Lesson 2: Media Framing and Polarization of Climate Policy
Duration of Days: 1
Lesson Objective
Students will critique how polarized news outlets communicate identical climate science reports differently to manipulate public view.
How do political factions use media to distort or highlight climate data? How do we verify scientific claims in political journalism?
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6; MBL Standard 2A.
1. Hook: Display two articles on a single climate event (one denying systemic links, one amplifying urgency).
2. Instruction: Discuss media framing techniques, rhetoric, and echo chambers.
3. Independent Lab: Students execute a text analysis comparing language intensity between the chosen articles.
Purpose & DOK Level: High-level media literacy deconstruction; DOK Level 3.
Provided checklists for spotting media framing tricks; paired analysis work.
Comparative media literacy analytical matrix.