Design an Island City: Rising Waters -A Social Studies & Climate Change Activity

Climate change, human needs and the concept of sustainability are discussed as your students design a new island for the inhabitants of a small island nation called Chill-Ville, whose current island is sinking due to rising sea levels.

An enjoyable activity that gets your students thinking - great for middle school. Can last 1-3 lessons depending on teacher preference.

This resource has 5 main activities and a teacher notes section with a set of instructions.

Activity 1: Students attempt to help the residents of Chill-Ville out by coming up with ideas about what can be done about the rising sea levels. A link to a short youtube clip is provided which highlights the plight of a real island nation suffering this fate (Kiribati). Human needs and the concept of sustainability is also addressed.

Activity 2: Students pretend to be different inhabitants of Chill-Ville and have to think about what they would want on the new island.

Activity 3: Students design the new island, along with flag, laws and government budget.

Activity 4: Students use rubric to grade their island and then complete a list of "scenarios" to see how well their island manages.

Activity 5: Students create poster and use persuasive writing to try and get visitors to come and stay at the new island.