Earth Day 1970-2022: What's Changed?
Videos
Grades9, 10, 11, 12, APBiology, History
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Provided by American Museum of Natural History
What it is
- This video details the history of positive actions taken to address climate change, biodiversity loss, damage to the ozone layer, and toxic pollution, then provides solutions to focus on now.
- Students will learn about changes in biodiversity and the environment since 1970, focusing on the positive effects of the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Montreal Protocol, and the Paris Climate Accord.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This video delivers a large quantity of high-quality information paired with simple and beautiful infographics.
- There are no spoken words in the video, which may be helpful for students with certain processing challenges.
Additional Prerequisites
- All of the information provided is written, so some students may need the video paused from time to time to process.
Differentiation
- Social studies classes could use this video in a discussion about the history of activism or the history of Earth Day.
- Language Arts classes could use this video as an example of using facts to persuade.
- This video would work well for a debate on the statement: we are worse off than we were on the first Earth Day. Teachers could use the following steps:
- Students can choose a position to debate or teachers can assign students to a side.
- When watching the video, have students take individual notes. Then, have groups meet in "caucus groups" to discuss their top points.
- A representative from each side can speak for up to a minute about their strongest point, then the groups can meet again to craft a rebuttal.
- Allow each side to present their rebuttal and closing statements.
- As a class, reflect on what points were made and which side made the most compelling case.
- Other related resources include this video about the success of the Montreal Protocol, this mind map that focuses on human responses to global warming, and this video about extinction.
- The video can be slowed down in the settings to accommodate younger learners or learners with learning differences.
From the scientist review
The resource highlights the role of Earth Day in shaping human activities to conserve the planet. It introduces students to the efforts made by the government and the people since Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 up to 2022. This is inspiring and ideal for students to engage deeply to solve the current climate crisis. It is recommended.
How we review resourcesReady to use it?
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