INTEGRATING CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION INTO INTEGRATED SCIENCE CURRICULUM FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

Climate change represents one of the most pressing environmental challenges confronting contemporary societies, yet environmental literacy among secondary school students in many developing countries remains relatively low due to limited integration of climate change concepts within formal science curricula. This gap limits students’ ability to understand environmental risks and adopt sustainable environmental practices. This study investigated the effect of integrating climate change education into the Integrated Science curriculum on environmental awareness among secondary school students. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design involving 210 students from six secondary schools selected through multistage sampling techniques. Students were divided into experimental and control groups, where the experimental group received climate change–integrated science instruction for twelve weeks. Data were collected using the Environmental Awareness Assessment Scale with a reliability coefficient of 0.84. Statistical analysis involved paired sample t-tests, correlation analysis, and regression modelling. The results revealed a statistically significant improvement in environmental awareness among students exposed to climate-integrated science instruction (t = 5.62, p < 0.001). Correlation analysis also revealed a strong positive relationship between climate change education and environmental awareness (r = 0.68, p < 0.01). Regression analysis indicated that climate change curriculum integration explained approximately 58% of the variation in environmental awareness among students (R² = 0.58). The study recommends that national curriculum planners systematically incorporate climate change education into Integrated Science teaching frameworks and develop teacher training programmes to enhance climate literacy instruction. The study concludes that integrating climate change education within science curricula significantly strengthens students’ environmental awareness and promotes sustainable environmental attitudes.