The UK recorded its hottest August day for 17 years in 2020, with temperatures reaching more than 36°C at Heathrow Airport, near London.
The vast majority of climate scientists – at least 95% of them – believe that mankind is largely responsible for climate change.
Given that it’s hard to get scientists to agree 100% on anything, isn’t it time that countries outlawed ‘climate scepticism’? Or is it really important to allow free speech and an alternative view? After all, scientists have been wrong before…
This resource pack includes a story about the 2020 heatwave from The Week Jr newspaper, plus a sheet of activities designed to get children talking, thinking and writing about the world around them.
This PDF resource includes this article, as well as accompanying activity ideas:
- The vast majority of climate scientists – at least 95% of them – believe that mankind is largely responsible for climate change. Given that it’s hard to get scientists to agree 100% on anything, isn’t it time that countries outlawed ‘climate scepticism’ – the view that mankind is not responsible or even that the climate is not changing at all? After all, shouldn’t we be putting our efforts into reversing the damage we have caused rather than repeatedly trying to find new ways to prove what we already know? In any case, some of the most high-profile climate sceptics have suspiciously close links to the oil industry, who would lose out if we took drastic action to cut pollution. What do you think?
- Imagine you were in a position of great power, such as being president of the United States of America. Write a set of instructions for how you would tackle man-made climate change. Try to put your ideas into a logical order, use adverbials and conjunctions to express that order and remember to use imperative verbs
- Look up the word ‘consensus’ in a dictionary, then write an acrostic poem where the first letters of each line spell out the word ‘consensus’, reading down
- Create a list of some of the main indicators (signs, not causes) of climate change identified by scientists. If possible, show how much they have changed over the last 100 years
Find the entire series of Topical Tuesday resources to download here.
What is The Week Junior?
The Week Junior magazine looks at current affairs and helps children make sense of the world, provides context and clarity to complex issues, improves general knowledge and encourages discussion and debate.
To find out more about The Week Junior and to download its free resources, please go to schools.theweekjunior.co.uk.