Student Worksheet

Taking Action - Activity Instructions

The young people you will investigate in this lesson could be described as change-makers - people who are making positive changes for the future of the world. The first (and possibly most important) step to becoming a change-maker is to think about what you want to change; understanding what you want to change will help lead you to your solution. You don’t have to come up with an idea to solve all the world's problems; having a small idea and doing it well should be your aim. Your idea could aim to make a change in your house, your street, your school or your neighbourhood.

Step 1.

Think about some of the big issues that are facing the world at the moment. How can we ensure that the world’s population can have its basic needs around food, water, housing, clothing, employment, education and health met whilst also looking after the environment and reducing the effects of climate change? Watch this trailer from the documentary, ‘2040’, to inspire your thinking:

2040 - Official Trailer Password: 2040EDU (https://vimeo.com/showcase/6167669/video/325372102)

Step 2.

Now watch some or all of the following clips to give you further knowledge/ideas.

Winter Vincent - Waves For Water - Website and Clip
Molly Steer - Straw No More - Website and Clip
Amelia Telford - Clip
Katie Stagliano - Story and Clip
Ryan Hreljac - Website and Clip
Cassandra Lin - Clip

Step 3.

Choose a big issue you would like to focus on creating social action around. It could be from the 2040 trailer, one of the other clips or your own idea. Ask yourself, ‘How might I get my community more involved in (your big issue)?' Think about who your target audience will be. Keep your target audience small at this time, as the project will have a greater chance of success. You can always expand it later if you like.

Step 4.

Now think about some verbs around possible actions you could take. See the example below. Then brainstorm your skills and interests. Finally, use these to give you ideas of actions you could take in your local area to drive social change around your big issue. The ideas don’t all have to be plausible at this time - think big!

Actions

Skills and interests

Creative idea

Plant

Start

Bake

Sing

Swim

Change

Donate to

Promote

Fundraise

Campaign

Make

Film

Soccer

Calligraphy

High jump

Coding

Photography

Poetry writing

Writing music

* Create a photographic exhibition of the things you see when travelling to school or around your community using different forms of active transport.

* Use a coding app to create a story about energy and the environment to share with an audience.

* Create recipe cards for using locally sourced or seasonal food using calligraphy.

Step 5.

Have a look over your possible actions again. Choose the one you think will be most achievable with the resources and time you have. You might like to watch this clip to make sure your action is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based).

How to Set SMART Goals (https://youtu.be/wGbmAH4mBPA)

For a downloadable version of the SMART goals, click here: S.M.A.R.T. Goals Factsheet.

Step 6.

Record your idea for social action by completing the following sentence stems:

My action will be….
This is important to me because…
My aim is to…
This action will benefit…
I will need….
To carry it out, I would need permission from…

Taking It Further

Talk to your parents or caregiver about your idea for action. See if they have any ideas to improve it. Do they think it would work? Is it possible to complete it? Put into action your idea, and afterwards reflect on whether it worked the way you thought it would.

Taking Action (home learning)

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