Climate change is an up-to-date topic that is frequently discussed on the news. In the lecture we discussed the effects that climate change is having on our world today and it is a topic that I feel should be discussed in school, as we need to look after our planet now rather than when its too late and the climate has been completely damaged. Climate change is the average weather at a given time or point over a long period. If the climate doesn’t stay the same it can be called climate change.

Evidence for climate change is collected by weather recordings, ice cores, rocks and fossils and analyses of pollen and trees. There are several significant dangers of climate change;

• Desertification
• Damage from flooding – crops or house damage
• Sea level changes
• Sea defences under more stress
• Flooding of low lying costal areas

Climate change is effecting our weather and therefore the British farming industry is suffering by producing poor quality crops which the farmers have a problem selling and even  in some areas the crops are completely damaged due to flooding. We have seen a lot of flooding in the past couple of years in the UK and more recently the hurricane Irma that has destroyed hundreds of homes and killing many many people in Florida and the Caribbean.

In the first workshop we researched and worked collaboratively in a group. We had to research the effects climate change would have on a family living in the Borders of Scotland. We had to present our work to the rest of our peers and each group member had to contribute. I think this would be a good activity to use in the middle or upper school as the children could use the researching, ICT skills or produce a poster full of information to present to the rest of the class. This task really made me think about the impact of climate change on family life, it was very interesting to hear about the other groups and one group  had a family in Indian to research and it made me imagine  what that family had to suffer because of climate change. In the second workshop, it was a carousel of activities that we had to work around in groups. This was an excellent means by which we covered several different areas and we all got to participate in it all relating to climate change.

The government in the UK is very involved in climate change and are looking for many ways to reduce it.The climate change Scotland act 2009 is trying to reduce admissions of dangerous gasses by at least 80%. These targets have to be met by 2050. There is also the greenhouse effect to considered, many scientists believe that due to a build up of greenhouse gasses around the world that heat becomes trapped inside the earth’s atmosphere and therefore it results in an increase of the world’s temperature  and is called global warming. Furthermore I have learned about the ozone layer which is meant to protect the earth for harmful ultra violet rays, however the ozone layer is becoming thinner and more or the harmful rays are reaching the earth. These are all areas that children need to be aware of and learn about as it has an impact on the environment and their lives. I now have a better understanding of how to tackle climate change and the impact that climate change has on the world and me. I now feel more confident about helping the children to understand about climate change and activities I could use with them in the class.