There are no easy answers to children’ s questions about the impacts of climate change or the long-term shifts in weather patterns. These changes are disrupting previously known patterns and balances in nature; for example, through hotter temperatures, wildfires, severe storms, drought, loss of species, impacts on food production, warming oceans, health risks, and displacement due to disasters like flooding( NASA, n. d.). Yet responding in ways that promote children’ s exploration, reflection, and learning can help instill a sense of hope and agency rather than fear.
During the discussion in Sheila’ s class, she responded to children’ s concerns by acknowledging their observations and questions and reflecting their meaning back to them to clarify as needed. She provided relevant information that deepened children’ s understanding of how the West Coast wildfires were impacting air quality.
For example, the group discussed the causes of wildfires, such as not properly extinguishing campfires, and fire safety. Accessing photos on a tablet helped children understand what the wildfires looked like, and blowing tiny cotton balls across a table map helped depict how wind blows smoke across the land. The children were also introduced to an air quality app that they used daily to determine if it was safe to play outdoors. This promoted shared decision making between teachers and children about safety.
Sheila’ s story exemplifies how young children, who are especially vulnerable to climate-related health risks( EPA 2023), notice changes in their environment. Children’ s intrinsic curiosity presented an opportunity for discussing such change and ways to care for the environment. While a purely scientific explanation was neither developmentally appropriate nor likely to motivate further learning, children’ s observations opened possibilities for Sheila to dialogue with them.
Climate change education focuses on knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values needed for learners to understand and respond to the impacts of climate change( UNESCO, n. d.), beginning in the early years( Samuelsson & Kaga 2008; Bascopé et al. 2019; Beaver & Borgerding 2023). It necessitates a keen understanding of child development, individual children, and their contexts to facilitate“ opportunities to develop a sense of wonder about nature and earnest engagement in discovering the real world”( NAAEE
2024, 128). Likewise,“ focusing on our youngest children and families is an important avenue for ensuring an equitable, sustainable future for all”( Capita & The Aspen Institute 2023, 2).
We( the authors) are university faculty members who share an interest in nature-based early learning and creating sustainable futures for young children. Across our collective years of experience in roles such as researcher, teacher educator, laboratory preschool director, early childhood teacher, and environmental educator, we have studied and seen firsthand the benefits of a relationship between children and nature, particularly when supported by knowledgeable and caring adults. In this article, we introduce an approach to environment, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics( E-STEM) and dialogic teaching. We share how this approach can spark inquiry and projects in which children investigate climate change in the local environments they care about. Finally, we provide examples and suggestions for teachers who would like to try this in their own settings.
What Is E-STEM?
E-STEM involves integrating environmental learning into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics curricula( Fraser et al. 2013; NAEEE 2025). It“ engages students in meaningful, real-world environmental problem-solving”( NAEEE 2025) while fostering critical and systems thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, creativity, and innovation( Fraser et al. 2013; Greenfield et al. 2017; Koçulu & Sefika 2022). Thus, E-STEM can develop environmental literacy, or the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values to make informed environmental decisions and actions( NAAEE 2025).
Early E-STEM helps build the foundation for understanding the world, using tools to solve problems, building and designing solutions, and developing spatial reasoning and number sense needed for later schooling and beyond( Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, n. d.). It focuses on attending to young children’ s curiosity and developing an appreciation for the natural world and a sense of responsibility for its care( NAAEE 2016).
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