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Quality of Life

The Real Game of Life

 Time: 50-minute lesson with optional extensions

Lesson description: This lesson uses a close reading exercise to help students develop their understanding of sustainability problem solving, by applying the findings from the reading to a sustainability class game.  Because sustainability problems include social, economic and environmental aspects, there are usually no easy solutions, but instead, diverse tradeoffs that are constrained by resources.  In this lesson students will explore several concepts related to decision making: tradeoffs, unintended consequences, uncertainty, payback periods and equity.

Suggested subject areas: English, economics, engineering, business, social studies, health

Lesson components and descriptions:

The Real Game of Life Lesson Plan: Gives an overview of the lesson materials and a step-by-step guide for each lesson. ()

The Real Game of Life Decision Sheets: This reading material is the basis for the decisions they will make in the game, and students need to gain the information in the reading before the game starts. ()

The Real Game of Life Student Worksheets: These are where students track their income, decisions, and points throughout the game. ()

Real Game of Life PowerPoint Slide Presentation (with notes): The PowerPoint is the main component of the lesson.  The slides begin with an introductory class discussion question to get students engaged in the topic of decision making and then walk through the different stages of the game. ()

Introduction to Quality of Life & Sustainability

Time: 5-day unit

Lesson description: This unit is comprised of four 50-minute and one 120-minute lessons that build upon each other when given in consecutive order. To begin, students will explore different meanings of the term quality of life using role-playing activities. They will then learn how to design an effective survey, gather data, and analyze results while mastering quality of life concepts.

Suggested subject areas: All sciences, math, psychology, history, and language/cultural studies

Lesson components and descriptions:

Quality of Life Lesson Plan Gives an overview of all lesson materials and step-by-step guides for each of the 5-day lessons separately. ()

Quality of Life Handouts Includes in-class and homework worksheets that are to be printed off and distributed to students to complete by hand. Handouts for the entire lesson are included in the same document and labeled by the day they should be used. The lesson plan gives complete instructions on how to use the handouts. ()

Quality of Life Presentations Presentation PowerPoint includes slides that accompany the entire lesson over all 5 days. The presentation is separated into days by title slides. The lesson plan gives complete instructions on how to use the presentation slides. ()