Your Place in Focus | Adaptation

Shari Carswell, Public Broadcasting Service

This lesson guides students to connect the PBS Adaptation video series on climate adaptation to their own community. Students describe their community, identify climate impacts faced by their community, research how their community is adapting to those impacts, and then create a digital story about what they found.

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Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

This activity will likely require more instructor prep work than indicated and may require accessing climate data. It may take more than 1-2 class periods due to the depth of the research and the creation of the digital story. Use at the middle school level will require more scaffolding and/or needs to be in an advanced class. Students may need guidance in selecting their research topic and developing their presentation. The research tasks are open-ended, which will allow students to explore their interests but may also require more direction from the educator. This would work well at the end of a unit after students have a well-rounded understanding of climate change. It may also work well as an enrichment activity. All 4 background videos are about 15 min and can be found at CLEAN Resources 58951 ([link https://cleanet.org/resources/58951.html 'Floating Gardens of Bangladesh']), 58952 ([link https://cleanet.org/resources/58952.html 'Invasive Carp of Kentucky']), 58953 ([link https://cleanet.org/resources/58953.html 'Coral Reefs of Vanuatu']), and 58954 ([link https://cleanet.org/resources/58954.html 'Ice Stupas of Ladakh']). Resource ID 58958, [link https://cleanet.org/resources/58958.html 'Through Tribal Eyes: Change on the Menominee Nation'], is an example of a climate story.
A strength of the resource is the quality of the videos, which provide powerful examples of adaptation actions taken by people around the world. It shows how some groups of people may be disproportionately vulnerable to climate change while also highlighting the efforts and ingenuity of people in responding to climate change and related threats. The resource does not provide links to references but the videos credit scientists as well as credible research and government organizations. Passed initial science review - expert science review pending.
The activity is very well-organized, with clear instructions and a learning path/teaching sequence that promotes building knowledge. Learning standards are listed and easy to find. Students explore the unique characteristics of the place they live, which can include their community, home, or region, make observations on the effects of climate change, and present their findings to the class. This allows for place-based learning, which makes the activity more relevant to students. Students are presented with a variety of options, such as through photos, audio, or video. This makes the activity accessible for a variety of learners. The background videos are engaging and eye-opening. They provide a very positive perspective on a diverse set of people from around the world, highlighting their skill, ingenuity, and efforts. The activity emphasizes respect for different communities by encouraging students to research their own communities and consider local indigenous communities.
The resource requires access to the internet and a device with a browser. Students must have access to an audio and/or video recording device or a camera, which could be a barrier, though these devices are now common in personal and classroom use in the U.S. The "Overview and Procedure" sections provide clear guidance on how to run the activity. The videos are watchable directly from the activity website so that one does not have to send students to YouTube or some other video platform. The video pages come with clear links that enable a teacher to share the videos in Google Classroom, Lesson Builder, and with students.