What Is Sustainability?

Overview

In this second lesson of Auckland: Sustainable New Home, students build a shared understanding of sustainability and connect it to decisions made by communities. Using images, an accessible text and discussion, they consider how Auckland can meet people’s needs now while protecting future wellbeing.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain sustainability in our own words.
• WALT identify whether examples are sustainable choices.
• WALT use evidence to justify a decision.
• WALT listen and speak respectfully when sharing different perspectives.

Success criteria

• I can define sustainability in my own words.
• I can sort examples into sustainable and less sustainable choices.
• I can explain why one choice matters to a community.
• I can use key vocabulary when I speak or write.

Curriculum links

• Social Sciences — understanding how societies function and change, including New Zealand’s place in a globalised world.
• Social Sciences — exploring higher-order concepts including inequality, ethics and power.
• Social Sciences — analysing information and sources, making decisions, and evaluating challenges.
• Civics and Society — exploring rights, responsibilities and respectful engagement with diverse perspectives and public issues.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Hook and think-pair-share. Open with the opening Auckland comparison image showing a busy, polluted Auckland street beside a greener, people-friendly street; ask, “Which place would be better for people to live in 50 years from now, and why?” Students silently record one observation, think individually, discuss with a partner, then share ideas. Accept responses in English or, where appropriate, allow students to rehearse ideas in a familiar language before sharing.

2. 8–18 min · Build initial meaning. Display the sustainability question and key vocabulary and introduce sustainability, community, resources, future generations and impact. Students predict meanings, match words to simple explanations on the sustainability vocabulary and examples sheet, and practise saying one sentence with a partner. Clarify that sustainability is about meeting needs today without making it harder for people in the future to meet their needs.

3. 18–33 min · Image sort. Show the image-sort instructions and example and give pairs the image section of the sustainability vocabulary and examples sheet. Students sort examples such as public transport, repairing clothes, planting trees, wasting water, unsafe housing and removing a community gathering space into “more sustainable”, “less sustainable” or “not sure”. They record one reason for two choices, using the sentence frame: “I placed this here because it affects ___.”

4. 33–47 min · Accessible reading. Direct students to the standard or simplified version of the two-level sustainability reading. Read the first paragraph aloud while students follow; then pairs read the remaining text, underline the main idea and circle unfamiliar words. Students answer three short questions: What does sustainability mean? Who can be affected by a decision? Why do communities need to think about the future? Provide oral reading, partner support and teacher scribing where needed.

5. 47–61 min · Class definition and justification. Use the class-definition discussion prompts to gather ideas from the reading and image sort. Co-construct a class definition, such as: “Sustainability means making choices that meet people’s needs while caring for the environment, communities and future generations.” Students choose one image and complete: “This choice is more/less sustainable because ___. It matters to the Auckland community because ___.” Invite several students to share; classmates listen for a clear reason and an effect on people or place.

6. 61–70 min · Review and exit check. Return to the success-criteria and exit prompt. Students complete the final section of the sustainability vocabulary and examples sheet: define sustainability, identify one sustainable example and justify why it matters. Students self-assess against the success criteria, then share one new word or idea with a partner.

Resources

• the sustainability lesson slide deck
• the sustainability vocabulary and examples sheet
• Projector or interactive display
• Printed simplified and standard reading texts
• Image-sort photographs or icons
• Highlighters and coloured pencils
• Board or shared digital space for the class definition
• Bilingual dictionaries or translation tools, where available

Assessment

• Listen during think-pair-share and vocabulary rehearsal for accurate use of sustainability, impact and future generations.
• Check image-sort explanations and reading responses for understanding that sustainability affects both people and the environment.
• Use the final written response to assess whether students can define sustainability and justify one choice with a community impact. Record students needing further support with reading meaning or oral language.

Differentiation

• Provide simplified and standard reading versions, with chunked paragraphs, bold key words and visuals. Read aloud, pause to check meaning, and allow students to use bilingual dictionaries or discuss ideas in their strongest language before responding in English.
• Support speaking with sentence frames: “I think sustainability means ___”; “This choice affects ___ because ___”; and “I agree/disagree because ___.” Give oral rehearsal before written work and scribe responses for students who need it.
• Use mixed-ability pairs, model one image sort aloud, and provide a vocabulary bank with definitions and visual prompts. Check in privately with students who may be reluctant to speak publicly.
• For advanced learners, distinguish environmental, social, cultural and economic sustainability. Ask them to classify one example in more than one category and explain a possible trade-off, such as whether a development can be environmentally sustainable but socially unfair.
• Connect respectfully with Pasefika and Bengali learners by inviting examples of community wellbeing, shared resources, family responsibilities and places that matter, without requiring students to disclose personal experiences.

Extension

• Students redesign one less sustainable example for Auckland and write two sentences explaining how their proposal improves environmental, social, cultural or economic wellbeing.
• Students compare two choices and argue which should be prioritised by a new Auckland community, acknowledging one possible drawback.