Climate Literacy in Education, Volume 3, Issue 2 (Special Issue) 
 
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The Story of More 
Tenth Grade 

English Language Arts 
Florida 

 
 
My students this year asked me if I have personally witnessed climate change, and I was very 
honest with them: Yes, I have. As a native Floridian, I personally have seen how real estate 
development has encroached upon the Everglades. I have seen sea-level rise first-hand in Miami 
Beach, with King tides flooding streets. I have also seen the increase of destructive hurricanes, 
including Hurricane Andrew, which I lived through when I was thirteen years old. 

For the past five years, I have incorporated the book The Story of More by Hope Jahren 
with my English Language Arts students. I start by telling my students that although reading 
science-based texts can be boring or the technicality of the information can be difficult to 
understand, Hope Jahren is able to share the history of climate change in such a way that anyone 
reading the book can understand. She uses history and facts to paint a story of how we, as human 
beings, have arrived at this point, detailing small changes we each can make to make a difference 
when it comes to the climate crisis. 

As a final project, I have had my students create presentation boards or short videos based 
on the different sections of Jahren’s book: Life, Food, Energy, and Earth. I believe that to truly 
learn about a topic you should be able to talk about it with others and so I wanted to provide my 
students with ways to springboard into those kinds of conversations. The result was me giving them 
a two-part project. Part one: create a button. Part two: create a Public Service Announcement 
(PSA).  

For the button, students could use an image, quote, fact, or a mix from the book for the 
creation of their button. This allowed the students to be creative, while at the same time allowing 
them to share their knowledge with students around the school if they were asked about the 
button. The second part of the project was for the students to create a one-minute PSA based on 



10 ELAú Floridaú  The Story of More 
 
 

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facts they had learned from the book and share how people can make a difference when it comes 
to climate change. Most students created audio clips, like this spoken word track. A few created 
short videos. 

I was so pleased with the variety of ideas and creativity used in making their buttons and 
PSAs. This project gives me hope for the future of our planet and the consciousness of our youth 
that our planet is finite, and we can live with less and share more. The young people of our country 
do care about planet Earth and recognize that science is here to help us make better decisions to 
preserve what we have for our future. 

Example of student-made button 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YlT7iu9gmyCLXgYWk9UWOJXW4HP5UFRR/view?usp=sharing