Extensions
The students just became change makers by creating their own sustainable product. Why not work towards making the product real? By creating a logo for the sustainable product developed, information regarding the product has the ability to be spread through various communities. It has the ability to become something real; the ability to make a change. Teachers should provide the students with the basic resources needed to create a logo as well as allow them to use their own creativity and resources to make their logo unique.
Create a Logo
Prompt the students to research a local grocery store their family purchases a majority of the food in their household from. Once the students have collected sufficient information regarding the grocery store and the products sold within the grocery store, have the students write a letter to the grocery store highlighting the injustices faced by farm workers who supply specific products to the store. Encourage the students to do additional research on how far the product travels to make it on the shelf, what chemicals and/or resources are used during production of the product, and provide the grocery store with sustainable alternatives (i.e.: fair trade, rainforest certified, local, organic).
Writing a Letter
There is an estimate of two million farms in the United States of America and roughly eighty percent of them are small, family owned farms (“Family farms,” 2016). Find a local farm near you and take your students on a field trip. Prompt your students to create a list of questions to bring on the field trip to ask the local farmer.
Feild Trip
By using their voice, students promote change. By creating a flip grid video discussing their new innovation and posting it on various social media platforms, their voices will be heard. Their passion for change will become known by many; their passion for change will influence many. As discussed throughout the unit, marketing techniques influence consumer choices. Encourage the students to think of creative marketing techniques to incorporate in their video. The students should upload their video to youtube, twitter, facebook, amongst other platforms. The students also have the option to submit their video to Unicef OneMinutesJr allowing individuals their age around the world to hear what they have to say and encourage them to become a change maker as well.
Spreading the Word
As a teacher, do your research, locate a school in a different country that has a unit pertaining sustainability planned, and reach out to a teacher within the school that teaches the same grade level as you do. Collaborate with the other teacher and arrange for your class and theirs to become “Skype Pals.” The two of you should schedule various Skype sessions in which the two classes discuss the issue of sustainability. Prompt your students to inform the other students about the issues we are facing and ask them how they are addressing the issue of sustainability. Encourage your students to demonstrate and explain the products they have created in class. This extension can be used in various ways and could last however long you as the teacher see fit.