In April, my students have been focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and cultivating a sustainable lifestyle. As a passionate advocate of hexagons, I was thrilled to discover that SDGs beehives can be built digitally, eliminating the need for printing materials. Students have been working in groups, using just one PC per group. To assess their understanding of the connections and interdependencies between different SDGs, I have incorporated hexagonal thinking. Students who faced challenges in identifying connections were encouraged to use ChatGPT/Copilot as a valuable resource to overcome obstacles and foster deeper comprehension.
Tomorrow, we celebrate Earth Day which provides a perfect opportunity for educators to combine the power of AI with the SDGs. Through this activity, your students can engage in AI-supported learning while exploring sustainable development and environmental consciousness. By integrating AI into the process, we can foster a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness between AI technologies and the achievement of the SDGs, empowering students to become active participants in creating a more sustainable future.
Instructions:
- Choose a common goal: Start by selecting a common goal that will guide the construction of the hive. The question I selected for my students was: How can we make Nannestad High School more sustainable?
- Navigate to: https://playhiveminds.com/en/como-jugar/ + https://playhiveminds.com/en/play/
- Select the hexagons: Choose a set of hexagons to build the hive. You can either choose the 17 hexagons corresponding to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or select hexagons related to a specific SDG or 169 subgoals.
- Divide and reflect on ideas and trends: Once the hexagons are chosen, divide them equally among the participants. If someone doesn’t understand a concept, they can ask for help from others and collectively define it. Use a glossary if there are terms you do not understand.
- Make connections and discuss: Participants take turns contributing a hexagon to the hive, considering the common goal. Justify the placement of each hexagon and explain its relationship to other hexagons. All hexagons should be connected to at least one other hexagon. Use guiding questions to support the justification process.
- Use AI for assistance: If you are stuck and unable to explain connections between hexagons, you can use AI as a resource/tutor. AI can provide insights, suggestions, or additional information to help you better understand and articulate the relationships between hexagons.
- Reach a consensus and share: The game concludes when a consensus is reached among group members regarding the structure of the hive and the proposed connections. Hexagons can be moved if agreed upon by all students. The constructed ecosystem serves as a visual representation of collective imaginations and can be shared to propose present and possible futures for making Nannestad High School more sustainable.
Below you can see three beehives created by my vocational students:
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