Eco-anxiety Aware Classrooms

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Two students look up at the trees in the forest gallery.

Teacher guide

Suitable for: Years 3 to 10

Learning areas: Geography, Science, Health

Topics: Climate change, Weather

Support students through open and intentional teaching of climate and environmental change with these evidence-based resources. 

The resources within this guide support students and teachers experiencing a range of natural and valid responses to climate and environmental change. Anxiety, fear, sadness and anger, along with positive emotions such as empathy and hope, are reasonable reactions when confronted with curriculum content on human environmental impacts.

In this activity students will

  • Learn that it is normal to feel a range of emotions when discussing human impacts on environments, animals and humans
  • Discover how naming emotions helps process them.
  • Taking care of yourself is important for climate action. 
  • Contributing to meaningful projects benefits science and ourselves. 
  • Everyone can take action that suits their unique superpowers. 

What to do

Talking openly and honestly about issues like climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation is essential for preparing students for the future and supporting their mental-health.

The guide includes evidence-based tools, research, activities and resources to support open and meaningful classroom learning about human impacts on Earth’s environments.

Victorian Curriculum Links

Critical and Creative Thinking: Levels 3-10 

  • Questions and possibilities
  • Reasoning 
  • Metacognition

Ethical Capability: Levels 3-10 

  • Understanding ethical concepts and perspectives 
  • Decision-making and actions 

Personal and Social Capability: Levels 3-10 

  • Self-awareness and management 
  • Social Awareness and management 

Science: Levels 3-10 

  • Biological sciences 
  • Science as a human endeavour 
  • Earth and space sciences 

Geography: Levels 3-10 

Related Resources

Young male Satin Bowerbird, Ptilonorhynchus violaceus in subadult plummage.

Forest Walks

Exhibition resource Years F to 6
Coelophysis fossil skeleton cast

600 Million Years Gallery Guide

Exhibition resource Years 5 to 10

The Art of Science

Student activity Years 3 to 8
Pink quartz specimen

Dynamic Earth Visit Guide

Exhibition resource Years 7 to 8

Related Excursions

Students exploring the Soil Biome in Our Wondrous Planet exhibition. Giant models of soil organisms can be seen, such as ants and mites.

Our Wondrous Planet Gallery Visit

Exhibition Years F to 12
A penguin is captured mid-air as it dives from an iceberg into the ocean.

Climate and Environmental Change

Workshop Years 3 to 4
A frog sits peering through a hole in a large tropical rainforest leaf.

Habitats, Human Impact and Management

Workshop Years 5 to 6
Two students stand in front of glass case holding many taxidermied animal specimens.

Classification: The Diversity of Life on Earth

Workshop Years 7 to 8
Students explore the Ice Biome section of Our Wondrous Planet Exhibition at Melbourne Museum. A polar bear features prominently.

Biomes and Climate Change – Impacts and Mitigation

Workshop Years 9 to 10
Two Adults standing, with projections of trees over their bodies and on the floor.

The Giants Immersive

Presentation Years F to 9
Eco-anxiety Aware Classrooms

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