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Shine - Mini climate change musical
https://joeyoder.me/Shine/assets/shine_wanna_produce_a_musical.pdf

Beth Osnes, Shira Dickler, Inside the Greenhouse

This learning activity is a climate change musical for K-12, youth groups or faith organizations. Shine weaves together climate science and performance art into a fun and powerful story, which spans 300 million years of geological time to convey how humanity, energy, and climate are interrelated.

The duration of this learning activity depends on whether teachers choose to do the entire activity or choose specific modules to implement. It could be implemented as a one-day intensive, but it is more likely to be implemented over several weeks or months. Teachers can also choose lessons to implement aspects of the learning outcomes of the musical without producing it through the Enacting Climate partner curriculum.

Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»


Grade Level

Topics

Climate Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Energy Literacy

This Activity builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy | Technical Details

Teaching Tips

  • The flexibility built in to the activity allows teachers to take on the entire musical or pick and choose between modules to implement in their classrooms.
  • Watch the trailer (2 min.) and the full performance (22 min.) to get familiar with the project and generate ideas for local application.
  • Beth Osnes (beth.osnes@colorado.edu) is a great resource to support educators who want to put on Shine.
  • The enacting climate lessons may help teachers implement aspects of this curriculum without having to produce the musical.

About the Content

  • This activity allows students to develop and perform a musical about climate change. Students can explore topics such as past climates, the carbon cycle, formation of fossil fuels, photosynthesis, the industrial revolution, modern climate change and solutions to climate change.
  • Comments from expert scientist:
    Scientific strengths:
    This is great exercise for both the actors and audience to demonstrate the overall concept of the changing climate from the start of fossil fuel creation to how humans are influencing the carbon cycle.
    - Connects humans, energy and climate over the past 300 million years
    - Demonstrates how plants get their energy to grow, what fossil fuels are composed of, explores communal based agricultural processes, what the carbon cycle is and how it can be disrupted

About the Pedagogy

  • The goal of this project is to create a performance experience for youth around climate change. This activity further works to inspire and equip youth to create local solutions for inclusion in their city's plan for climate resilience.
  • This scripted, modular kinesthetic activity is designed in sections that can be done collectively or independently to engage students in just a particular issue or theme. Each module includes: themes explored, suggested warm up activity, artistic activity (completes with a list of materials needed), description of the movement in that section (along with a link to a video demonstrating that movement), and discussion and research questions
  • Beth Osnes at beth.osnes@colorado.edu, the creator of the performance, will support instructors who want to use this resource.
  • A separate teacher guide was developed by the Enacting Climate group to help teachers navigate Shine through various lessons. Teachers can use these lessons as alternative ways to engage students in embodied learning without putting on an entire musical. It may also help teachers in producing the musical who don't have experience in theater or embodied learning.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

  • The documentation provides detailed instructions for teachers. However, taking on the entire activity (all of the modules) will require a lot of coordination by the educator. Make sure to give enough time and go through the modules and example videos carefully.
  • This performance can be done in a single, intensive day, but is better suited to a 1-2 week time frame.
  • Teachers can also use the Enacting Climate Curriculum to help implement this activity.

Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEAN

Entered the Collection: August 2018 | Last Reviewed: January 2025

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