TeachOne: Coming Together for Environmental Action
Who is involved in deciding how we take care of our shared environment - at school, in the community, and in the world?
This TeachOne for Earth Day unit guides learners to see other points of view as they identify environmental issues in their school grounds or local community. With a goal of building peaceful and inclusive communities (UN Sustainable Development Goal #16), listening to others' perspectives is key to moving forward together for a better world. In these elementary and secondary lessons, the learners identify an outdoor space that needs cleanup, and they survey all the possible stakeholders before they take action together.
Students listen and respond to a read-aloud book about making a shared space better. They walk around their school grounds observing plants, use of space, and ways to make the shared space better. They problem-solve about things they can do and then interview and survey others to get ideas and permission to take action.
Students consider diverse perspectives as they advocate for stewardship. They audit the building grounds by looking around for plaes that need extra attention and stewardship. When they find a spot to care for, they must find out who the stakeholders are and interview them. Listening to different perspectives before making a plan of action shows respect and inclusiveness.