This week, we launched our new unit under the theme Sharing the Planet with a gentle but powerful question to tune us in: If the Earth belonged to everyone, what would that look like? I invited students to share their first thoughts, which set the tone for the unit, one that is curious, honest, and ready to notice differences.
Unpacking the theme continued with a concept‑mapping task that had pairs exploring words central to access and opportunity: Access, Opportunity, Equity, Equality, Rights, Responsibility, and Sustainability. Each pair treated their word like a living question: What does this concept look like in real life? Who has it — who doesn’t? What happens when it’s missing? Students looked closely at everyday examples that they connect with, and conversations moved quickly from definitions to consequences: when access is missing, learning stalls; when responsibility is ignored, systems fail the most vulnerable.
To deepen thinking and surface assumptions, we played a reflective “This or That?” game. Students listened to a series of statements and physically chose whether they agreed or disagreed, then explained their choices. The statements were grouped in five sets and touched on fairness, support, systems, power, and personal responsibility. Some examples:
After each prompt, students explained the experiences that informed their stance and what would need to change for them to move across the room. These short, structured debates revealed nuance: many students agreed that fairness looks different from sameness; some questioned who decides what fairness means; others reflected on the experiences that shaped their views. Linking back to our concept words helped them tie personal beliefs to broader ideas like equity and responsibility.
We then tried an activity called “Same Game, Same Chances?” Students played the freeze tag but received different starting conditions: some could use only one foot, some could not be frozen, some had to walk in slow motion. After the game, we reflected: Is this fair? Is it equal? Is it working? The classroom quickly filled with observations. The reflections were rich and used language from our concept maps: equal does not always mean fair; access changes outcomes; systems (the rules we set) influence results as much as individual effort.
Next we looked outward with “The World With 100 People,” a 10x10 grid representing global distribution. Using drawings, students visualized basic needs and services: safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, literacy, internet access, safety, and healthcare. The drawings made statistics tangible:
Placing the drawings sparked immediate questions: who ends up left behind, and why? The visual grid made it clear that inequity is not just an abstract idea; it stacks up in real, measurable ways.
It was just the beginning of the unit but patterns emerged. Students moved from personal hunches to evidence‑based thinking. They began to distinguish equality (sameness) from equity (fairness through difference), and they noticed how responsibility can be individual, shared, or institutional. Most importantly, they connected abstract concepts to real lives — their classmates’, their families’, and children around the world.
Looking ahead, we’ll use these provocations to guide research and action: investigating local systems, hearing stories, and imagining practical ways our classroom can promote fairer access to opportunities. For now, the reflection notes, concept maps, and drawings remind us that asking better questions is the first step toward meaningful change.
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