Students in the carpentry and mechanics programs at Riverview High School in New Brunswick are building a net-zero mini home. The classes are working together under the guidance of the shop instructors and student foremen who have graduated from the program. The carpentry class will frame and build the structure of the house, while the mechanics class will wire it and create and install a wind and solar system to power it. Riverview High School’s shop program has built small structures in previous years, but this is their first time taking on a project of this size and adding the net-zero finishings.
4 classes made up of 75 students and teachers worked on different parts of the project! They engaged the rest of the 1,300 students at their school in learning about the project and net-zero building principals, and were featured in a local paper which reached 3,300 community members.
By making an account, you join our community of educators and gain FREE access to all our libraries and resources! You’re also added to our email list so that you can receive emails from us about program updates like grant announcements and application deadline reminders.
Membership is free and helps us track our impact in order to advocate for more support for youth climate education and action.
Our lessons are based on the science and solutions of Project Drawdown. Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world stop climate change — as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible. They already have a world-renowned Climate Solutions Library of measurable practices and technologies that will reduce emissions.
Our lessons bring these solutions into the context of Canadian classrooms. We partnered with 25+ teachers all across Canada to create lesson plans on each of the Project Drawdown climate solutions. Our goal is for these lessons to enhance climate education with relevant solutions and ambitious targets that students can understand and enact.
Connecting Our Lessons to Your Curriculum
There is still a long way to go to fully incorporate climate education into curricula. Our lessons mobilize current Canadian curricula to discuss climate change. And we don’t stop at the doom and gloom. We are finding spaces in all subjects for students to explore climate action and take steps towards a sustainable future, with our lessons on emissions reduction and climate solutions. Search our library by subject, grade and region to find Solution Lessons relevant for your learners.
Introducing Our Lessons
We recommend introducing students to key climate concepts before implementing our Solutions Lessons. Use our introductory presentation or our Introductory Lessons to familiarize your students with emissions reduction and Canada’s net-zero policies.
Accessing Our Lessons
All lessons are available for download with our free online membership. Each lesson includes resources (digital and/or printable) to be used during delivery as well as detailed instructions on how you can implement the activities in your own class. We distribute all resources via Google Suites so you have your own copy to adapt and manipulate.