#368: “I Didn’t Drink Any Water That Day”: Marginalized Children’s Understanding of Climate Change–Induced Water Issues in NOLA

Climate change education in the early years of schooling is often overlooked, even though children already experience its effects in their daily lives. In New Orleans, where histories of marginalization are tied to place, the impacts of climate change–related water pollution are both immediate and lived. This qualitative case study draws on a justice-oriented, critical pedagogy of place to examine how kindergarten, second-grade, and fourth-grade students made sense of water quality issues through an interdisciplinary unit focused on Lake Pontchartrain. Children’s responses ranged from personal accounts to affective reflections and critical commentaries on the challenges facing their communities. Findings highlight how justice-oriented, place-based climate education can help marginalized children connect disciplinary understanding with lived experience, fostering early awareness, care, and agency.