ABSTRACT
This chapter explores thematic ways to frame and organize climate change teaching. Climate change is caused by human activity taking place within specific and interacting social systems including energy production, transportation, agriculture, housing, media, military, and government. There is a long history in English studies of addressing nature literature and a diverse school of "ecocriticism" that has evolved to think about ecological perspectives and concerns. As ecocriticism evolved, it began to address the social construction of nature, questioning binaries such as nature/culture, male/female, and how hierarchical and unequal systems such as colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy conceive and impact nature. The chapter provides many ways language arts teachers can develop meaningful curriculum to address the contexts of climate change. Too often the curriculum in English language arts is disconnected and, frankly, irrelevant to the issues in students' lives and the world today.
