Comedy for Climate

WORKSHEET

1. Suggested Use

Communication and environmental awareness focus, followed by B2-level vocabulary and grammar activities.

2. Suggested Activities 

A. Project-based learning
Students work in groups to write and perform a short (1–2 minute) comedy sketch or stand-up routine with a social or environmental message. They can choose a theme such as plastic waste, recycling, green transport, or fast fashion, and choose a form of comedy (add a research stage to the task if necessary). 

They plan the script, rehearse, and perform it for the class (live or recorded).
Afterwards, students discuss what type of humour was most effective - sarcasm, irony, exaggeration, etc. - and why.

B. Mediation task: Collaborating to construct meaning
Students imagine they manage the university’s social media page for the comedy programme. They write a short social media post summarising the project in clear, engaging language for the public. They include what the students are doing, why comedy is being used and what impact it has on people.

C. Pronunciation task: Chunking and meaning groups in speech
Write a few long sentences from the script on the board, e.g. Comedy is being used to spark climate action; Their mission? To raise awareness of environmental issues in a way that’s creative and unforgettable; Complex topics are being made accessible, and even hopeful, through humour. Have students mark pauses in the sentences and focus on the stress and rhythm, then practise saying the sentences. Students then write some long sentences to give to another group to practise pausing and chunking. 

3. Vocabulary 

Environment and education 

• climate action

• fossil fuels

• recycling

• environmental studies

• students

• surveys

• public engagement

• climate anxiety

• disruption

• awareness 

• progress

• challenge

• status quo

• approach

• tested

• techniques

• mission

• issues

• creative

• unforgettable

Collocations 

• lead to progress

• spark action

• raise awareness

• a light-hearted way

• prove to be effective

• reduce anxiety

• increase engagement

• make accessible

Idiomatic expressions / phrasal verbs 

• turn heads

• come across

• set out

• rely on

• flip (the photo)

• hear about

4. Grammar

Passive voice (present and perfect passives):
Comedy is being used to spark climate action; Surveys have been conducted, and climate comedy has been shown to reduce anxiety; Complex topics are being made accessible.

Causative and results:
Disruption can lead to progress; Knowing how to disrupt successfully can be difficult.

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TRANSCRIPT
Comedy for Climate

NARRATOR:
Disruption can lead to progress, especially when the goal is to challenge the status quo. But knowing how to disrupt successfully can be difficult. 

At a university in Colorado, a new approach is being tested. Comedy is being used to spark climate action. Students are being taught comedy techniques on how to use humour as a communication tool. Their mission? To raise awareness of environmental issues in a way that’s creative, and unforgettable.

SOUNDBITE - Bianca Calderon:
“I think that's the best way to get information out to the public, because I think when we laugh, that kind of, like, sticks in our brain of, like, ‘Oh my gosh it was so funny, so now I'm going to remember it.”

NARRATOR:
Serious issues like fossil fuels and recycling are covered in a light-hearted way by these students, many of them environmental studies majors. Sketches and stand-up routines are created, rehearsed and performed at the university’s annual Stand Up for Climate comedy showcase. This method is proving to be effective. Surveys have been conducted, and climate comedy has been shown to reduce anxiety and increase public engagement. Complex topics are being made accessible, and even hopeful, through humour.

SOUNDBITE - Lilianna Grill:
“And comedy kind of lets us, like, explore what there is to be positive about, what there is to be serious about but not necessarily present it in such a serious manner in a way that makes us really upset.”

NARRATOR:
In today’s ever-changing world, the rules of communication are being rewritten. By disrupting the norm, these students are learning how to connect with people — and how real change can be inspired through laughter.