Step 1: Warm up. Introduce the Sustainable Development Goals

Watch the 8-minute #TeachSDGs video, an overview of all 17 goals and the challenges they address.

Before you begin, ask students to take the 5-minute Kick-Off Survey. It helps SIMA understand participants’ familiarity with global issues.

• Kick-Off Survey: ages 11–18
• Kick-Off Survey: ages 18+

Display the SDG poster and ask students what they notice. What might the colors signify? How are the goals connected? How might we address them? The goal is to recognize that these issues are complex and not easily “solved,” and that we can still have a positive impact on them.

Lead a group discussion:

• What are some positive aspects of your community or school that may not be widely recognized?
• What challenges in your community or school should be addressed or improved?
• What unfair situations have you observed or experienced that need attention?
• Which Global Goal is connected to the issue you would change?

Ask students to journal on the prompt “Which Global Goal is important to me, and why?” If they choose more than one goal, ask how the goals connect. For example, a student concerned about child poverty (SDG 1) may see its links to hunger (SDG 2) and access to quality education (SDG 4).

Step 2: Watch the films

Before viewing, introduce The Discernment Protocol. For this lesson, we suggest emphasizing the Evidence lens (what supports the film’s claims?) and the Perspective lens (whose voices are centered?). Students can also use the SIFT Worksheet to record sensations, images, feelings, and thoughts as they watch.

Screen the films. After each one, give students time to discuss their reactions as a class or in small groups.

Tip: This reflection is where students make an emotional connection to the issue through the storytelling. Don’t skip it.

Step 3: Map the issue

Model a mind map. Write the chosen goal in the center of a whiteboard or large sheet and circle it. Ask students what they learned from the films: related goals, stakeholders, causes, and existing solutions. Write each idea around the center and draw lines to connect related ideas. Ask how the map changes their understanding of the issue.

Tip: Let the process be messy. If students are interested in different goals, they can repeat the exercise in groups.

Give students the Impact Gaps Canvas (developed by Daniela Papi-Thornton) to explore root causes and existing solutions. Then investigate:

• Interview people in your community. What does a family member think the problem is? A neighbor?
• Visit the UN Global Goals site. Choose the goal and read the Overview tab for the global picture, then the Targets and Indicators tab for the UN’s plan.
• What is already being done? What is missing?

Ask students to identify two initiatives that contribute to a solution, and how they could support, amplify, or adapt them in their own school or community. Groups present their findings:

• What have we learned about the root causes?
• What solutions address the issue?
• How could our project support one of those solutions?

Step 4: Design an impact campaign

Groups design a campaign inspired by the film’s issue that is realistic and actionable in their community. Groups may address the same goal in different ways or work on different goals.

Example: A group of students noticed an overflowing landfill in their community. After watching E-Wasteland, they connected the issue to SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 15: Life on Land. They launched a campaign encouraging students to recycle electronic devices, created an information sheet, and set up e-waste recycling stations across their school and neighborhood.

Use the Advocacy Campaign Brainstorming worksheet to generate ideas. Groups narrow their ideas by asking:

• What are the campaign’s short-term and long-term goals?
• Who could be partners and allies?
• Who is the audience, and whom are we trying to reach?
• What actions will engage and mobilize that audience?

Use the Advocacy Campaign Project Planning worksheet to work through the eight-step plan. Groups present their campaigns and give each other feedback.

Step 5: Run the campaign and reflect

Students carry out their campaign. Afterward, ask them to reflect: What was their role? What was hard? What are they proud of? What did they learn about creating change?

Ask students to take the 5-minute Wrap-Up Survey:

• Wrap-Up Survey: ages 11–18
• Wrap-Up Survey: ages 18+