An Inconvenient Truth Newspaper

Students in Year 10 at St. Peter's College in Gore worked with staff from many departments on the issues around climate change.  In Science they learned the mechanics of the greenhouse.  In maths they worked on time-series graphs.  English was most concerned with writing style and with the production of newspapers.  Technology taught the layout and editing processes.  RE discussed the moral implications, Economics got involved and Art taught techniques for cartooning to carry a message.  All students then watched the "Inconvenient Truth" movie and then worked in groups to prepare their newspaper.  They had to research and write articles, and interview guests for their stories.  We were lucky to get Jeanette Fitzsimons (Green Party), the local Mayor, representatives from Environment Southland, DoC, EECA, and the Catholic Church to assist the students.  They asked great questions at the press conference!  The local media came along and carried the story, with photos.  When it was all over, the papers were printed and distributed with the school newsletter.  One student commented to me: "that was the most important thing we've ever done at school!"

The final, edited student paper is available on "Student's page" and there's a worksheet on the movie available under Resources - secondary.  It was heaps of work to put it all together, but it proved to be a great example of inter-departmental cooperation and its got the whole school talking about climate change!

John Adams  Head of Science.  St. Peter's College, Gore, Southland.