All About Attenborough

Teacher Tips

Hook

• It helps not to say whose story this is yet. Put the statements up and ask “Which is the most powerful, and why?” Learners will pick different ones for different reasons (a number, an image, a person), and that variety is useful. Then ask “How would seeing pictures or hearing a story change how powerful each message feels?” Almost everyone says it would hit harder, and that is the whole point of the session.
• Most learners will have seen one of his programmes or will recognise his voice, so it’s worth asking who has. It gives everyone an entry point, including learners who don’t usually engage with nature topics.
• The reveal on the slide says he has spent “almost 100 years” telling these stories. Sir David Attenborough turned 100 on 8 May 2026, so you can say it plainly. It’s a stronger opening than “almost”.

ITZA Pathways

• There is only one pathway, All About Attenborough, so learners have the full 20 minutes with it. It covers how he has helped the world see nature, how he has enacted change, and how he has helped us understand our place in it all.
• Circulate with “Why is Attenborough so effective at helping people understand the world around them?” Before the activity, it’s worth checking learners can name his three steps in their own words (show something extraordinary, explain what is happening, reveal why it matters) and point to a moment in the pathway where they saw it working.
• The pathway uses then-and-now evidence of change within a single lifetime. You could ask “What changed most?” and “Which of the changes are connected to each other?” Interconnection is one of the session’s key ideas, and learners who can link two changes have understood more than those who list them.
• Try asking which of the four actions for protecting the planet (Use Less Space, Eliminate Waste, Go Net Zero, Revive the Oceans) each change connects to. Many fit more than one, which is worth saying out loud.
• The pathway uses film and other people’s content, so you might ask learners to be critical, not just admiring: “Who made this, what do they want you to feel, and how do they do it?” It’s good media literacy, and it makes the storytelling formula easier to spot.
• You may see learners taking away “we’re doomed”. His message isn’t doom, it’s urgency: the natural world is astonishing, interconnected and recoverable if we act now.
• The pathway may leave some learners with spare minutes. A good use of them is to pick the then-and-now comparison that surprised them most and be ready to say why, or to start thinking about which scenario they’ll choose for the activity.

Plenary

• Part 2 asks what Attenborough meant by “the planet will continue, but can we?” Look for the distinction it turns on: the planet will carry on, but the living systems people depend on may not. You can push learners past “we’ll all die” to which ecosystems and conditions we depend on.
• As an extension, after reading the lock-in, you could ask them to imagine writing the final chapter: “Using the formula, what would you show, explain, and reveal about why it matters?”