economic and social dimensions of the issue(s) being explored.

  • Satisfactory: resource supports the examination of  these dimensions
  • Good:  resource explicitly examines the interplay of these dimensions
  • Very Good:  a systems-thinking approach is encouraged to examine these three dimensions
Respects Complexity Very Good

This lesson plan addresses the variety of responses that students may have to the topic of eco-anxiety.  It offers suggestions of alternate activities for those students who may be reluctant to participate, identify or share their feelings.

Respects Complexity:

The complexity of the problems/issues being discussed is respected.

Acting on Learning Very Good

The main focus of the lesson is to develop a toolkit for coping with eco-anxiety by exploring one strategy in depth but also learning from the presentations of their peers of other coping strategies.

Acting on Learning:

Learning moves from understanding  issues  to working towards positive change — in personal lifestyle, in school, in the community,  or for the planet

  • Satisfactory: action opportunities are included as extensions 
  • Good: action opportunities are core components of the resource
  • Very Good: action opportunities for students are well supported and intended to result in observable, positive change
Values Education Very Good

The students are encouraged to explore their feelings surrounding eco-anxiety and the strategies offered. They reflect on their learning and create an understanding of what will work for them and other strategies they may be interested in.

Values Education:

Students are explicitly provided with opportunities to identify, clarify and express their own beliefs/values.

Empathy & Respect for Humans Very Good

As the students share their thoughts, reactions and emotions, the lesson plan does demonstrate that multiple feelings are natural and common, thus creating a respect for others.

Empathy & Respect for Humans: Empathy and respect are fostered for diverse groups of humans (including different genders, ethnic groups, sexual preferences, etc.).
Personal Affinity with Earth Satisfactory

The lesson plan does make a suggestion of performing the strategy outdoors if the time or situation permits; however, this component is not part of the core resource.

Personal Affinity with Earth:

Encourages a personal affinity with -the natural world.  

  • Satisfactory: connection is made to the natural world
  • Good: fosters appreciation/concern for the natural world
  • Very Good: fosters stewardship though practical and respectful experiences out-of-doors 
Locally-Focused Learning Poor/Not considered

This is not a focus of this resource.

Locally-Focused Learning:

Includes learning experiences that take advantage of issues/elements within the local community. 

  • Satisfactory: learning is made relevant to the lives of the learners
  • Good: learning is made relevant and has a local focus
  • Very Good: learning is made relevant, local and takes place ‘outside’ , in the community 
Past, Present & Future Good

The students devellop an understanding of their current feelings toward climate change and create coping strategies for the future.

Past, Present & Future: Promotes an understanding of the past, a sense of the present, and a positive vision for the future.

Pedagogical Approaches

Principle Rating Explanation
Open-Ended Instruction Very Good

As the resource is structured for the exploration of emotions and anxiety coping strategies, the students are exposed to a variety of opinions and thoughts and not steered in any particular direction.

Open-Ended Instruction :

Lessons are structured so that multiple/complex answers are possible; students are not steered toward one 'right' answer.

Integrated Learning Good
  • Science
  • Health and Wellness
Integrated Learning:

Learning brings together content and skills  from more than one  subject area

  • Satisfactory: content from a number of different  subject areas is readily identifiable
  • Good:  resource is appropriate for use in more than one subject area
  • Very Good:  the lines between subjects are blurred 
Inquiry Learning Poor/Not considered

Due to the content of the lesson, there aren't problems or questions to be addressed. The goal of the lesson is to introduce students to the myriad of coping strategies for eco-anxiety.

Inquiry Learning:

Learning is directed by questions, problems, or challenges that students work to address.   

  • Satisfactory: Students are provided with questions/problems to solve and some direction on how to arrive at solutions.
  • Good: students, assisted by the teacher clarify the question(s) to ask and the process to follow to arrive at solutions.  Sometimes referred to as Guided Inquiry
  • Very Good:  students generate the questions and assume much of the responsibility for how to solve them.  . Sometimes referred to as self-directed learning.

 

Differentiated Instruction Very Good

This lesson is engaging and appropriate for a number of different learning styles. Recommendations are made for those students who may feel uncomfortable sharing thoughts and feelings with the class, giving them a private opportunity to reflect.

Differentiated Instruction:

Activities address a range of student learning styles, abilities and readiness.

  • Satisfactory:  includes a variety of instructional approaches
  • Good: addresses  the needs of visual, auditory &  kinesthetic learners
  • Very Good: also includes strategies for learners with difficulties
Experiential Learning Very Good

Students explore the strategies for coping with eco-anxiety in an authentic context by researching and becoming an expert on their chosen technique.  They are given time to practice the strategy and reflect on their learning.

Experiential Learning:

Authentic learning experiences are provided

  • Satisfactory: learning takes place through ‘hands-on’ experience or simulation
  • Good: learning involves direct experience in a ‘real world context’
  • Very good: learning involves ‘real world experiences’ taking place’ beyond the school walls.
Cooperative Learning Satisfactory

There are class discussions and partner sharing only.

Cooperative Learning:

Group and cooperative learning strategies are a priority.

  • Satisfactory:  students work in groups
  • Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught and practiced
  • Very Good: cooperative learning skills are explicitly taught, practiced and assessed
Assessment & Evaluation Poor/Not considered

Although no tools are provided for the teacher to assess the students' learning, a rubric for the poster and presentation can easily be made.

Assessment & Evaluation: Tools are provided that help students and teachers to capture formative and summative information about students' learning and performance. These tools may include reflection questions, checklists, rubrics, etc.
Peer Teaching Satisfactory

A presentation to the class of their strategy poster is the final activity in the lesson plan.

Peer Teaching:

Provides opportunities for students to actively present their knowledge and skills to peers and/or act as teachers and mentors.

  • Satisfactory: incidental teaching that arises from cooperative learning, presentations, etc.
  • Good or Very Good: an opportunity is intentionally created to empower students to teach other students/community members. The audience is somehow reliant on the students' teaching (students are not simply ‘presenting')
Case Studies Poor/Not considered

This is not a focus for this lesson.

Case Studies:

Relevant case studies are included.  Case studies are thorough descriptions of real events from real situations that students use to explore  concepts in an authentic context.

Locus of Control Very Good

Students are allowed the choice from a selected list of eco-anxiety strategies that they would like to explore and learn more about.

Locus of Control: Meaningful opportunities are provided for students to choose elements of program content, the medium in which they wish to work, and/or to go deeper into a chosen issue.

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