Truth in 10 – Writers Guide

The climate crisis affects all of us and it is up to us to solve it. That is why Al Gore created the Truth in 10 slideshow, a 10 minute presentation that will help you spread a simple message to your community. The presentation is an excellent resource for presenting and/or reviewing the science, the societal changes and the solutions necessary to curb global warming and address the effects of climate change.

The following activities are designed in concert with An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power and the slide presentation. To download the slide presentation simply click here. You may want to personalize it and definitely practice it before you share it with your students.  You could even assign it to your students to personalize and practice presenting it to each other and/or other classes.

Why did we create a writer guide to go with the film and the slide presentation? Without language there is no science. To be practicing scientists and derive new knowledge, we need language – reading, writing, talking, listening, enacting, and visualizing. Writing is one way to communicate understanding of our learning while allowing us to be creative in our delivery and provide insight and possible solutions to problems. Think of the impact Al Gore’s slide show has had in making the science of climate change and the solutions more available for everyone.

Students will:

1. Define and use climate change related vocabulary to discuss and write about current events.

2. Based on the facts presented in An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power students will strengthen their ability to discern truth (scientific fact) from opinion; differentiate between credible sources and evidence that is strong compared to evidence that is weak.

3. Improve skills in reading and writing across content areas, specifically the social studies, sciences and technical subjects.

4. Practice scientific argumentation using empirical data (evidence) to support claims.

5. Develop an ability to differentiate between types of sources, such as primary and secondary and credible versus unreliable.

1-2 class periods or 1 after school gathering.