K-12 Climate Change Education in B.C.

On this page

• Climate change in BC's curriculum
• Resources for climate literacy in BC education
  • NEW: Climate Change Connections in the BC Curriculum: Kindergarten – Grade 3
  • Climate Ready BC: Preparing Together

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Throughout B.C. and around the world, people and communities are experiencing the effects of climate change—from increasing wildfires, changes to ecosystems and loss of species, to frequent flooding, sea-levels rising, longer summer droughts and heatwaves. The K-12 education system is rising to the challenge of educating students to build climate resilience in uncertainty, to mitigate the impacts of climate change through preparedness and adaptation, and to contribute to climate change solutions as change-makers and leaders.

Climate change in BC’s curriculum

British Columbia’s K-12 curriculum offers a strong foundation for the inclusion of climate change education in teaching and learning. The curriculum is concept-based, competency-driven, and provides many opportunities for teachers to personalize lessons to engage students—including exploring the causes, effects, and potential solutions to combat climate change. Topics related to the environment and climate change are found throughout the required learning standards in all learning areas from Kindergarten to Grade 10. Specialized science courses such as Earth Sciences 11, Environmental Science 11, Science for Citizens 11, and Environmental Science 12 provide opportunities for students to study the environment and climate change in more detail.

Resources for climate literacy in BC education

The Province is working with many partners to support the inclusion of climate change in student learning across Grades K-12 and to ensure that teachers are aware of opportunities to support learning about climate change within the curriculum. We have heard from teachers that they want access to reliable, age-appropriate, and BC-based teaching and learning resources to support climate change education. Teachers also want to connect with other BC educators to hear about and share examples of effective environmental education and climate change awareness teaching practices from across the province. 

NEW: Climate Change Connections in the BC Curriculum: Kindergarten-Grade 3

Climate Change Connections in the BC Curriculum: Kindergarten – Grade 3 (PDF, 25.28 MB) features climate education learning opportunities that support the learning standards of the BC curriculum, align with the First Peoples Principles of Learning, and provides teachers with further valid, science-based background information about climate change in the province. BC teachers created learning stories adapted to their classrooms and communities to share their experiences in teaching about climate change in Kindergarten to Grade 3 classrooms.

The Province worked with environmental education specialists and K-3 teachers selected by the BC Teachers’ Federation to develop this resource.

For teachers interested in sharing the resource with colleagues either as a stand-alone event or as part of a larger professional development opportunity, explore this workshop guide (PDF, 587KB). This workshop guidance can be adapted and customized to meet the needs of educators and environmental education professionals. 

The Ministry of Education and Child Care and the Climate Action Secretariat are working on developing additional climate change education resources for grades 4-12. 

Climate Ready BC: Preparing Together

This pamphlet for BC teachers (PDF, 145 KB) highlights existing climate change education classroom resources and programs, with a focus on climate preparedness and adaptation. Learn more about climate change impacts on our communities, economy, infrastructure, and ecosystems at ClimateReadyBC.