All About Climate Change

Ages 10 to adult.

Climate Change is a major discussion point around the world - and increasingly in school classrooms in Australia and New Zealand. Teachers are being challenged to find new ways to introduce the topic constructively into the curriculum.

Team Video Pacific has located a rich variety of resources from around the world to help teachers and students to gain a broad understanding of the issues and impacts of climate change. There is not universal agreement on what is happening to our planet, just as there is not universal agreement on what to do about it. This resource helps schools and their students to engage with the Climate Change debate, to question what they see about it, and to consider ways they might change their life styles.

The 13 superb quality clips selected for inclusion in this DVD facilitate all sorts of classroom approaches:

• Climate Change: Made in the UK by Government, this extract dramatically illustrates where Carbon Dioxide comes from in any Western City, and shows how it changes the world’s climate.
• My Energy Use: Investigates any Western home and shows how and where energy is used in the household, as people go about doing everyday activities.
• The Carbon Cycle: Professionally made animation graphically illustrates all aspects of the carbon cycle, including absorbtion by the sea, biological processes & decay, and our human engineered contribution.
• Climate Science: Made in New Zealand, this clip was prepared by scientists, shows key graphs that illustrate observed changes (applicable in Australia), and suggests what needs to be done for people to adapt.
• Extreme Weather: Starts with sea defences in Britain - almost over-topped recently during storm surges, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the USA, and ends with the increasing risk of fire in Australia.
• School Animations: Contains 6 very different animations made by secondary schools in Australia and the UK:
  Lego Drought by James Whiffin, Northside Christian College
  Climate Change by Beth Harvey, Wynnum North SHS
  Vortex by Nicholas Willner, Immanuel Lutheran College
  River of Life by Jesse McCoy, Balmoral High School
  Larry by Bundaberg State High School
  Save da Penguinz by Mountfitchet High School (UK)
  The Australian animations were prize-winners in the Brisbane International Animation Festival, Queensland Schools Animation Competition. These are fantastic teaching resources - using different styles of animation, depicting different climate change effects. Creative, engaging and an inspiration to students wanting to get creative too.
• Johnny Borrell - The Big Ask: UK band star in London records a song and demonstrates using alternative methods of transport, food, and electricity that leave a tiny carbon footprint. He's a cool dude who walks the talk. Inspirational and engaging. Made with Friends of the Earth in London - part of The Big Ask campaign to get people to think, and act, differently.
• Climate Advert: A high powered advertising agency is engaged to make a glossy cinema advert about Climate Change for Friends of the Earth. Its creative types describe their thinking in filming and making the advert. Then we see the completed product.

This is a "must have" resource for any school teaching about Climate Change today.