The #1 thing we can do to stop global warming is talk about it!

Most of us don’t talk much about climate change, but doing so is the best way to have a positive impact. If that seems strange, check with the experts: The Natural Resources Defense Council, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, or the Oxford Climate Journalism Network. But even if we want to talk about it, we might wonder how to bring it up. DA 9th graders have suggestions! At the end of the school year, they spent 30 minutes reading a book of their choice on the topic of sustainability (the school library has lots of options). Then they came up with a variety of approaches to conversation.

Philosophical

• Does appreciation of nature require knowledge of science?
• What do you think of youth involvement in activism for climate change?
• How can more young people become involved in sustainability?
• What’s more important: adults making large changes through established positions of power, or youth demanding action?
• Why has passing environmental laws become so difficult and partisan?

Imaginative

• Would you want to live somewhere where bikes are the main form of transportation?
• Have you ever biked to work or school?
• How does biodiversity affect your everyday life?
• What’s your favorite kind of tree?
• Do you think the lack of plate tectonics on Mars might make it less livable?

Factual

• How many animals, bugs, and plants do you suppose live in our forests?
• Did you know that scientists are using Greenland ice to discover new things about the past?
• What’s the closest body of water to where you live?
• How does cold weather reflect climate change?
• Did you know Greta Thunberg got arrested?
• Do you ever take a train or ride a bus?
• Did you know that no species of tree is common to both the north and south temperate zones?