The climate in our hands – Ocean and Cryosphere, a teacher’s handbook for primary and secondary school

In 2019, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published a Special Report, which emphasized the importance of the ocean and cryosphere (ice and snow all over the planet) to mankind and how strongly they are being impacted by climate change.

The four key messages in this report are:

• The ocean and cryosphere sustain us.
• The ocean and cryosphere are under pressure.
• Their changes affect all our lives.
• The time for action is now.

This OCE teacher handbook has been researched and written by the OCE team and the OCE’s scientific and education partners. The aim of this guide is to support teachers in implementing a range of activities on climate change and the ocean and cryosphere in their classrooms.

This resource:

• Targets students from the upper end of primary school to the end of lower-secondary school (ages 9 to 15).
• Includes scientific and pedagogical overviews, lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and links to external resources (videos and multimedia activities).
• Is interdisciplinary with lessons covering disciplines such as natural sciences, social sciences, arts and physical education.
• Promotes active pedagogies: inquiry, role-play, debate and project-based learning.