With nearly nine in 10 Australian children aged 12 and 13 worried about climate change, teachers face the challenge of explaining the issue without adding to students’ anxiety.
The University of Melbourne has released a second season of Climate Kids, a free educational video series that helps teachers address students’ questions and concerns about climate change. The new episodes cover climate science, environmental policies and potential solutions, drawing on questions submitted by primary school students.
The videos use a fictional future in which the worst effects of climate change have been addressed, encouraging students to explore what can be done rather than focusing solely on environmental threats.
Addressing climate concerns in the classroom
The release comes amid debate over how climate change is presented in Australian schools.
Earlier this year, an Institute of Public Affairs report raised concerns about whether climate education contributes to anxiety among children. Education experts disputed its conclusions, arguing that students need accurate information.
The debate has particular relevance given that sustainability is embedded across several learning areas under the Australian Curriculum.
Rather than being limited to science lessons, climate-related issues can also arise in humanities, technologies and other subjects. These discussions often extend beyond scientific explanations to questions about environmental risks, community responses and the future students can expect.
“Teachers need climate education resources that are scientifically sound but also attentive to how children encounter uncertain futures. Climate Kids begins with children’s own questions, creating opportunities for teachers and children, in conversation, to move from curiosity and concern towards discussion, critical thinking and meaningful action,” said Associate Professor Kathryn Coleman from the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Education.
Children’s questions shape the lessons
The new season draws on questions from students at Bright P-12 College in Victoria, covering issues that range from environmental damage to government policy.
Episodes examine the effects of warming on alpine animals, whether carbon credits work and how reducing vehicle numbers could affect global emissions. Other questions address climate-related displacement and the laws that governments have introduced to tackle climate change.
The subjects reflect the wider concerns children have about the issue, according to co-creator Dr Linden Ashcroft, a climate scientist at the University of Melbourne.
“We did not prompt the kids at all but their questions cover every aspect of the climate crisis: melting snow, bushfires, impact on animals, countries disappearing under the sea and what happens to people who live there, what technology can do, why we are still digging up coal,” Ashcroft said.
Instead of presenting these issues solely through their potential consequences, the series uses a time-travel storyline to explore what a different future might look like. Ashcroft appears as a scientist speaking from a future in which the most serious effects of the climate crisis have been overcome.
“We used this narrative device to alleviate kids’ anxiety by showing that a positive future is possible, and what they can do to help,” Ashcroft said.
Connecting climate science with student action
The approach also reflects a broader shift towards involving students in environmental problem-solving rather than limiting lessons to the consequences of climate change.
Some schools have incorporated practical sustainability activities, while others have explored how food systems education can support climate action.
Climate Kids takes a different approach, beginning with the questions children raise before examining the science and responses behind each issue.
Its first season introduced foundational topics, including fossil fuels, oceans, snow and ice, and whether technology could help address global warming. The second season extends those discussions into questions about laws, emissions and the consequences of climate change for communities.
Both seasons are available free on YouTube and are designed for classroom use, giving schools access to short explanations across a range of climate-related subjects.