Bike

Systems Thinking: Bicycle Example

This resource contains multiple lesson plans for students in upper elementary school, middle school, and high school. Using a bicycle as a metaphor to help students think about systems, the lessons cover an introduction to systems to deeper analysis.

Recommended grades: Adjustable for grades 3+
Time: Varies

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Different kinds of Lego people lined up in rows on a grey surface

Where Are the People Like Me?

Students assess examples of media (catalogs, magazines, books, etc.) to consider who is (and isn’t) represented, explore the impact of lack of diversity in media, and realize their own rich experiences with diversity.

Recommended for grades: 4 and up
Time: 45-60 minutes

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Resources: Two Apples

Two Apples

In this icebreaker, participants learn just how important words and actions are when they explore their impact on two apples.

Grades: PreK – 8
Time: 5-10 minutes

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C&M Book Release! (web banner)

Claude and Medea: The Hellburn Dogs

Winner of the 2008 Moonbeam Award
A strange substitute teacher with interesting ideas sparks Medea and Claude to think about the world and the choices they make, which leads them on a mysterious hunt to rescue kidnapped dogs.

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Resources: Council of all beings

Council of All Beings

Participants “become” a being or part of nature and share the lives, concerns, hopes, and wisdom of their being in a Council.

Grades: Recommended for grades 4 and up
Time: 1-2 hours

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Reclaiming Billboards

Analyzing Advertising

Students learn to be ad-savvy by exploring the pervasiveness of ads in their lives and by analyzing what ads are trying to sell…and trying to hide.

Recommended grades: 4 and up
Time: 45-60 minutes

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Alien in the Ethical Universe

Alien in the Ethical Universe

Participants receive a visit from a traveling alien on a fact-finding mission to learn how beings treat other beings on Earth. 

Recommended grades: 4 and up
Time: 20-45 minutes

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plastic trash washed up from the ocean

An Ocean of Plastic

Using the five gyres of plastic pollution as a springboard, this activity encourages participants to explore the issues surrounding trash in our oceans and to develop solutions.

Recommended grades: 3-5
Time: 3 to 4 60-minute sessions

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Resources: Mouse vs. Zucchini

Mouse vs. Zucchini

This activity encourages students to discover and think about the perspectives of other people and of nonhuman animals using a brief video featuring a mouse and a zucchini on a kitchen counter.

Recommended grades: K-5
Time: 30 minutes

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