Ten lessons that follow the site, each one school period long, with printable worksheets for ages 12 to 14 and 15 and up. Everything is free, and there is nothing to sign up for. Put the site on a projector and let the class decide.
The class predicts a number before anyone sees it.
One or two stops on the projector.
Read the person at the stop aloud and talk about what they would tell you.
Each student writes one small thing they will do.
Always end on what has got better.
A hundred of us, and where do you stand
Students discover that their picture of the world is out of date, and that where they stand in the world is further forward than they think.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)Born again, ten times, as a class
Students feel the lottery of birth instead of reading about it, and decide, as a group, whether they would keep a life they did not choose.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)Three stops, then home
Students meet three of the world's hardest problems through one number and one person each, and see that every problem has people already working on it.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)One class promise, with a date
The class chooses one problem and one organisation, and writes a dated promise everyone signs.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)After the main walk, the site offers six shorter routes. Each one fits a subject. The worksheets list the route's stops with space for the number at each.
The Climate and environment route: 7 stops
Students see climate change and environmental damage as things happening to named places and people now, and learn what is already being done.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)The Health route: 6 stops
Students learn why people still die of diseases that are curable or preventable, and what has changed the numbers.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)The War and displacement route: 4 stops
Students see what war does to ordinary life, and how people keep schools, kitchens and clinics running anyway.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)The Girls and women route: 5 stops
Students see how being born a girl changes a life, from school to marriage to the right to earn, and what is moving.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)The What we buy route: 3 stops
Students trace three things they own back to the people who made them, and learn what has changed in those industries and what has not.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)The Poverty route: 4 stops
Students see what poverty looks like in four very different places, and that the people living in it are working, saving and organising.
Download the lesson (PDF, 3 pages)Students research a place and a problem the site does not have yet and present it in the site's own shape: one number with a source, what is working, who is working on it, and a person, either a real account with permission or a clearly labelled composite.
Download the stop card (PDF, 2 pages)Nothing a student types on the site leaves their browser, and there are no accounts, so you can use it with any class. The people at the stops are illustrated composites, written from the sources at each stop, and the site says so. Every number has a named source on the stop where it appears.
The lessons are new. If you try one, tell us what worked and what did not: erik@understorymarkets.com. German and Spanish versions are planned.