As we enter a new year, we started thinking about change and the process of change. We put together this Resource Collection highlighting current events and lesson plans that focus on different kinds of change.
Protests
This year we saw two large protest movements. It’s a powerful thing to watch thousands of people come together for a single purpose: to make change.
The protests that started in Ferguson Missouri after a white police officer was not charged with fatally shooting an unarmed black teenager, protests ignited across the nation. And the protests continue today. Use this story on Ferguson Protests to discuss with your students why this protest movement continues.
In Hong Ko
ng, pro-democracy protesters took over several major intersections in September, protesting Chinese rule. The Protests in Hong Kong ended nearly three weeks later because of exhaustion and a lack of direction. They were unable to make progress with the Chinese government but did change the way the world sees Chinese rule of Hong Kong.
If you want to teach your students which kinds of change movements are the most effective, use this lesson plan about Civil Resistance Movements. It explores violent and nonviolent protest movements through history.
Climate
The changing climate was also in the news this year. A U.S. government report showed definitively that climate change is happening and it’s being caused by humans. Help your students examine these changes with this story Climate Change Here to Stay.
Your students can also examine how climate change is affecting Bird Habitats and the Nutrition Level in our Foods.
Changing Another Person’s Life
We all have two kidneys so its possible to be a live kidney donor, but it’s rare. Listen to this story Giving the Gift of Kindness to hear from a man who donated one of his kidneys to save the life of a stranger. It is clear that changing someone else’s life can also change your own.
