Teacher Preparation
Learning intentions: Students will…
Success criteria: Students can…
Make the learning intentions and success criteria visible for students throughout this lesson.
Tackling climate change requires large-scale, systemic changes across all aspects of society. Simply aiming to reduce our C02 emissions is not enough: we need to rapidly decarbonise our planet. While this might sound challenging, the good news is we already have the knowledge and tools to do it.
2040 is an innovative feature documentary that looks to the future, while focusing on what is happening now. Award-winning director Damon Gameau (director of That Sugar Film) embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them into the mainstream.
The film will demonstrate to your students that we already have the solutions to climate change; we just need to take action to bring them rapidly into the mainstream. The 2040 documentary and curriculum package will support your students in turning this knowledge into positive action for a better future.
Find out how to see the film here. 2040 launched in cinemas in Nov 2019 and is now available for booking for your school. These lessons have been designed with a media library to support teachers. The film is available on video-on-demand and DVD for individual viewing.
The film is the entry point to a global impact campaign that seeks to mobilise audiences to learn about, contribute to, advocate for, and invest in regenerative solutions that improve the wellbeing of the planet, all people and all living systems. To join the Regeneration and share your vision for 2040, see the website.
Watch the 2040 trailer:
Password: 2040_EDU
Note: You can use this same password to access all clips in the 2040 education media library.
Cool Australia, GoodThing Productions and Regen Pictures would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of Good Pitch Australia, Shark Island Institute, Documentary Australia Foundation, The Caledonia Foundation, Global Health Film and our philanthropic partners in the development of these teaching resources.
HOT TIP: This lesson requires basic knowledge of the principle of sustainability. If students are unfamiliar with this term or need clarity, consider sharing the following definition:
“Sustainability is about meeting today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
The Brundtland Commission
This factsheet can also help to provide background information about the principles of sustainability: Sustainability Factsheet.
Teaching Sequence
Work through this resource material in the following sequence:
15-20 minutes – Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge
35-40 minutes – Part B: Actions For 2040
60 minutes – Part C: Project Planning
60+ minutes – Part D: Execute the Project
30 minutes – Reflection
Step 1. Begin this lesson by inviting students to do a class brainstorm to answers the following question:
As students make suggestions, consider extending their answers by asking: “What makes you say that?”
Hot tip: ‘What Makes You Say That?‘ is a visible thinking routine that helps students build explanations and evidence for their opinions.
Step 2. You can then engage students in a class discussion around the following question:
Through your discussion, explain to students that the task of imagining and working towards a better future is not just for adults; young people are capable of taking charge and leading us to a happier and healthier future.
Step 3. Now share some or all of the following examples of young people taking action. This could be done by breaking students into pairs or groups and assigning students with a young person to research, or you could work as a class to explore several of these case studies:
Where students have worked in groups to explore one of these stories, invite them to briefly share the story of that person with the class. Then work as a class to
reflect on the achievements of these young people by posing the following questions:
Through your discussion you could propose the following to students:
The young people you looked at could be described as change-makers, as people who are making positive changes for the future of the world. Suggest to students that 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 worlds’ 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.
Explain to students that in the rest of this lesson they will be asked to:
Before starting the project planning phase of their social action, emphasise to students that each group member should take responsibility for collecting evidence and documentation about the work that they put into the project, including drafts of everything they create as part of the project and records of any opportunities they pursue (either successfully or unsuccessfully). The most important thing for students to remember is that the PROCESS of completing the project is really important – perhaps even more than the final product. Students should aim to demonstrate the growth and learning that they experienced, both personally and as a group, as a result of facing the challenges inherent in a project of this type.
Step 1. Options:
Step 2. Activity for identifying a problem:
2040 – Official Trailer
Password: 2040_EDU
Note: You can use this same password to access all clips in the 2040 education media library.
Hot tip: If you would like to show a clip that extends students’ learning in this area, consider using the following;
2040 – Film Overview
Password: 2040_EDU
(https://vimeo.com/showcase/6167669/video/326932510)
Note: You can use this same password to access all clips in the 2040 education media library.
Now, invite students to think about and answer the following question: ‘Which ideas or topics presented in the trailer are most interesting to you or are you most concerned about?‘ If you want students to work in teams to design and conduct their social action, invite them to form groups
Step 3. Now, introduce the concept of a design challenge question to the class. Explain that a design challenge question helps us to think, explore and create many different solutions to one problem. For this lesson, the design challenge question will be framed as a ‘How might we…?’ question.
“How might we…?” questions are problems that have been rephrased as challenges.
The “How might we…?” phrasing is used because it suggests that a solution is possible and that the challenge can be addressed in a number of ways. “How might we…?” questions, when properly phrased, don’t suggest one solution – rather, they provide a great frame for innovative, out of the box thinking.
For this design challenge, the question students will be exploring is:
Explain to students that this is the question they will be using to guide their project for social action. Ensure students are able to identify who their target ‘community’ or audience is – it may be that you choose to focus on student households or the school community.
TIP: Keeping your target audience small at this stage will mean your project has a greater chance of success and will require fewer resources to enact. If it is a roaring success, you could consider repeating the activity on a larger scale.
Step 4. Students will now begin developing ideas for action. Invite students to arrange the classroom furniture so that they are comfortable enough to think expansively and creatively.
Note: If you are planning on working as a class to develop and deliver your social action, break the class into groups of four or five for this task. Students already working in groups should stay in their groups.
Groups may like to work on the floor, around craft paper attached to the wall, or on a whiteboard. Provide each group with three sheets of craft paper, markers, and sticky notes.
TIP: Sticky-notes allow students to physically move two or more ideas around, mixing and matching to shape something special
Facilitate groups to complete a three-phase brainstorming activity:
Phase 1: Discovering actions we can take
Invite students to create a list of actions, (verbs, or ‘doing’ words) that could be taken to address their design challenge question: How might we get our community more involved in the topic of (insert your topic here)?
Inform groups that they should aim to come up with as many different actions as they can. There will be time to consider the best ideas after the brainstorm. Remind students that the ‘best’ may depend on who their target audience is and the context in which the actions are taking place.
Ask students to write the heading ‘Actions‘ on the first piece of paper. If necessary, share a few examples of actions before students begin the first phase of the brainstorm.
| Actions | ||
| PlantStartBakeSingSwimChangeDonate toPromoteFundraiseCampaignMakeFilm |
Direct students to put only one action on each sticky-note and to use only one colour sticky note for this phase. This is important for the third phase, which requires the notes to be moved around.
Then, get students started on three minutes of fast thinking (you could use this online stopwatch to track time). Let students know when three minutes is up, then congratulate them on their quick thinking. Ask them to put that sheet of paper to one side for now.
Phase 2: What are our skills and interests?
Ask groups to select a different colour sticky note and a new sheet of paper. Invite groups to write the heading: ‘Skills and Interests‘. Explain that the next five minutes will be used to list the skills and interests of people within the group. Help students get started by providing examples, then let them know they have another five minutes. Ensure that students write one skill or interest per sticky note.
| Actions | Skills & Interests | |
| PlantStartBakeSingSwimChangeDonate toPromoteFundraiseCampaignMakeFilm | FootballCalligraphyHigh JumpCodingPhotographyPoetry WritingWriting MusicDance |
TIP: Encourage thinking about ‘hidden’ or ‘quirky’ skills: e.g. costume design, public speaking, illustrations, coding or playing a musical instrument.
Phase 3: Mix and match to create our idea
Ask groups to take the last sheet of paper and write their design challenge question (How might we get our community more involved in the topic of (insert your topic here?) at the top of the page. Challenge groups to come up with five or more ideas to address the design challenge question by matching sticky notes from each column. Encourage students to come up with all the ideas they can – let groups
know that they don’t yet need to think about how feasible the ideas are. For this phase, students should just aim to have fun playing around with possibilities. If necessary, scaffold this phase by providing some examples.
| Actions | Skills & Interests | Creative Idea |
| PlantStartBakeSingSwimChangeDonate toPromoteFundraiseCampaignMakeFilm | FootballCalligraphyHigh JumpCodingPhotographyPoetry WritingWriting MusicDance | * Create a photographic exhibition of the things you see when traveling 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 using locally sourced or seasonal food using calligraphy. |
Some other ideas for action include:
Allow at least ten minutes for this phase of the brainstorm, encouraging students to think expansively and creatively and to talk through their ideas with each other. While students are working, watch for indications of a slowing down of ideas.
Step 5. Once groups have completed the brainstorming challenge, ask each group to spend some time viewing and discussing their list of ideas. Invite each student to nominate their favourite ideas by:
Step 6. Explain to students that each group will be selecting one idea to bring to life. It is important that they select an idea that is feasible and realistic to complete within the time frame. One way to do this is by using the S.M.A.R.T. project criteria.
Share the following clip with students:
Hot Tip: For a downloadable version of the S.M.A.R.T. goals, view the Student Worksheet or click here: S.M.A.R.T. Goals Factsheet.
Ask each group to use the S.M.A.R.T. Goals to select one idea that they will complete (remind them that the criteria are also available on the Student Worksheet). Explain to students that S.M.A.R.T. goals can help you to focus on what you want to achieve, how you will achieve it, how long it will take and how you will measure your group’s success.
Step 7. Ask students to decide on their idea. If required, they could cast a vote. Once a decision has been made, invite students to record their idea to address the design challenge question on the Student Worksheet. In addition, explain to students that if any of the ideas don’t stand up to the S.M.A.R.T. goals they should be critically evaluated and perhaps revised or discarded. If they have more than one idea that stands up to the S.M.A.R.T. goals then the group should decide fairly on which one to choose. If none of the ideas stand up to the S.M.A.R.T. goals, then groups will need to adjust or adapt existing ideas to meet the criteria.
Step 8. OPTIONAL – If you would like to work as a class to pursue just one idea for action, you could ask each group to present their idea to the class, and then work together to decide which idea you would like to pursue your social action. Alternatively, students could continue working in groups to complete their action.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”
Margaret Mead
Step 1. Write or project the above quote on the board and explain to students that now they have developed an idea for action, it’s time to start planning a project around this action.
Using the idea developed and refined in Part B, the class/groups should complete the Project Planning Tool. If working in groups, each group should fill in one per group.
Step 2. Hold a ten-minute conference with the class/each group to discuss their plan. Use these questions to guide the conference:
If working as a class, you might like to assign roles to students to ensure your project runs smoothly. You could use this guide to help you assign roles – Project Roles.
Some tips for supporting groups through the project planning phase:
Hot Tip: Refer to the Reflection part of this lesson and ensure students have a clear understanding of the assessment criteria. If useful, direct students to the self-reflection and project reflection assessment activities.
Step 1. After students have completed the planning process, allow them time to action their projects. Distribute a Project Checklist to groups so that they can keep track of what they need to do to deliver their project. Provide students with information about the deadline for delivery of their project and any relevant logistics relating to your school, such as other staff who could support them, how to book resources such as cameras and rooms, or who to speak to for permission for their intended action.
Consider the following tips when supporting students through the action phase of their projects:
Step 2. At appropriate intervals, conference with students to discuss their progress. Use these questions to guide the conference:
Step 1. An important part of real-world learning, such as in this project, is the opportunity for students to present their learning in a public arena. This could mean:
Ensure that students include the following details about their project:
Through this process ensure that you share the skills, attitudes, and capabilities you observed in your students, and explain the importance and transferability of these qualities with the ability to succeed in life.
NOTE: Not every group may have managed to deliver their project by the set date. Many groups may have delivered something that was not exactly what they envisaged. Emphasise that this is often the case for everyone, and that success is recognising and learning from the process.
Step 2. Invite students to complete the project reflection and personal reflection (available on the Student Worksheet). Each student should complete both sets of reflection questions independently.
Project reflection
Self-reflection
Finally, congratulate your students on their efforts and remind them to be proud of what they achieved, even if they didn’t achieve all they hoped to in the ways they may have initially intended to. Making change is hard. Efforts towards creating change, and learnings gained along the way, should be acknowledged and celebrated.
Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching
What’s Your 2040?
Record your students’ work in their communities with the hashtag #whatsyour2040 and share their visions in the ‘2040: The Regeneration’ Facebook Group. The 2040 crew would love to see your class’ work.