SDGs Inspire Students During MYP Project Days

What would you do if you were given two whole days off of your regular schedule to work on a passion project? That is precisely what Gr. 6 - 9 did during MYP Project Days,  and the school was electrified with activity.

MYP Project Days were reimagined this year, and students were challenged to develop their own projects around the 17 United Nations SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Students chose one of the SDGs they were interested in and found others interested in similar goals. Working together in homerooms over the last several weeks, they have been aligning the ALTs (Approaches to Learning Skills - a core component of the International Baccalaureate) with the "three Is" motto and guiding principles of NIS.

Students were considering:

• Inquire - what are they learning about themselves and the SDGs?
• Inspire - how are they affecting themselves and others through their projects and learning?
• Impact - where will they take their actions, and what are they able to accomplish?

With the attitude of "small actions CAN lead to big change," students busied themselves on various projects. These ranged from creating a dolphin out of PET bottles to highlight the impact of plastics on our 'Life Below the Water' (SDG#14) to designing and building a water-capturing robot to address 'Clean Water and Sanitation' (SDG#6). There was action and advocacy around measuring and understanding the school's food waste (Responsible Consumption and Production - SDG #12) to fundraising for cancer research ('Good Health and Wellbeing' - SDG #3) and SO MUCH MORE!

It was an exciting two days as the students had time to take their projects deeper and collaborate. And in the shadow of the COP26, as world leaders gather in Glasgow to discuss the climate crisis and other SDGs, it was the perfect timing to hold MYP Project Days at NIS!