Meat or Veggies? The Impact of Diet on Climate

In this media literacy activity students analyze a documentary film and a television news report for messages about how plant-based and meat-based diets impact climate change.

Media Constructions of Presidential Campaigns

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Presidential Campaigns

The webinar offers high school educators and teachers-in-training pedagogical techniques and free curriculum materials to support a deeper understanding of how to use a wide variety of media forms across the historical spectrum - media from 19th century portraits, songs and handbills, to 21st century websites, twitter and email - to study historical context and to question their credibility.

Merging Social Justice with Environmentalism

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson using diverse media imagery to teach about the history of the environmental justice movement beginning in the late 20th century.

Natural Gas: Water & Climate Impacts

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode an advertisement and a web page for messages about how natural gas extraction impacts fresh water resources.

Our Changing Planet: Climate, SEL, and Media Literacy for Our Youngest Students

Students analyze excerpts from a picture book for messages about the impact of climate change and the actions people can take for the planet - while also reflecting on their emotional responses and the intent of the author/illustrator.

Picturing the Underground Railroad: Historical Context Through Book Covers

Students analyze three book covers to understand historical context, to reflect on how identity impacts interpretation, and to discuss the role of media makers in crafting historical representations.

Poverty: Climate Change & Water Security

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode web pages for messages about the conditions that make people living in poverty extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Race, Place & Environmental Justice After Hurricane Katrina

Students analyze a book cover for messages about race and the impacts of Hurricane Katrina and about title and imagery in book cover choices. This simple decoding activity has been taken from a larger lesson with many slides titled “Merging Social Justice with Environmentalism." To access this lesson, type the title with quotes into the PLS keyword search bar.

Rapping the Revolution: Music and Social Change in Iran

Students analyze excerpts from five short Iranian music videos for messages about the causes of the protests in Iran in 2022 and the role of music in revolution.

Recycling: What’s the Problem?

Students analyze a commercial and clips from documentaries for messages about recycling, its attraction to consumers and industry and its limitations.

Reforestation: Carbon Sequestration

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze two short excerpts from the documentary films "Green Gold" and "The Salt of the Earth" for different representations of reforestation as a means to sequester carbon and restore degraded ecosystems.

Refrigeration Management: A Global Solution to Reverse Global Warming

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode three videos for the impact of refrigeration gases on climate change.

Rising Sea Refugees

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze short excerpts from two documentary films for different representations on the impacts of rising seas on human populations.

Scientific Consensus: Global Warming Is Real and It's Caused by Us

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze two web articles from Skeptical Science and NASA for different approaches to reporting on the scientific consensus on human-induced climate change.

Sea Level Rise: Climate Change Impacts

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode videos for messages about conflicting data on the contribution of polar melting to sea level rise.

Sustainability Education and Media Literacy

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Food, Water, and Agriculture

This article looks at how the topic of climate change can often provoke deep emotions in students, and suggests that instead of shying away, teachers should use media literacy activities to foster discussions of what the future holds. The author stresses the importance of connecting to the emotional lives of students when raising the complex issues around sustainability.

Teaching About Climate Change: Why Does the Source Matter?

This is a media literacy activity in which students analyze two letters for the National Science Teachers Association and the Heartland Institute for conflicting perspectives about how to teach about global climate change.

Teaching Media Literacy & Sustainability for Younger Learners

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Lower Elementary

This webinar offers pedagogical techniques and curriculum materials to support a deeper understanding of how to use media documents that: support content teaching about water quality, climate change and hunger, introduce media production as a way to deepen media literacy awareness, and encourage core subject integration of ELA, math, science and social studies.

Teaching about Climate Change Using the Tools of Media Literacy

This webinar offers pedagogical techniques and curriculum materials to support a deeper understanding for how to use a wide variety of media documents that: - Support content teaching about climate change - Examine media representations of global warming related to media literacy concepts of credibility, bias and impact - Encourage strong sense critical thinking by asking questions about all media messages, not just those with which we may disagree.

The Challenge of Change

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing a passage from Dr. King's book, "Where Do We Go From Here" and letters to the editor on naming a local street for Dr King.