Middle School
In this lesson, students practice separating fact from narrative and identifying the rhetorical choices that shape how environmental issues are understood.
Environmental news stories, public awareness campaigns, and advertisements often do more than present facts. They also tell stories about responsibility, blame, and action. Some messages focus on individual choices. Others point to governments, companies, or society as a whole. Students ask: How do environmental messages influence who we think is responsible for environmental problems and solutions?
Students will analyze short environmental messages and ask:
What is the factual claim?
What is the message trying to make the audience feel?
Who is framed as responsible?
Is the message mainly informing or persuading?