Middle school and high school students constantly hear about the many challenges our society faces—from fracking to police shootings to corporatization. What they don’t hear enough about is what they can do to make their world better.
Curriculum & Resources
Curricula and lesson plans on topics ranging from climate change to happiness.
How many planets does it take to support your lifestyle? Take the Ecological Footprint quiz to measure your impact, and explore solutions to leave a kinder, gentler impression on Mother Earth.
Walk! Bike! Ride the bus! Check out this infographic to learn how young people are leading the way in replacing driving with alternative transportation. Don’t be fooled— it’s not just because they want to save the planet.
Get your students ready for an imaginative ride through history. The Knotted Line uses interactive media and over 50 paintings—representing historic and future events from 1495 to 2025—to explore the relationship between freedom and incarceration in America.
This Visual Learning Lesson uses an intriguing photo to get your students thinking about the tensions between wilderness and industry, and the importance of being a conscious consumer.
This Visual Learning lesson will get your students to think about prisoners—the uniforms prisoners wear and the most effective ways to prepare for their transition back into society.
Nikki Giovanni's poem, "Nikki-Rosa," with accompanying Def Jam video and ReadWriteThink lesson will help students develop their understanding of poverty, explore their childhood experiences, and write about these reflections in a poem.
This Visual Learning lesson will get your students thinking about preparing for natural disasters and how they can reach out to those in need of relief aid.
Rethinking Schools' unique lessons plans are written in essay form from the perspective of the teacher. It is a catalyst and leader in education form, with an emphasis on race and social equity. Take a look at these resources to get inspired.
IDEA is a movement building organization that showcases what powerful learning looks like today—and what it can look like in the future. Featured resources include IDEA’s online library, Learning Report, plus the documentary, A Year at Mission Hill.
What Kids Can Do uses digital, print, and broadcast media to showcase the power youth can achieve when they are taken seriously.
This Visual Learning Lesson will get your students thinking about local, sustainable farming and the importance of traditional knowledge and way of life.
From Nourish and Food Day, a quiz that tests how food literate you are. The 15 questions reveal facts about food and its relationship to the bigger food system, and the community-at-large.
In this New York Times Learning Network lesson plan, students examine their school curriculum and personal experiences on reading stories about and by women. Through this analysis, they will deepen their understanding of why women's stories matter.
YES! recommends Sustainable Table, a program of Grace Communications Foundation, for its well-rounded resources that educate and motivate people of all ages to take good care of their bodies and our planet.