Welcome back! This week's theme focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals - a global plan of action for people, the planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships. Each of the 17 SDGs provides a doorway to addressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. Progress in one area can have a significant impact on outcomes in others.

Global Goals Week takes place from September 19 to 23 and is an annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals. This week's resources and activities introduce teachers and students to the SDGs, highlight the importance of working together, and encourage action toward a better and more sustainable future.

Small Actions, Big Impact: Working Together for the Global Goals

The SDGs remind us that meaningful change doesn't always require big actions. Small actions, when we work together, can have a big impact. This week's resources encourage students to explore how their everyday choices and actions can contribute to achieving the Global Goals and inspire positive change in their schools and communities.

All Ages

Global Goals Impact Games

Pick your Goal Play for the World You Want!

Get outside and try the Global Goals Impact Games. This resource blends The Global Goals perspective with known soccer drills and games. The Global Goals Impact Games are about togetherness and understanding the Sustainable Development Goals while playing outdoors. Pick your SDG and play for the world you want. The drills and games can be adjusted to fit any grade in the school.

Grades K-2

Explorers for the Global Goals

This adventure activity pack allows younger students the opportunity to explore simple concepts around global issues. The activities in the resource introduce students to the Global Goals through guided discussions and shared learning experiences based on play. The activities incorporate multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their creativity while exploring concepts like peace, nature and home. Many of the activities encourage children to engage with nature, to foster an appreciation of the natural world and the importance of protecting it. The learning space can be the classroom, playground, local community or all three. 

Activities

• Introduce students to the Sustainable Development Goals and brainstorm basic needs using these discussion starters
• Have students identify what visions they see using the Global Goals Glasses. Have students draw a picture of their vision
• Explore outdoor areas and create a peaceful and safe path with the Peace Path activity
• We Love Our Planet has students use natural resources to show their love of nature
• Ready to take action? Explore these action projects and get started with your students! Litter We Know, A Little Food Waste Leads to a Lot, Our Environmental Footprint



Grades 3-6

Working Together to Achieve The Global Goals

This activity introduces students to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals) and explores how they can help improve quality of life for people around the world. The activity highlights that while some people have access to everything they need, others face challenges meeting their basic needs. Students discover that completing all the puzzles requires cooperation and teamwork, leading to a discussion about how we can work together to address global challenges and take action toward achieving the Global Goals.

Activities

• Use this video to introduce your students to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
• Read the Heroes for Change Comic Book and bring the SDGs to life. Invite students to become superheroes themselves
• Take students outside to explore the schoolyard or local community Turning Learning into Action uses the Global Goals as a catalyst for students to identify a local issue that they care about and develop an action plan to help address it
• Explore these resources and empower your students to make a difference! A Walk in the Park, Get to Know Nature, Build a Bird and Bee Bath
• Brainstorm what students would like to change either in their personal life, school or community. Have them create a plan of action to implement their change

Grades 6-8

What World Do You Want in 2030?

Imagine a world where the Global Goals have been achieved? This resource has students draw connections between the Global Goals and their own lives. Students complete a group learning activity where they draw their vision of what a country would look like in 2030 if the goals are achieved. Using the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle in this activity helps students understand the Global Goals' interdependence. Students turn their learning into action by taking the personal pledge and sharing it with family and friends. 

Activities

• Watch this short video, The SDGs Action Towards 2030, to learn about the Global Goals
• Try this Global Goals String Activity – a short, interactive activity to learn how the Global Goals are interconnected
• Take a walk in your community or search online to find people, places, and organizations working towards these goals. Use these connections as you plan your SDG projects for the year
• Help suppprt a local effort to reduce poverty: foodbanks, school food programs, homeless shelters. Find out what is happening in your community and get on board! Use Food Lesson: Food Security to help get you started
• Use this SDG quiz to reinforce student's understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals and some of the issues linked to them

Grades 9-12

Stepping Stones for the Sustainable Development Goals

The purpose of this resource is to provide a tool for students to understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to take meaningful action on those Goals. The resource provides an introduction to the SDGs along with some background information for each of the Goals which are addressed in turn. For each Goal, the guide provides a learning activity, an action or an event, along with learning outcomes, local and global connections, and project ideas.

Activities

• Check your knowledge of the SDGs with this Quiz or play the Go Goals Digital Game
• Explore the local in the global by carrying out a survey in your local community. Take photographs or draw rough sketches that identify needs and challenges linked to SDG themes. Discuss and decide what the priorities for your community are before considering possible approaches for making positive changes. Use the Commit2Act app to discover engaging opportuities to take action
• Who's Responsible for the Global Goals? encourages students to consider who is responsible for ensuring we achieve the Global Goals. The activity stimulates discussion and debate and helps students recognize the role they have to play
• Set up an SDG Club in your school, which meets virtually every week. Use the meeting times to conduct activities, and discuss student ideas to improve the sustainability profile of the school 
• Write a leaflet or create a poster that persuades others to take action to protect life on land or below water. Students should make their case using concrete examples and supporting evidence. Alternatively, they could write and submit newspaper articles or send letters to a local business or their local government representative

About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released biweekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

Some of the activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.

Please complete the feedback below or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca.

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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.