COMMUNITY STEM · REAL-WORLD LEARNING
From Ideas to a Real Sustainable Marketplace
What began as an invitation to participate in Sustainable Markets developed into a learning experience where children could explore sustainability, develop their own ideas and bring them into a real community marketplace.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Taking learning beyond the classroom
An invitation to participate in Sustainable Markets created an opportunity for children to encounter sustainability in a real community setting, rather than only discussing it through lessons and activities.
OUR RESPONSE
Turning participation into a learning journey
Explorer Junior developed the opportunity into a structured experience where children could explore sustainability, develop ideas in response to what they had learnt, and ultimately bring those ideas before a real audience.
The marketplace gave children's ideas somewhere to go — beyond an activity, prototype or classroom presentation.
IDEAS IN THE REAL WORLD
When the Audience Is Real
A real marketplace changes the nature of the challenge. Children are no longer creating only for themselves, their facilitator or a classroom presentation. They have to consider what other people might value, understand and respond to.
Sustainability therefore became something they could act on. Ideas had to move from intention towards something that could be communicated and shared with others.
The community marketplace provided the final connection: children could see their ideas become part of the world beyond the learning space.
COMMUNITY STEM
What could children create in response to a real community challenge?
Tell us about the place, issue or community you want children to engage with. Let's explore how it could become a purposeful STEM learning experience.
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