Former teacher Julie Bertagna, whose book Exodus was nominated for the Whitbread Children’s Book Award, regularly visits schools as a writer and finds children are keen to learn more about the subject. She said: “They know about global warming and pollution but they don’t have a lot of information about what they can do, and it struck me that they are the next generation who can do something about it.

“They don’t know that a mobile phone battery (pictured) can contaminate for 100 years, but if you give it to charity it can generate money which can save someone’s life.”

She believes a “green” focus in personal and social education could teach youngsters what they can do to tackle the issues, as could a scientific approach on the causes and effects of pollution. “They are at an age where they are learning about the mechanics of sex, so let’s teach them about the mechanics of how to save the planet.”

Exodus explores what life might be like if global warming caused Glasgow to flood.