City of the Future Climate Project Educator Guide
Provided by: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative|Published on: January 17, 2023|Last updated: September 26, 2026
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12, AP
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Earth and Space Sciences, Civics, Engineering
Authors: MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, TILclimate Podcast
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- In this lesson, students design, evaluate, construct, and present their vision for a city of the future with people and the environment in mind.
- Students apply what they have learned about climate change solutions like renewable energy, public transportation, and community initiatives in a series of group activities and a final project.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- This is an engaging and multi-disciplinary approach to assessing students' knowledge of climate solutions.
- In this project, students are challenged to apply their research, critical thinking, and collaborative skills.
- The podcast discusses energy generation for urban areas, energy management for climate mitigation, and the electric grid.
Additional Prerequisites
- This lesson is designed to be used as a culminating project for a unit on climate change and not as a standalone. Students should therefore have a strong understanding of various climate solutions.
- The educator guide includes guidelines for each activity, a timeline, additional resources, and ideas for extension activities.
- Students should listen to the podcast before starting the project.
- The entire project should take 7 to 11 class periods to complete.
Differentiation
- As an additional element for more advanced classes, have students also include cost and financing as a consideration in their designs.
- The optional construction phase of the project can be completed in a 3-D or 2-D format, depending on your class's needs and access to resources.
- One copy of each worksheet can be printed per group or committee.
- Following the project, ask the class, "What does our city lack that the future city has? How can we move our city toward becoming this future city?"
- Use this table of solutions for an extensive list of various climate solutions.
This lesson provides a ~12 minute podcast along with learning objectives, core ideas, standards, and teacher and student guides. The podcast and subsequent student activities encourage students to think critically about the construction of future cities, and how choices in energy, electricity, design, planning, zoning reduce a city's CO2 and other emissions. The activities allow students to work together to plan, design, evaluate, construct, and present their visions for a City of the Future. This resource is well-researched and provides all the necessary material for a teacher to incorporate into their own lesson plans about reducing CO2.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
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