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6-9 years
6-9 years
Exploring sustainable cities
General information
This exercise has been developed for the THINKIDS project by Noemi Marchiotto, from STePS.
| Age group | 6-9-year-olds |
| Recommended group size | 10-20 children Small groups (4-5 children each) Recommended |
| Recommended time | More than 2 hours (this doesn’t include preparation time, just the actual activity with children). |
| Place | In the classroom |
| Learning outcomes | Recognize a sustainable city through practical examples and use digital applications to raise the environmental awareness. |
| Needed materials | Computer/laptop (1 for each group), internet connection, paper, pencils and dashboard. |
| Methods | Cooperative learning, Peer Tutoring and Learning by Doing |
Developing skills in children
After the completion of this exercise children will have developed the following skills:
- Collaboration
- Perspective-Taking
- Critical Thinking
- IT Skills
- Collaboration
- Perspective-Taking
- Critical Thinking
- IT Skills
Step by step implementation
Preparation (before the activity): In order to implement the activity, you need to know how to use and teach the Google Earth application. Google Earth is a free application from Google Suite that allows you to explore the world by visualizing abstract concepts in a global scenario, allowing children to create links between the notions learned at school and their experiences in everyday life. You can find some easy tutorials in the “additional materials” section.
First phase (20 - 30 minutes): Explain to the class that the activity is based on the eleventh and twelfth United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, called respectively "Sustainable cities and communities" and "Responsible consumption and production". The mission of these goals is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, while ensuring the well-being of the population through access to water, energy and food, reducing the excessive consumption of natural resources. Tell them that every citizen of the world can support SDGs, including children, with their actions. Then, ask the children what they think and let them be free to share their thoughts. To start the group conversation on the topic of cities and sustainable behavior, you can propose the following video:
Risparmio energetico e ecologia: il cartoon Weber per i bambini del Treno Verde di Legambiente
Collect their opinion on a paper or digital dashboard and, in the end, summarize and return to children a general reflection.
Second phase (20 - 30 minutes): Explain to the class that a sustainable city is an urban center engineered to improve its environmental impact through urban planning and management. An eco city is full of parks and green spaces where to play, solar-powered buildings, rooftop gardens and more pedestrians and cyclists than cars. Write on a paper or digital dashboard and show to children the 6 Traits of a Sustainable City:
● Make it easy to get around without a car
● Improve public transportation
● Incentivize vehicle charging stations
● Reduce resource waste with efficient separate collection
● Support urban farming
● Implement green architecture
Divide the class into small groups of 4 - 5 children and assign to each group 2 of the 6 traits. Then, invite each group to reflect on the following questions: ● What are the benefits for the environment to create a city with this sustainable trait? ● Can you give some examples of a sustainable aspect of the city where you live?
Tell them to write down their comment and keep the paper for the next step. To guide their reflection, use the content in the “additional materials” section.
Third phase (40 - 50 minutes): Continue working in the same group as the previous activity. Each group must have access to a computer and an internet connection. Each group will be assigned a sustainable city. You can find examples of cities in this article: The Alliance for Climate Protection®: Five Sustainable Cities Making a Difference for the Planet Using the EARTH GOOGLE website, ask each group to explore the city using Street View mode, which allows children to see parts of the world’s cities at ground level. Ask them to look for elements that make the assigned city sustainable, such as parks, bike paths or stations to recharge electric vehicles.
Each group will then create a brief presentation of what they saw. They can also enrich the presentation with instantaneous takes from the Street View (see "additional materials" for how to take a screenshot from the PC). Before starting this step, make sure that your children know how to use Google Earth on their own or teach them how to navigate it.
Fourth phase (20 - 30 minutes): Each group shows and explains their presentation to the rest of the class. Finally, you resume the various projects and pull the strings of the speech, reflecting on the importance of raising awareness about the protection of the planet.
First phase (20 - 30 minutes): Explain to the class that the activity is based on the eleventh and twelfth United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, called respectively "Sustainable cities and communities" and "Responsible consumption and production". The mission of these goals is to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, while ensuring the well-being of the population through access to water, energy and food, reducing the excessive consumption of natural resources. Tell them that every citizen of the world can support SDGs, including children, with their actions. Then, ask the children what they think and let them be free to share their thoughts. To start the group conversation on the topic of cities and sustainable behavior, you can propose the following video:
Risparmio energetico e ecologia: il cartoon Weber per i bambini del Treno Verde di Legambiente
Second phase (20 - 30 minutes): Explain to the class that a sustainable city is an urban center engineered to improve its environmental impact through urban planning and management. An eco city is full of parks and green spaces where to play, solar-powered buildings, rooftop gardens and more pedestrians and cyclists than cars. Write on a paper or digital dashboard and show to children the 6 Traits of a Sustainable City:
● Make it easy to get around without a car
● Improve public transportation
● Incentivize vehicle charging stations
● Reduce resource waste with efficient separate collection
● Support urban farming
● Implement green architecture
Divide the class into small groups of 4 - 5 children and assign to each group 2 of the 6 traits. Then, invite each group to reflect on the following questions: ● What are the benefits for the environment to create a city with this sustainable trait? ● Can you give some examples of a sustainable aspect of the city where you live?
Tell them to write down their comment and keep the paper for the next step. To guide their reflection, use the content in the “additional materials” section.
Third phase (40 - 50 minutes): Continue working in the same group as the previous activity. Each group must have access to a computer and an internet connection. Each group will be assigned a sustainable city. You can find examples of cities in this article: The Alliance for Climate Protection®: Five Sustainable Cities Making a Difference for the Planet Using the EARTH GOOGLE website, ask each group to explore the city using Street View mode, which allows children to see parts of the world’s cities at ground level. Ask them to look for elements that make the assigned city sustainable, such as parks, bike paths or stations to recharge electric vehicles.
Each group will then create a brief presentation of what they saw. They can also enrich the presentation with instantaneous takes from the Street View (see "additional materials" for how to take a screenshot from the PC). Before starting this step, make sure that your children know how to use Google Earth on their own or teach them how to navigate it.
Fourth phase (20 - 30 minutes): Each group shows and explains their presentation to the rest of the class. Finally, you resume the various projects and pull the strings of the speech, reflecting on the importance of raising awareness about the protection of the planet.
Tips
The activity can be carried out during Science and IT lessons.
The activity can be split into several days.
A variation of the activity could be to explore using Google Earth the city in which you live and try to think
together some realistic solutions to make it more sustainable.
The activity can be split into several days.
A variation of the activity could be to explore using Google Earth the city in which you live and try to think
together some realistic solutions to make it more sustainable.
Additional materials
About sustainable city:
6 Traits of a Sustainable City (With Examples) | Digi International
What is a sustainable city? 10 characteristics of green urban planning | The Zebra
SDGs:
Goal 11 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Goal 12 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs
GOOGLE EARTH Tutorial in English:
Google Earth Basics Tutorial
How to use Google Earth for Beginners
How to take a screenshot:
Screenshot
6 Traits of a Sustainable City (With Examples) | Digi International
What is a sustainable city? 10 characteristics of green urban planning | The Zebra
SDGs:
Goal 11 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Goal 12 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs
GOOGLE EARTH Tutorial in English:
Google Earth Basics Tutorial
How to use Google Earth for Beginners
How to take a screenshot:
Screenshot
Downloadable pdf
For downloading the exercise in pdf format, click the icon below.
Which SDG is mentioned?
1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequality
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships to achieve the Goal
