Climate Change Composition Project for KS3 Music: Fridays for Future

Enthuse and engage your Year 9 students with this exciting and unique composition project. Six ready-to-use lesson plans cover analysis and composition skills in the context of the ‘Fridays for Future’ youth climate protests inspired by Greta Thunberg.

This resource goes into excellent depth, and has very clear and prescriptive ways to understand the content provided

N Duggan, HoD & Peer Reviewer
Your students want to learn about the environment!
Allow your students to explore a topic which interests them and impacts them directly.

According to surveys by the NUS, UKSCN and Oxfam, 68% of pupils want to learn more about the environment and climate change, but only 4% of students know a lot about the topic.

Through chants, popular song or rap, this creative cross-curricular project introduces a fresh new approach to this very topical theme.

Over the course of the six lessons, students:

  • Gain a strong understanding of music in context
  • Analyse five contemporary songs, making links between the music, its context and its effect on the listener
  • Complete their own composition project, consisting of a set of short chants, a rap or an accompanied song

Flexible for mixed-ability classes: lesson plans include suggestions for differentiation and extension tasks throughout

The in-built differentiation is very useful and allows the work to be adapted to lower, middle and higher ability.

S Humphries, HoD & Peer Reviewer

Designed alongside the National Curriculum, students:

  • Review and evaluate music across a range of genres
  • Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated
  • Compose and develop musical ideas

Perfect preparation for GCSE!

  • Introduces key analytical terms from the GCSE specifications
  • Explores musical elements, contexts and expressive impact on the audience – ideal for GCSE composition and analysis
  • Provides a strong context for composition – relevant for GCSE composing to a brief

What do teachers say about this resource? (10588)

Well presented and structured allowing pupils to work through three different song writing options. The topic is relevant and would fit well into a key stage 3 scheme of work. Year 9 learners should be able to work through this project fairly independently allowing the teacher time to move between groups giving bespoke support.

I was impressed by the choice and variety of listening example, exposing pupils to a wide range of genres outside of traditional pop and rock. There is also a variety of differentiated activities for the competition of the composing task.

There is some variation in the type of listening question including compare and contrast.

he cross-curricular element is educationally useful, with the Greta Thurnberg resources being particularly engaging for this age group. It fulfils both the wider school context and music specific content.

C Kostromin, Head of Music & Peer Reviewer

Uses some good musical examples to illustrate the points. Clear worksheets and a good range of questions.

It would be useful for students who are continuing music on to GCSE as it gives them some good ideas for composition.
It links well to the NC requirements for composing.

N Silvester, Teacher & Peer Reviewer

Overall, I felt that this was a very good resource. The scheme covered a range of different skill sets, helped to develop awareness and understanding of music and covered a topic in a relevant and engaging way.

The overall plan and individual lessons are well structured and the learning journey is well considered and thought about.

Teaching compositional skills is not something that every teacher feels confident with. The approach and direction of learning moving from chants, rap and popular song provides clear progression and development of understanding.

This resource does enhance learning and puts music within a social, moral and relevant context. The in-built differentiation is very useful and allows the work to be adapted to lower, middle and higher ability. This means that the work can be accessed by all students in the class and can provide a rich learning environment leading to self-, peer- and teacher feedback throughout the scheme.

The scheme leads well into GCSE and fits the Edexcel specification. Students would develop their knowledge whilst studying this resource and it would help them to compose music for a given brief.

S Humphries, HoD & Peer Reviewer

This resource goes into excellent depth, and has very clear and prescriptive ways to understand the content provided. A lot of thought has gone into the connections with Climate Change with some very good musical references and examples.

N Duggan, HoD & Peer Reviewer