Study material: Climate
Beyond the Fossil Era
Study material for secondary school about the climate transition towards a fossil-free society.
Welcome to the year 2053!
Allow the pupils to imagine a future where the climate targets have been reached. Let them look back from the future by visiting a museum of the fossil era and create their own contributions to the exhibition.
Beyond the Fossil Era offers study material aimed at stimulating discussion and creativity around climate change and the transition towards a more sustainable society. Everything you need can be found on this page!
This study material is also available in Swedish.
Time required: Approximately three lessons, or one thematic day.
Subjects: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Technology, History, Social Studies, Swedish, English, Art.
Required pre-knowledge
Feel free to go over the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle with the pupils once more. Feel free to use the fact sheet and the exercise The Carbon Cycle and Human Impact (time: approx. one lesson) to help out with this. It is also good to start with Beyond the Fossil Era and follow up with The Carbon Cycle and Human Impact to solidify the pupils' knowledge.
It can feel strange to do mental time travel and think that there are an infinite number of possible futures. If you want to practice this, feel free to do the exercise Imagining Futures (time: approx. one lesson).
Here you can also find links to facts and research about climate and global warming.
More about Beyond the Fossil Era
Prologue: Welcome to 2053! The Swedish government has just opened a fossil museum to celebrate Sweden achieving net-zero CO2 emissions before 2045 — thus being the first country in the world to do so! The exhibition displays everyday objects from the fossil era and tells the story of how these fell out of use or were replaced.
About the material: Beyond the Fossil Era is a school material about climate change produced by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and researchers at Lund University. The pupils get to experience a future scenario where the climate goals have been achieved and immerse themselves in stories about how Sweden left the fossil era behind. Everyday objects and stories make this transition tangible and easy to grasp. The stories are based on scientific research and are presented in an easily understandable way. After reading several of the stories in the museum, the pupils get to come up with their own transition stories (with associated images) that they want to submit to the exhibition.
The aim of Beyond the Fossil Society is for the pupils to gain in-depth knowledge of the climate adaptations that society is facing by experiencing a mental journey through time and working creatively together. The material also aims to develop students' futures literacy and promote active hope. Read more about this here.
Teacher's guide
The three steps take you through the work with Beyond the Fossil Era.
The Fossil Museum
Click on an object to read the story behind it.
Complementary materials
Links for further reading and suggestions of related study materials.
About Beyond the Fossil Era
This study material was created in a collaboration between the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and Lund University, and it was funded by the research council Formas.
If you want to learn more about the facts that informed the study material or get in touch with the researchers, contact Roger Hildingsson at Lund University: roger.hildingsson@svet.lu.se
Skolartikel
Education for sustainable development
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation promotes education for sustainable development (ESD) and supports schools in taking a holistic approach to sustainability issues. We produce educational materials, offer teacher training workshops and participate in partnership projects to develop methods for ESD.