Cultivating future climate-concious citizens: an interview with Kim Jin-han

As climate goals form to pass on a sustainable Earth for the next generation, there is also a growing responsibility for youth to take action for the climate. This responsibility is being taught from a young age in Korea, where climate education is slowly introduced in the elementary school setting. Kim Jin-han, a science teacher at Seoul Guhwon Elementary School, is one of many who cultivates responsible future global leaders through his classes. Through this interview, Kim discussed his experience in youth climate education, the meaningful impact he saw, and personal goals looking ahead.

As a science teacher, how do you explain climate change and environmental issues to elementary school students during science class?

Climate change and environmental issues are actually quite abstract for elementary students. Also, if you convey it as a crisis, children might find it abstract and could make them think the end of the world is imminent, potentially leading to exaggeration and misconceptions. I believe this could actually hinder their learning motivation. So rather, we approach it by reconstructing students' everyday experiences into scientific concepts. We bring in problems from daily life, prompting them to consider whether these are truly environmental issues, then discover actions they can take in their lives. 

We do this through self-directed projects. In the unit introduction phase, we have them record changes they've noticed in seasons or weather over recent years. Actually, this is quite convenient for teaching older grades. For elementary students from first to sixth grade, we ask questions like when they started wearing padded jackets or when they started wearing short sleeves, encouraging them to think a bit about climate and change. Then, we have them share these observations with their peers in small groups.

Students then presented personal experiences, such as increased heatwave days, slightly reduced winter coldness, and rising fine dust levels. Building on this, I introduced temperature change data and carbon dioxide concentration graphs using what we called the MBL sensor. We've also presented graphs using sensors that can actually measure these things in real-time.

Later, I guided them to recognize that climate change isn't just a personal feeling but a scientifically explainable phenomenon. I did this by connecting the process of greenhouse gas increase, radiative energy absorption, and atmospheric temperature rise through model diagrams and step-by-step explanations. This approach seemed effective in helping students accept climate change not as a lecture on environmental protection, but as a real phenomenon to explore in science class.

I think you mentioned many challenges, but what is another challenging part when explaining the specific concept of carbon emissions to elementary students?

Well, actually, carbon isn't covered in the elementary school curriculum. So, the chemical element C doesn't appear. But we explain carbon using carbon dioxide, by saying that it is something we exhale when we breathe, and it's everywhere in daily life. That's why we use the term carbon dioxide more than just "carbon."

So in a 5th-grade science class, I ran a project exploring carbon emission sources within school life. This project was designed following the process of Observe, Measure, Analyze, and Act. First, the students investigated factors causing carbon emissions in the classroom and school spaces. The items they investigated included how much carbon is emitted when lighting is used for extended periods and can also be measured with an MBL sensor. They also measured standby power from electronic devices like air conditioners or televisions. Next, they structured their data around paper consumption. Since we couldn't directly measure paper use at the elementary level, they used data from public institutions showing the carbon footprint per specific paper item: one A4 sheet, one 8.5x11 inch sheet, and one 8.5x11 inch drawing paper.

It seems like you're putting in tremendous effort for carbon-related education.

Yes, actually, the current direction pursued by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Superintendent emphasizes ecological environmental education. They are requesting that we guide the children more through project-based learning in this area.

What environmental activity did the students enjoy the most or show the best response to?

The activity they seemed to like the most, where they estimated daily usage and emissions, was the experiment comparing the power consumption of LED lights versus regular fluorescent lights. So, while measuring the power consumption of LEDs and fluorescent lights, we explored which option reduces carbon emissions, meaning produces less carbon dioxide, and is more beneficial for the environment.

Next, we also tried an experiment on heat absorption based on an object's color. We did this yesterday using the MBL sensor, and through this, the children conducted a slightly more scientific experiment exploring the relationship between energy efficiency and carbon emissions. Of course, the established inquiry process and results from existing scientists are already derived. But I think the children actually explored and thought about things like, "In daily life, what colors should I use? And what should I use for LEDs and fluorescent lights to be more eco-friendly?"

And it didn't end with just the experiments here. The children went on to establish practical action plans, applied them for about a month, and then compared the data before and after implementation. Seeing these changes reflected in measurable behavioral data allowed the children to tangibly understand that their efforts to reduce carbon and CO2 emissions in daily life genuinely benefit the environment.

It seems you've conducted many activities extending beyond the school setting. While running such lessons, have you noticed moments where students' daily habits or perceptions about climate change shifted over time?

Yes, for example, the kids would tell me, "let's just unplug things in the classroom that have unnecessary standby power." Honestly, I'm busy and don't have time to think about such things. And during lunch break, they'd say, "well, the school uses lights everywhere now, but what's the point of using them? We can just turn them off and live with sufficient natural light." And they actually do turn off the lights during lunch break at school. And actually, the kids do turn off the lights during lunch at school. During class, of course, we keep them on for vision and visibility, but at lunch, they turn them off. The kids practice this on their own, without me having to tell them. They do it really well.

You must feel incredibly proud of them. But are there any areas you wish could be improved in current elementary science education to better teach about the environment or climate?

Yes, environmental topics are now integrated throughout the curriculum in small, scattered pieces. They appear in Korean language passages, occasionally in math word problems, and social studies now includes environmental units throughout the curriculum. Science also incorporates them. While the elementary school curriculum does weave environmental topics into each subject like this, there isn't an overarching environmental education curriculum itself. So, children tend to acquire fragmented pieces of environmental knowledge. Regarding that aspect, I understand that high schools now have Environment as a recognized subject.

However, since elementary schools lack this, it seems like a good opportunity to teach children about the environment systematically. Instead, there is time allocated for creative experiential activities, and teaching can happen through that. But honestly, within that time, we also have to cover several hours of citizenship education, several hours of other subjects, and there's a lot to teach. So, if environmental studies were organized as a subject in elementary school, even just one hour a week, it would help children develop more interest in environmental issues and practice them consistently.

Do you think the emphasis on environmental or climate issues will grow within science classes or science education going forward? 

Honestly, the advancement of science seems inseparable from environmental issues, because living in the age of artificial intelligence inevitably means increasing electricity consumption. And as electricity use rises, carbon dioxide emissions increase. We are now moving steadily into an era of ever-growing carbon emissions. Therefore, children need to pay more attention to these aspects. They shouldn't just think about the convenience of AI, but also consider the various consequences that can follow from that convenience, environmental consequences that may follow. We need a solution that pursues both goals simultaneously, not just one.

However, currently, while policy measures related to AI are advancing, environmental aspects face challenges. For instance, the US withdrew from the climate agreement, and global cooperation is still urgently needed. So, there must be a clear need to teach children the importance of these values.

That's such a great point. Based on the activities you've done so far, if you were to create another environmental activity for elementary students, what kinds of things would you include?

I'd like to utilize the school garden or ecological space for some activities. By having the children directly experience the entire cycle of producing plants and various organisms, consuming them, and then disposing of them, I think we can help them understand carbon issues from an ecological perspective. If we start adapting them to this a little bit from elementary school, even as they grow older, I believe they'll still think about these things when they see plants. So I hope these experiences help children see environmental issues not just as distant, grand external discourses, but as something connected to their daily lives. I want them to become children with a broad perspective, capable of considering things like electricity usage related to AI.

Finally, elementary school students are very young, just starting school. Why do you think it's important to teach climate change to such young children?

I believe we should teach climate change to young children precisely because they are young. While children do have some creative experiential activities taught by teachers for an hour or two starting in first grade, the environment is something truly inseparable from our lives, just like Korean and math. It's just as important as Korean and math, but because it hasn't fully integrated into the curriculum and is just restructured as a separate subject, I think kids tend to perceive its necessity in a simplified, fragmented way.

Therefore, I believe we need to design a curriculum for environmental education starting from the simplest level, focusing on how they can think and act independently through project-based learning. If this is covered in elementary school, by the time they reach middle school, high school, and university, these things will become ingrained in their daily lives, and society might change significantly. 

Even as an adult, if you did a little back then, you might think, "Oh, I did this before," and practice it. But if you don't actually implement those things concretely during elementary, middle, and high school, by the time you're an adult, you just can't think about it at all. There are just too many other things to do. People in different professions, especially those completely unrelated to the environment, find it hard to care about this stuff. That's why it absolutely must become part of daily life during elementary, middle, and high school. Then, even if you pursue a career completely unrelated to the environment as an adult, you can still practice a little bit through those ingrained habits.