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June 24, 2025
Ximena Marquez, The Nature Conservancy’s associate director for education, shares resources to help young people learn about climate change—its causes, impacts and solutions—and be inspired by communities that are taking action across the globe.
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June is a big month for students and educators—from bittersweet goodbyes at the end of the school year to the start of exciting summer adventures. It also means rising temperatures and extreme weather events that signal the growing impacts of climate change. And while young people are increasingly anxious about this issue and want the opportunity to learn more, a joint 2025 survey of American teens from This Is Planet Ed and the EdWeek Research Center shows that most don’t understand the root causes—or potential solutions. For educators and caregivers looking to help students better understand climate change and what actions they can take, these Nature Lab lesson plans, videos and activities connect the dots between the challenge at hand, its impact on nature and people, and how communities are working to impact change in their own backyards.
June is World Oceans Month. This year, celebrate the ocean by learning about the outsized role it plays in combating climate change. The ocean absorbs 30 percent of carbon emissions and captures 90 percent of excess heat, yet is also deeply affected by climate change impacts such as sea-level rise, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification. This video shows how efforts to protect our oceans—including coastal resilience improvements such as coral reef and mangrove restoration, and restorative aquaculture, which supports seafood sustainability and healthy coastal ecosystems—can create a future where people and oceans thrive together. (And for little learners, this activity guide is a great introduction to the wonders of the ocean.)
Located along the Pacific Ocean in the United States and Canada, the Emerald Edge is the largest coastal temperate rainforest in the world. Indigenous people have lived there and stewarded the area’s natural resources since time immemorial. This educator guide will help students learn about the geography and Indigenous people of the Emerald Edge, the concepts of reciprocity and connecting to nature, Indigenous stewardship of natural resources and how places like the Emerald Edge will play a key role in providing natural solutions to climate change.
Some say that forests “eat” carbon dioxide. If that’s the case, rainforests like those on the island of Borneo have a super appetite for CO2, and there’s no better time to celebrate them than World Rainforest Day on June 22. In this virtual field trip, students will meet the incredible orangutans, elephants and rhinos that call this special habitat home; learn why it’s disappearing; and understand what this means for the future. They’ll also explore sustainable forestry and other practices the island’s communities are using to protect the rainforests of Borneo.
School may be out, but there are still plenty of opportunities to address the climate anxiety many young people are feeling, especially during summer’s extreme weather events. Amid the challenges of a warming planet, there’s strength in nature—and in the communities working to make a difference. These Nature Lab resources are designed to show that growing connections with people and nature can make the world more resilient in the future.
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