Debating Topics for Middle/High School: Environmental Issues

Get your middle/high school students thinking and speaking with our newest thought-provoking no prep debates on the topic of environmental issues.

Our debate packages encourage critical thinking and allow students to discuss topics that are both relevant and important to them. Students will be encouraged to develop their communication and debating skills, while opening their minds to different viewpoints.

Each debate package covers and reinforces the five basic steps of the debating process: gathering information, exploring all sides of an issue, forming an initial opinion, defending the position in a debate and finally, refining your opinion through knowledge gained in the debate.

What's included:

• 20 debate topics on the subject of environmental issues
• 2 pages of teaching instructions (4 different debate formats outlined)
• 3 pages of useful expressions and transitions for debating (Encouraging students to use and record a variety of useful expressions and transitional phrases to create an effective debate)
• 6 worksheets for students to record their research findings, formulate their argument, and track down any changes they may have in opinion throughout the debate
• A checklist for writing a persuasive essay (Encouraging students to use and record a variety of useful expressions and transitional phrases to create an effective persuasive essay)
• A checklist of useful transition words for writing a successful essay (Encouraging students to use and record a variety of useful expressions and transitional phrases to create an effective discussion)
• Essay writing pages (Lined pages should the teacher decide to use the discussion questions or quotes as writing prompts)
• 4 posters for the 'Four Corners Debate' (to print/laminate)
• A student evaluation form for students to fill in after debate (3-page detailed student reflection/evaluation form)
• A teacher evaluation form for teachers to fill in after debate (2-page detailed teacher reflection/evaluation form)
• A colored version (to use digitally or to print)
• A printer-friendly black-and-white version
• Badges to print/laminate
• Teacher information and tips on how to incorporate into your lesson

*Please note: In order to better decide if this resource is suitable for your class, we have made every single page of this resource available for viewing by clicking on the 'view preview' icon. (This is only possible on a computer.)

We truly hope you find this resource both engaging and educational. We would love to hear back from you with your thoughts and feedback.

If you are looking for a collection of all of our debate packages and an excellent opportunity to save money, take a look at our Growing Debates Bundle.

How to get TpT credit to use on future purchases:

Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to log in). Beside each purchase, you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment for the product. I appreciate your feedback and the time it takes you to do so!

Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies and product launches:

Look for the green star near the top of any page within my store and click it to become a follower. You will then receive customized email updates about this store.

Subscribe to our website and be the first to know about our new discounts, freebies and product launches.

Further reading you may be interested in:

Authentic participation for successful discussions in the classroom

Creating an emotionally safe classroom for successful class discussions

Six simple formats for powerful class discussions

How to foster a sense of community with student-driven class discussions

Find us here:

www.englisheducationlab.net

Instagram

Facebook