Objective: The largest Global Climate Strike in history was led and organized by youth, demonstrating students consider climate change a key issue impacting their futures. However, researchers know little about the climate change knowledge and experiences elementary students bring to the classroom. We aimed to engage and explore elementary students' ideas about how they see climate change in their everyday lives using a combination of science and arts-based pedagogies. Method: We conducted a photovoice and transformative experience informed study with 22 fifth-graders. Data collected includes student generated photographs, student reflections, a post-survey targeting transformative experience, and transcripts of activities throughout the unit. We analysed the photographs, interviews, activities, and survey using qualitative and quantitative techniques. Results: Students' photographs represent a diverse range of local depictions and scientific explanations of climate change. In addition, we saw that photovoice helped students to construct hope about their futures in relation to the changing climate and fostered a transformative experience. Conclusions: We recommend expanding the use of photovoice as a teaching and research method to understand how students' think about the world, and what mechanisms motivate and support them in making meaningful connections between their in- and out-of-school experiences.