As a High School or Undergraduate Economics or Social Sciences teacher, you can use this lesson plan to teach about the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as outlined by the United Nations for nations to adopt and work towards, for a sustainable future.
This lesson plan will allow you to introduce the SDGs to your students, stress on their socio-economic importance and enable discussions on the efforts taken by governmental and non-governmental agencies of their nations towards achieving these goals. This lesson plan will also draw attention to how climate change may affect the efforts towards achieving the SDGs.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in Economics or Social Sciences.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
| Grade Level | High School, Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Economics, Social Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sustainability, Development Economics, Urban Economics, Environmental Economics, Inclusive Society, Climate Change Economics, Poverty, Gender, Inequality, Societal Resilience, Poverty, Climate Change Economics, Poverty, Gender, Well-Being, Justice, Gender Economics, Climate Action |
| Climate Topic | Introduction to Climate Change; Climate and Society; Policy, Politics and Environmental Governance; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English, French, German and Spanish |
| Access | Online / Offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 40-60 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Video (~2 min)
Use the video ‘What is sustainable development ’ by the United Nations (UN) to describe to your students, what sustainable development is and to define the different sustainable development goals (SDGs) as outlined by the UN.
Teaching Module
Use the reading, ‘Sustainable Foundations- A Guide for Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals’ by the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC), for a detailed study of the individual SDGs and to highlight to your students the socio-economic importance of each one. Use the first 6 pages of the text as a user guide to this document and to note the points to highlight while teaching the SDGs. Then, select one or more SDGs for consideration and navigate to the relevant pages to teach about them in detail. Use the ‘Reflection and Action Questions’ within each section to assess student understanding and/or to encourage classroom discussion.
Teaching Module (~35 min)
Use the reading, ‘IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.50C. Summary for Teachers’ (pages 20-21) by Office for Climate Education (OCE), France, to explain to your students the link between global warming and attaining the SDGs. This reading is also available in French, German and Spanish. Use the text to discuss with your students the relationship between population, economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Explain to your students climate change exacerbates poverty and in turn, a higher rate of population growth and the associated inequalities contribute greatly to global warming through increased GHG emissions. Use the text to emphasize to your students that climate change can be detrimental for sustainable development, especially in developing countries and vulnerable regions. Therefore, discuss how SDGs must be addressed in conjunction with the efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Finally, use the list of tasks on page 21, to encourage your students to discuss their country’s efforts towards addressing the SDGs in the context of climate change.
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Teaching Module; ‘What is Sustainability?’ | A teaching module for high school to introduce sustainability and how it can be achieved at an individual or community level.
This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Teaching Module; ‘Sustainable Development Goals- Resources for Educators’ | Another resource for teaching the SDGs by UNESCO.
This can be accessed here . |
| 3 | . Game; ‘The Global Goals for Sustainable Development’ | An online game to create awareness about and highlight the need for SDGs for a sustainable future.
This can be accessed here. |
| 3 | Teaching Module; ‘World’s Largest Lesson’ | A teaching module for exploring the SDGs through multiple formats such as lesson plans, posters, and comics.
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Video; ‘What is sustainable development?’ | By the, United Nations (UN).. |
| 2 | Teaching Module; ‘Sustainable Foundations- A Guide for Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals’ | By the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC). |
| 3 | Teaching Module; ‘IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.50C. Summary for Teachers’ | By the Office for Climate Education (OCE), France. |
| 4 | Additional Resources | Institute for the Environment, University of North Carolina. UNESCO ICAEW in partnership with Project Everyone in partnership with UNICEF |
| Grade Level | High School,Undergraduate |
| Discipline | Economics, Social Sciences |
| Topic(s) in Discipline | Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Sustainability, Development Economics, Urban Economics, Environmental Economics, Inclusive Society, Inequality, Societal Resilience, Poverty, Well Being, Justice, Gender Equality, and Climate Action. |
| Climate Topic | Policy, Politics and Environmental Governance; Energy, Economics and Climate Change; Climate Mitigation and Adaptation |
| Location | Global |
| Language(s) | English ,A tool also available in French, German and Spanish |
| Access | Online / Offline |
| Approximate Time Required | 40-60 mins |
| Share | |
| Resource Download |
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
Video (~2 min)
Use the video ‘What is sustainable development?’ by the United Nations (UN) to describe to your students, what sustainable development is and to define the different sustainable development goals (SDGs) as outlined by the UN.
Teaching Module (allocated time will vary according to the topic/s under consideration)
Use the reading, ‘Sustainable Foundations- A Guide for Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals’ by the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC), for a detailed study of the individual SDGs and to highlight to your students the socio-economic importance of each one. Use the first 6 pages of the text as a user guide to this document and to note the points to highlight while teaching the SDGs. Then, select one or more SDGs for consideration and navigate to the relevant pages to teach about them in detail. Use the ‘Reflection and Action Questions’ within each section to assess student understanding and/or to encourage classroom discussion.
Teaching Module (~35 min)
Use the reading, ‘IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.50C. Summary for Teachers’ (pages 20-21) by Office for Climate Education (OCE), France, to explain to your students the link between global warming and attaining the SDGs. This reading is also available in French, German and Spanish. Use the text to discuss with your students the relationship between population, economic growth and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Explain to your students climate change exacerbates poverty and in turn, a higher rate of population growth and the associated inequalities contribute greatly to global warming through increased GHG emissions. Use the text to emphasize to your students that climate change can be detrimental for sustainable development, especially in developing countries and vulnerable regions. Therefore, discuss how SDGs must be addressed in conjunction with the efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Finally, use the list of tasks on page 21, to encourage your students to discuss their country’s efforts towards addressing the SDGs in the context of climate change.
Suggested questions/assignments for learning evaluation
Use the tools and the concepts learned so far to discuss and determine answers to the following questions:
Use this lesson plan to help your students find answers to:
| 1 | Teaching Module; ‘What is Sustainability?’ | A teaching module for high school to introduce sustainability and how it can be achieved at an individual or community level.
This can be accessed here. |
| 2 | Teaching Module; ‘Sustainable Development Goals- Resources for Educators’ | Another resource for teaching the SDGs by UNESCO.
This can be accessed here . |
| 3 | Game; ‘The Global Goals for Sustainable Development’ | An online game to create awareness about and highlight the need for SDGs for a sustainable future.
This can be accessed here. |
| 3 | Teaching Module; ‘World’s Largest Lesson’ | A teaching module for exploring the SDGs through multiple formats such as lesson plans, posters, and comics.
This can be accessed here. |
| 1 | Video; ‘What is sustainable development?’ | By the, United Nations (UN).. |
| 2 | Teaching Module; ‘Sustainable Foundations- A Guide for Teaching the Sustainable Development Goals’ | By the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation (MCIC). |
| 3 | Teaching Module; ‘IPCC Special Report: Global Warming of 1.50C. Summary for Teachers’ | By the Office for Climate Education (OCE), France. |
| 4 | Additional Resources | Institute for the Environment, University of North Carolina.UNESCO ICAEW in partnership with Project Everyone in partnership with UNICEF |
