Amid overwhelming criticism that Scholastic Inc. was lying to students about the benefits of coal use, the education publisher cut ties with the coal industry.
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Enslaved people on a Santo Domingo sugar plantation owned by the son of Christopher Columbus attempted to free themselves and take over the land in the earliest recorded slave uprising in the Americas.
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U.S. scientist and women’s rights activist Eunice Newton Foote confirmed Fourier’s theory that atmospheric gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the atmosphere, a phenomenon that would come to be known as the “greenhouse effect.”
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The First World War killed roughly 20 million people. Fighting transitioned from mainly human- and animal-powered to fossil fuel-powered technologies and accessing and protecting fossil fuel supplies became part of sustaining a powerful military. The Earth and the environment have suffered ever since.
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Amidst a looming “garbage crisis” in Washington, D.C., on May 1, 1970, 1,700 sanitation workers went on strike to demand an end to racial discrimination, unsafe working conditions, low pay, and unequal pick-up routes.
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Film. Directed by Jennifer Baichwal. 2022. 96 minutes.
Focusing on one man’s lawsuit against Monsanto, this documentary exposes how Roundup weed killers are toxic not just for weeds — but also people.
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Princeville, North Carolina originated as a resettlement community for freed people and became the oldest incorporated city chartered by African Americans in the United States.
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Determined to prevent the development of the local forest, Londoners protested to “Save The Forest” in an early instance of mass organizing for land conservation.
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Book — Non-fiction. By Dana Frank. 2025. 336 pages.
Four stories of resilience, mutual aid, and radical rebellion that transforms how we understand the Great Depression.
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Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow, Chris Buehler, Julie Treick O'Neill, and Tim Swinehart. Rethinking Schools.
This role play invites students to take on identities of La Vía Campesina activists around the world, to compare/contrast circumstances in order to discover the common goal of “food sovereignty.”
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Teaching Activity. By Suzanna Kassouf, Matt Reed, Tim Swinehart, Ursula Wolfe-Rocca, and Bill Bigelow.
The stories of twenty people whose lives were touched by the New Deal of the 1930s come to life in this classroom activity, intended to open students' minds to the possibilities of a Green New Deal.
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Film. Directed by Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood. 2010. 81 minutes.
This film takes viewers on a gripping emotional journey into a community surrounded by a looming toxic threat.
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Teaching Guide. Edited by Bill Bigelow and Tim Swinehart. Rethinking Schools. 2014. 400 pages.
Articles, student readings, and teaching activities to understand environmental problems and imagine solutions.
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Teaching Activity. By Brady Bennon. Rethinking Schools. 7 pages.
A high school humanities teacher introduces students to the human cost of climate change, building empathy for climate change refugees like those in the island nation of Kiribati.
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When the Civil Defense Administration attempted to hold a drill simulating a nuclear attack, 27 activists in New York refused to take cover. They handed out pamphlets reading: “We will not obey this order to pretend, to evacuate, to hide... We refuse to cooperate.”
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Earth First! activist Judi Bari’s car was blown up by a bomb in Oakland, California.
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NASA scientist James Hansen testified to Congress stating the greenhouse effect had been detected.
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Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior was bombed by two French agents and Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira was killed.
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Film. Narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. The Intercept. 2019. 7 minutes.
The film flips the script on our future by illustrating one where we survive climate change and thrive because we took action today.
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Nobel Prize-winner Linus Pauling and Ava Helen Pauling joined a march in front of the White House to protest the resumption of U.S. atmospheric nuclear testing.
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Films. Directed by Jan Haaken and Samantha Praus. 58 minutes & 57 minutes.
Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance explores the work of attorneys, valve turners, and other water protectors in Minnesota. Climate Justice and the Thin Green Line examines climate resistance in the Pacific Northwest.
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The United Nations proclaimed May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.
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Teaching Activity.
This people’s tribunal begins with the premise that a heinous crime is being committed as tens of millions of people’s lives are in danger due to COVID-19. But who was responsible for this crime? Students weigh the evidence.
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Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow, Adam Sanchez, and Tim Swinehart.
A role-play activity engages students in building solidarity among different groups and organizations fighting fossil fuels and searching for alternatives.
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In the lead-up to an international conference on climate change in Copenhagen, climate activists organized a “day of action,” where millions of people gathered at thousands of events all over the world, demanding that governments and corporations work to slash CO2 emissions and enforce environmental protections.
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