Drama Game: Global Warming

Age: 7+

Players: Whole class

Time: 10–15 minutes

Skills: Decision Making, Speaking, Listening

Drama can be used to explore many areas of the science curriculum, as in this activity. Set up two chairs with signs on them saying ‘Agree’ and ‘Disagree’ or ‘Thumbs up’ and ‘Thumbs down’.

Read one of the following statements and ask students to choose a place to stand in relation to the signs. The nearer they stand to one of the chairs, the stronger the opinion they are expressing. Those who don't know, are open-minded or don't want to say can move towards the middle.

Give them a few moments to make their decision. Once they have chosen a position you can spotlight a range of attitudes by asking individuals why they chose to stand in a particular place. After a few views have been gathered, give students the opportunity to change their position now that they've heard di?ering points of view.

Statements

• Weather is the same as climate
• Cows' burps are a major cause of climate change
• Going vegan helps to improve the climate
• I recycle things more than five times every day
• Electric cars are good for the natural world
• Paddling a canoe to school (or riding a bike) would help the environment
• Climate change causes daffodils to bloom at the wrong time of year
• Rainforests are the biggest preventers of climate change
• I know how to reduce my carbon footprint
• I understand how recycling helps to slow climate change

Playing online

You can play this game online using a video-conferencing app by reading out a statement then asking everyone to show a thumb up (agree), thumb down (disagree) or thumb horizontal (not sure). Then ask individual students to explain why they made their choice. After gathering a few responses, ask if anyone wants to amend their choice.