Cool it Schools

Need some ideas for you project? Why not explore some of the topics below then brainstorm with your class to come up with creative ways to communicate your feelings and ideas. It’s amazing how learning feeds your imagination. Project ideas has examples of being creative with climate change.

Medicine

1. World health. How will climate change contribute to the spread of disease? Find out about diseases such as Blue Tongue and Malaria.

People

1. Together our efforts will make a huge difference. What will yours be?
2. The waste goes on. How much rubbish do we really need to produce?
3. Transport. Cool ways to get around.
4. Communities. Find clean, green ways of living and working.
5. Homes under threat. Who in the world is suffering and how as a result of global warming? What are the solutions both immediate and long term that will protect these communities?
6. How to work. What are the best jobs for a chilled down world?
7. Who lives in the greenest homes and what do they look like? The homes not the people!
8. Research artists, musicians and writers who deal with the subject of the environment. Use their work 9. Imagine you live in a place, or perhaps you already do, where the environment is being destroyed by climate change. Show children from other parts of the world what you are experiencing.

Campaigns and conferences

1. Can we change in order to survive or are we creatures of habit?
2. Carry out a family survey. Come up with the most eco-positive family member. Create an advice sheet to help members of your family to use energy wisely. Combine your research with your classmates and create a statistical report, is there a pattern?
3. Standby to unplug, how can we remind our friends and parents that this small action has a massive effect on the environment?
4. Can a green life be healthier? Run a fitness campaign that is also good for the planet e.g. encourage walking, eating less meat and buy less processed foods.
5. Will the United Nations succeed reaching an International agreement to control climate change in Copenhagen in December? Find out about COP15 - have a look at our links. How will they go about structuring the conference? What will be debated?
6. What are different countries attitudes to climate change? Do you approve of your own government’s plans to stop global warming?
7. How to deal with the cynics. A fun self-help pack for people who think climate change is a hoax.
8. Climate change conferences. Find out about them and design and run your own conference.
9.  How much and what sort of waste is generated by your local cafes, supermarkets and fast food joints? What sort of waste is it and can you help them to change their ways?

Technology

1. New green technology. What are the hottest ideas?
2. Design a technological miracle, the ultimate sustainable city of the future.
3. Green industries. What are they producing and why?
4. Geo-engineering, what’s it all about anyway? Sprays of water, seeding clouds, biochar or simply painting it white: which is the neatest idea and can you think of a better one?

Agriculture and food

1. What is the carbon cost of producing certain foods e.g. beef and palm oil?
2. Grow your own food and discover delicious recipes for seasonal vegetables. Cook a meal using home grown produce.
3. Food, where does it come from? Discover the journey made by different foods, from point of production to your plate. Who grows it, where and how does it get to us?

Nature

1. How green is my garden? Design your dream green space.
2. Lets celebrate nature both big and small.
3. Vulnerable species. For some it’s too late whilst others are in grave danger of extinction. Which animals are at risk and how can they be protected?
4. Biodiversity. Animals and plants are losing their habitats as a result of deforestation. Think up a brilliant way to protect rain forests – it’s a huge problem.
5. Discover the world’s most fragile eco-systems.
6.The world is a jigsaw. There are many environments playing different, but important roles in climate regulation- oceans absorb CO2 and heat, forests absorb CO2 and help to generate rainfall. Can you identify any other environments that play an important role either in regulating the climate, and of these, can you identify things that can be done to help protect this function?

Oceans and water

1. Ice and why we need it. What happens when the ice melts?
2. The negative effects of ocean acidification on biodiversity and fisheries. Who’s responsible and how
 Can we prevent this situation from continuing?
3.Water, water, everywhere? We need water for washing, drinking, growing crops, pretty much everything really. What are the main uses of water and what could we do to better to conserve it? Can you think of ways to use less water – or to create clean water?
The weather
4. Weather patterns. Extreme weather, how to predict it and what does it feel like?
5. What exactly is global warming?