Overview

In this activity, participants will, through cooperation, get to know words and terms related to the United Nations. The participants are divided into groups with a base commander. The groups are searching for the descriptive statements the area / school and must communicate (ex. by phone) with base commander, who has the information about the locations of the control point and the titles that fit the descriptions. The goal is to find all the descriptions and match them with the correct title .The group who does so the fastest, wins.

Humanities

2+ hours

13 – 21 years old

3 – 6 participants

Objectives

Learning Objectives

• – knowledge of Goal 16: Peace, Justice and strong Institutions
• – To introduce the students to the United Nations
• – To introduce the students to the different bodies/agencies within the UN
• – To have the students work collaboratively to solve problems

Behavioural competences

• To engage in conflict resolution
• To critically analyse events, actions and information
• To take personal actions to ensure peaceful and inclusive societies for the benefit of sustainable development

Reflections

• To reflect upon the role of local, national and international institutions to ensure peaceful and inclusive societies;
• To reflect upon causes and consequences of extremism, racism, xenophobia and terrorism
• To reflect upon the importance of integration and cooperation in ensuring peace

Lifelong learning key competences

Social and civic competencies

Preparation

• Print appendix 3 (for the base commander)
• Print appendix 1 and 4
  • Cut out the cards/descriptions
• Place the cards around the school/institution (fasten them securely – the students are not to take them along with them after each control points)
• Make a simplified map over the area and plot in the different control points – make it simple, but not so simple that it does not require communication to find the different control points.
  • Instead of a map, making leads and clues to the different control points is also an option. Only the base commander would see these to ensure communication.
• Print an answer-sheet with the correct matches between the descriptions, titles and control point numbers – only for the teacher/instructor to have.

Video suggestions to introduce the goal/theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlmYtJiUK00

How Does The UN Work? (3:50 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATkJe8iADhc

How Effective Is The United Nations? (2:46 min.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH6Y2jUaLvI

How Powerful Is The United Nations? (2:52 min.)

Instructions

The Game, Step-by-Step:

• The participants are divided into groups of 2-5 people.
• Each group should have two phones (one for the base commander and one for the group). The base commander stays in the classroom while the group gathers somewhere else.
• The teacher/instructor distributes the maps and the titles to the base commander, who then contacts the group over the phone (e.g. through FaceTime, Viber or other free services) and guides them to one of the control points.
• When the group has found a control point with a text, they contact the base commander and they collaboratively figure out which of the base commander’s titles matches the description at this specific control point.
• The group agrees on 3 words/sentences from the description that the base commander then jots down in the table (and the number of the control point is also written down so that it can be checked later).
• The base commander guides the group to a new control point – and continues from step 4 – until all control points are visited (the control points do not need to be in numerical order).

Winning the Game: The first group to come back to their base with all the titles and descriptions correctly matched (and number of the control point) wins! The teacher/instructor notes the times, and waits for everyone to complete the mission.

Variations of the game:

Variation 1: Phones

• If having two phones per group is not a feasible option, the activity can be completed by the group and the base commander communicating face-to-face, and the base commander guiding them to the next control point this way (the teacher/instructor could choose to only distribute the information/card for one control point at a time). The group would then come back to the base with their answers.

Variation 2 : Time

• If the length of the activity needs to be reduced, the amount of control points can be reduced.
• If you wish to extend the activity, more control points can be added.

Evaluation

Test if the students remember anything from the obstacle race by using The Multiple Choice test.

Complete the reflection work sheet connected to Goal no. 16

The first part of the work sheet is to be completed before class, but the remaining parts are to be used for summing up and evaluating the theme in class.

Followup suggestions

Test if the students remember anything from the obstacle race by using The Multiple Choice test.

Look at the other exercises connected to goal no. 16 Peace, Justice and strong Institutions

Ideas for actions

“Make your voice heard and vote in your country’s elections”, “Be passionate about your country’s decisions, and remain peaceful when standing up for what you believe in”. Find more ideas for actions in the: “170 good ideas for daily actions to transform our world” here: http://www.youneedtoknow.ch/

Further information

About the SDGS

http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/post-2015-development-agenda.html

Reflection Sheet

Follow up – multiple choice

Appendix 1 – 4