At-home and at school learning resources from Learning for a Sustainable Future
Week 28: SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
This week's LIO is all about UN SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation. Pursuing climate action, economic growth, and social development are all heavily dependent on investments made towards infrastructure and industrial development. As the global economic landscape rapidly changes around us, this can lead to increased inequalities for many aspects of society. Sustained growth must include industrialization and resilient infrastructure that makes opportunities accessible to all people. Having inclusive and sustainable industrialization and infrastructure plays a critical role in generating employment, promoting new technologies, and facilitating the efficient use of resources.

The activities below introduce students to some of the concepts of promoting Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure; explore the sustainable use of resources in our industries, and share some ideas about what we can do to support SDG 9!
The Little Homes and Friendly Walls activities are part of the Explorers for the Global Goals resource, allowing students to explore simple concepts around global issues and develop their skills for life. The resource activities are based on play and incorporate multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their creativity while exploring concepts like peace, nature and home.

Activities
  • Watch Understanding Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure to learn more about SDG 9
  • Have students complete the Little Homes activity. This indoor or outdoor activity explores the concepts of home and community and how we can live safely and happily together
  • In the Friendly Walls activity, students design and build walls, exploring the different ways that we can affect each other and our community through the things we build
  • Watch Roberto, The Insect Architect, a funny and inspirational story that will encourage students to build their dreams and an excellent introduction for SDG 9
  • Get outside and play for SDG 9. After playing the game, discuss how industry and innovation make the world safer or how technology makes you feel safer
What did you think of Explorers for the Global Goals ?
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Grades 4-8
In this STEM activity, students learn about environmental, civil and sanitation engineering by designing and building model landfills that hold the most garbage, minimize costs, and prevent trash and contaminated rainwater from polluting the nearby city. Students test their landfills, graph and compare designs for capacity, cost and performance.


Activities
  • Watch SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and infrastructure to learn more about the need for citizens to engage in efforts to promote industry, innovation and infrastructure
  • Complete the What a Dump activity, students design and build model landfills that hold the most garbage, minimize costs and prevent trash and contaminated rainwater from polluting the nearby city 
  • Have students take the Squashed Tomato Challenge to build a system that can move tomatoes down a mountainside without squishing them. The hands-on activity enables students to develop their solutions to a transportation problem
  • Have students list the infrastructure in their community that makes their life better. Brainstorm a list of which areas could be improved and how
  • Have students code their own sustainable eco-city that provides a place for people to work and live in an environmentally sustainable way
  • Watch Take Action on Goal 9 to learn what action you can take to support SDG 9
What did you think of What a Dump?
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Grades 7-12
This STEM resource promotes critical thinking, problem-solving, communication and collaboration. Students work together to design and make a model of a home able to withstand the effects of flooding due to climate change. The resource has students look at the devastating impacts of flooding worldwide and learn more about flood-resistant housing.


Activities
  • Watch Understanding Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure to learn more about SDG 9
  • Learn more about the importance and potential of advanced materials and their many applications in our everyday lives through a variety of hands-on activities. These activities help students understand the current state and limitations of our use of the planet’s resources
  • Use this activity to get students thinking about the importance of innovation in the past and for the future
  • Get students to play Quagmire, a role-playing game that simulates an actual situation, whether or not to destroy a salt marsh to build a highway or protect the marsh from development
  • Watch Take Action on Goal 9 to learn what action you can take to support SDG 9
What did you think of Beat the Flood?
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About Learning Inside Out

Above you will find a selection of activities, broken down by various grade levels. These guides will be released weekly and archived on our Learning Inside Out page, so you can always access the full catalogue.

All activities have been modified from resources on our R4R database, simplified and adapted for both outdoor learning in the school yard or at-home as needed. The activity descriptions above should contain all the information and links that you need!

If you'd like to view the full original resource on R4R, including curriculum connections for every province/territory, click the activity title.

We want this guide to work for you, so your feedback is invaluable to us.
Use the feedback button at the bottom of this Guide, or email us at info@LSF-LST.ca. We would also love to see photos of students engaging in the activities, please e-mail us any pictures or videos you have!
Let us know how this helped your learning and teaching from home or at school indoors and (hopefully) outdoors and what you'd like to see more of by filling out our brief feedback form!
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Learning for a Sustainable Future (LSF) is a Canadian charity with over 25 years of experience working within the education system. Our Resources for Rethinking (R4R) database is an award-winning collection of resources that are peer-reviewed by certified teachers and connected to curriculum in all provinces and territories. R4R is recommended on many Ministry of Education websites.
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