A Senior Lecturer in Science Education at Leeds Trinity University has been involved in the development of learning resources and activities for a BBC Blue Planet Live Lesson.
As the Educational Consultant for the live lesson, Dr Leigh Hoath was involved in activity planning and consulting on the script for the lesson, which aired on Tuesday 26 March. She also supported the script development for five Blue Planet films and has written additional teachers' notes and guides for how to use the films in the classroom.
The live lesson is designed to support the educational points within Blue Planet Live (which started on Sunday 31 March), and is very topical with the recent environmental strikes which saw approximately 15,000 children and young people protesting against climate change earlier this month.
Dr Hoath said: "The lesson encourages teachers to think about their own environmental position and identify why it's important to educate children about things that are not on the national curriculum, such as climate change. It shows them how, in 35 minutes, they can engage the full class in activities with simple resources to think about the impact of humans on the environment."
Aimed at key stage two, the free resources can also be adapted for use in extracurricular clubs and everyday conversation.
"Children can influence what their parents and families are doing, and prompt them into making a difference too", added Dr Hoath.
"It isn't about scaring our children into the state of the planet. It's about education and finding a reasonable way forward. It's time that children really see that they are responsible for what happens next."
Professor John Leach, Director of the Institute of Childhood and Education at Leeds Trinity University said: "Dr Hoath's involvement in the development of such important learning resources at the BBC is indicative of our commitment to delivering outstanding teaching led by research, scholarship and practice. I hope teachers are inspired to speak to their pupils about climate change, and I hope children become more conscious and proactive about the impact they can have. Congratulations to Leigh and everyone involved with this project."
The interactive live lesson is aimed at 7-11 year olds and is linked to the Key Stage 2 and 2nd Level science and geography curricula. It is supported by free teaching resources from Twinkl and can be viewed on theBBC Teach website.
Dr Hoath has also recently participated in another live panel discussion with BBC Teach (on Monday 18 March), which brought together science education experts to discuss how environmental issues can be tackled in the classroom. You can see that on theBBC Teach website.