Case Study: From Witness to Action

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson using four short film excerpts to teach about strategies activists have taken to remedy environmental injustice.

Chevron and Species Protection: Differing Perspectives

Students analyze a magazine advertisement and a mock ad for messages about waterfowl protection, greenwashing and corporate responsibility. This simple decoding activity has been taken from a larger lesson with many slides titled “History of Endangered Species." To access this lesson, type the title with quotes into the PLS keyword search bar.

Chukchi Sea Oil Drilling

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson using four short informational writing excerpts to reflect on the pros and cons of Alaskan oil drilling.

Climate Change, Agriculture & Sustainability

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson reflecting on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the role of agricultural practices in contributing to climate change.

Climate Change, Biodiversity and Magazine Cover Priorities

Students analyze a webpage for messages about climate change, biodiversity and about editorial choices for magazine covers. This simple decoding activity has been taken from a larger lesson with many slides titled “History of Endangered Species." To access this lesson, type the title with quotes into the PLS keyword search bar.

Climate Change: Do Corporations Have an Obligation to Share Their Research Findings for the Public Good?

This is a media literacy activity in which students analyze two web video clips for conflicting perspectives on Exxon's research into climate change and its responsibility to release its findings to the public.

Climate Disaster: Young People Act

In this media literacy activity students analyze videos of young climate activists for messages about the forms and effectiveness of climate disaster protest.

Climate: Climate Change & Biodiversity

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode webpages for messages about the impact of climate change on ecosystem biodiversity.

Climate: What Can We Change?

In this media literacy activity students analyze children’s videos for messages about the impacts of climate change and what people can do to help.

Coal: Benefits and Costs

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode a magazine cover and spread for messages about how human use of natural resources for energy affects the biosphere.

Cochabamba, Water for Sale

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson using four short informational writing excerpts to reflect on the pros and cons of water privatization in Bolivia.

College Level: Hydrofracking, Media and Credibility

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Fingerlakes

This 9 minute annotated video demonstrates constructivist media decoding using the lesson "Exploring the Impact of Hydrofracking on Aquifers," where college students analyze pro and anti-fracking diagrams.

Community Organizing for Environmental Justice

Students analyze a webpage for messages about community building for social justice and about website design 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.

Community Responses to Climate Disaster Recovery

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze an opinion piece and the executive summary of a governmental report for conflicting perspectives on effective climate disaster recovery efforts.

Comparing Renewables: U.S. vs. Global Energy Use

Media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode graphs for messages about how the use of renewable energy sources can help to reduce human vulnerability to climate change.

Consumerism & Sustainability

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson asking students to consider their own consumer decisions relating to sustainability through a process of decoding TV commercials and videos about bottled water.

Corporate Greenwashing? Exxon and Greenpeace

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode an ExxonMobil commercial and an environmental advocacy video for conflicting messages about corporate advertising credibility and about human impact on the environment.

Creative Visions of the Future

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing the imagined future of food, water and agriculture as viewed through the creative media of film, song, poetry and science fiction literature.

Damming the Rivers

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson using four short film excerpts to reflect on river damming projects and on the use of water as a resource.

Dams and Rivers: To Build Or To Remove?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos to discern messages about the human benefits and environmental impacts of building and removing hydropower dams