Tuning into the documentary (5-6, US)

A tuning in activity helps students to define and focus on the issues they will be dealing with in the unit of work. In this lesson, students will be immersed in and connect with the documentary film 2040 – it is a great lesson to conduct before watching the documentary in full. In the film, Director Damon Gameau embarks on a journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040 if we simply embraced the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet and shifted them rapidly into the mainstream.

Subject:

English

Integrated learning

Levels:

Years 5-6

Film:

2040

Topic:

Sustainability

Time required:

1hr 10mins

Country:

United States

Lesson plans include:

Worksheet , Fact sheet , Flash Cards

Overview

In this lesson, students will be immersed in and connect with the documentary film 2040 – it is a great lesson to conduct before watching the documentary in full. Students participate in a barometer activity to explore their thoughts, feelings, and concerns about the future. They then work to categorize their concerns about the future and work in groups to mind-map solutions to these concerns.

Students will then watch the 2040 documentary to explore existing solutions to the filmmaker’s concerns about the future. Finally, students reflect on their experiences of the film.

Teaching Strategies: Facilitate class discussion, lead students in activities.

Learning objectives:

Students will understand that different people have different ideas and concerns about the future.
Students will understand that solutions to the problems facing people and the planet already exist.

Credits and acknowledgements:

Cool.org prepared the 2040 Curriculum Guide. Together Films adapted these lessons for US educators and will do an annual review of these resources to ensure they are still in line with the US Curriculum.

US Educator Note: Australian educational standards have been adapted and aligned by discipline, and when possible, to US standards.

Cool Australia, GoodThing Productions and Regen Studios would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of Good Pitch Australia, Shark Island Institute, Documentary Australia Foundation, The Caledonia Foundation, Global Health Film and our philanthropic partners in the development of these teaching resources.

Watching the film

Watch the full film with your class by filling in this form. If you have any questions, please contact the Together Films team at 2040@togetherfilms.org

The Schools Version of 2040 includes an educational licence and is for US elementary and secondary schools that wish to utilise the film as a learning tool or host on-site screenings for the school community.