Using Technology to Teach about Sustainability
- primarytechreview
- Jan 15
- 6 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Why should primary education include sustainability?
The November 2025 curriculum review, 'Building a world class curriculum for all', identified five areas of applied knowledge that needed greater attention within the curriculum. These were:
oracy
financial literacy
media literacy
digital literacy
education on climate change and sustainability
As the review states,
'Given the significance of climate change for our society and and the planet, it is crucial that young people benefit from an understanding of the climate crisis' causes, consequences and possible solutions and that they are empowered with the necessary knowledge to thrive in tomorrow's industries and tackle the serios challenges facing our planet.'
The review notes that there is currently no statutory requirement to teach climate change in key stage 1 and 2, beyond a reference in Citizenship.
The review also points out that one of the benefits of teaching children about climate change is providing them with the knowledge that they will need to enter future work. Expansion of careers in green technology will provide young people with exciting opportunities to apply their skills and as the review states, the expansion of green technology is 'creating new jobs and affecting nearly all aspects of the economy.'
The review notes that 'the current Geography curriculum has notable gaps in relation to climate change' and that sustainability form part of a 'core body of 'citizenship content at primary.'
The review also recommends that the 'science curriculum explicitly develops students' understanding of the scientific principles that explain climate change and sustainability'.
The 2023 government publication, 'Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children's service systems', sets of the vision of the United Kingdom being 'the world leading education sector in sustainability and climate change by 2030.'
Opportunities of promoting sustainability highlighted in the report include.
Learning about green skills and jobs
The beneficial effects on physical and mental health of spending time with nature
Children becoming more actively involved in their local environment
Reduced energy demand
Adding health, biodiversity and learning and play opportunities to the local environment
Adapting buildings to climate change risks
This is stated to be achieved through four aims:
1) Excellence in education...preparing all young people for a world impacted by climate change through learning and practical experiences
2) Net zero
3) Resilience to climate change, including adapting education buildings to prepare for climate change
4) A better environment for future generations, enhancing biodiversity, improving air quality and improving access to nature
The 2023 publication states that, 'by 2025, all education settings will have appointed a sustainability lead and put in place a climate action plan.'
These two reports do a good job at pointing out the practical benefits of education on sustainability. They offer excellent strategies to achieve these and signpost schools to organisations that offer useful support, including the National Education Nature Park and Let's Go Zero.
My perspective is that teaching children value their environment also teaches them to value themselves and others. Children love watching things grow and thrive, which is why they love gardening, monitoring birds and insects and taking photos of nature. This sense of valuing the things around them carries over into their sense of self-worth and sense of empathy. It also gives them a stake in their surroundings - their home, school and local community.
Sustainability brings children together
The need for a sustainable future is an issue that connects children across communities and across the world. This is a huge opportunity for children to connect with those in other communities and countries and to think beyond themselves, developing empathy and compassion. Rising to address the challenges of climate change can empower children and help them understand the challenges that other children face around the world.
Children nowadays have the opportunities to connect with and contact schools in other countries in ways that were not possible before electronic communication and video calling.
How can technology help schools teach children about sustainability
At primary level, sustainability can offer a valuable context for work done across the curriculum.
This can include writing (poetry, persuasive letters), maths (measurement, statistics), computing (programming, creating digital content), art (painting, drawing), in fact work in almost every subject!
We will now explore some of the ways that technology can support exploration of sustainability and project work.
Microbit
Microbits are one of the best devices available to teach physical computing at primary level. They are self contained input and output devices, able to measure light and temperature and display these using the in-build 25 pixel screen.
In Computing or DT (or a mixture of both), children can build and program Microbit devices that record the temperature and light levels of growing plants. They can program the Microbits to display these readings and to respond when readings get below a certain level. This kind of project introduces them to the world of smart farming, where technology is used to grow crops at a greater yield with intelligent use of water.
The Microbit Foundation website has examples of simple programming projects featuring light sensors. These could form a great starting point for children, who could suggest ways that these projects could be improved in order to grow plants.
Apps for Good
I have written about Apps for Good here, and I think it is one of the most impactful uses of technology available to children at school.
Apps for Good is a charity which offers children the chance to develop an app with the goal of improving an aspect of the world around them. There are currently three categories - Apps for Climate Change, Apps for Social Action and AI for Good.
Children learn the process of identifying problems, planning a solution, designing and working within a team. They have the opportunity to engage with professionals for feedback and can submit their finished app, along with a promotional film, into a national showcase.
Children use the App Lab in Code.org to build their app. On the face of it, this can seem intimidating, with blocks of code written in Java. However, a working app can be built with only a few types of blocks of code and the code.org App Development course does an excellent job of teaching this.
Canva
In terms of children sharing messages or ideas about sustainability, Canva for Education is one of the most powerful tools available.
Schools who sign up for the Educational version of Canva can offer their students the full range of creative tools available to use.
Children can then use the Creative tools in Canva to share their messages and ideas about promoting sustainability in school. This can include campaigns, information posters and infographics.
Another powerful feature of Canva is the ability for children to work collaboratively. Children can use the collaborative whiteboard tool in Canva to brainstorm ideas about sustainability and related projects. This is a good way for children to share ideas on projects such as the Apps for Good project detailed above.
Photography and filming
Children taking photos is a simple and effective way for them to learn to appreciate and value their surroundings. This is particularly true of children have the opportunity to exhibit (or even sell!) their photos. Children can also combine their photography work with work in maths, counting and drawing conclusions from their photos, or art, using their photos as a basis for drawings about their environment.
Useful Websites
Some useful websites to give children access to for their work on sustainability include:
Air Quality Index - World's Air Pollution: Real-time Air Quality Index
Graphical representation of air quality sensors from around the world
Costal Climate Central - Sea level rise and coastal flood risk maps -- a global screening tool by Climate Central
Data about the impact of rising sea levels
Enroads - En-ROADS
Wide range of data about measurements relating to climate change
Google Earth Timelapse - Timelapse – Google Earth Engine
Children can view satellite photos showing the effects of climate change, i.e. glaciers melting, rainforests disappearing
Conclusions
Primary schools will succeed in their approach to sustainability when they enact achievable, visible initiatives that promote awareness and appreciation of a sustainable environment. Some of the initiatives that schools can undertake will depend on the location of the school, resources, time and expertise available and curriculum demands.
Teaching children about sustainability brings worthwhile benefits to schools and to children. Sustainability gives learning across the curriculum meaning and a valuable context. It can help link subjects together and can raise the status of the schools as being forward thinking and able to lead in one of the most pressing issues we face.
For children, teaching them about sustainability helps them to think of issues beyond their own immediate needs and teaches them to be compassionate, responsible and to value the precious environment and resources that they have.
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