Teaching Sustainability Through Critical Thinking
Simple, ready-to-use PDF teaching resources that help students explore real-world sustainability issues through inquiry, critical thinking, and action.
Built around School Journal articles and stories, each resource guides students through a structured learning journey using Bloom’s Taxonomy and other thinking tools to deepen understanding and encourage meaningful discussion.
From climate change to citizenship, waste to wellbeing, students learn that everything is interconnected.
Helping Students Think Sustainably
Sustainability is more than caring for the environment.
It is understanding the connections between:
Nature
How healthy ecosystems support life.
Society
How fairness, citizenship, culture, and community shape our future.
Economy
How resources are produced, used, and shared.
Wellbeing
How people, communities, and environments flourish together.
Our resources help students explore these connections through engaging, real-world topics that matter.
What’s Included?
Every resource contains:
✓ A teacher guide
✓ Student worksheets
✓ 10 inquiry-based learning activities
✓ Bloom’s Taxonomy questioning framework
✓ Critical and creative thinking opportunities
✓ Ready-to-use PDF format
✓ Links to School Journal texts
Designed for individual students, small groups, whole-class learning, homework programmes, relief teachers, and EOTC follow-up activities.
Topics Students Love Exploring
Students investigate authentic issues such as:
• Kaitiaki of the Stream
• Climate Change
• The Plastic-Free Challenge
• The Fight to Vote
• Penguins
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• Equity and Social Justice
• Biodiversity and Conservation
With more than 50 resources available and new topics added regularly.
Why Think Sustainably?
The challenges facing our future are rarely simple.
Students need opportunities to analyse information, consider different perspectives, evaluate solutions, and think critically about the world around them.
These resources are designed to help young people become thoughtful, informed, and engaged citizens who can contribute positively to a sustainable future.
Because sustainability isn’t just a topic.
It’s a way of thinking.
Created by Teachers for Teachers
Think Sustainably was created in Aotearoa New Zealand to help teachers bring sustainability and social responsibility into everyday classroom learning.
Our resources integrate naturally into literacy, social sciences, science, inquiry learning, and Aotearoa New Zealand Histories programmes.
Practical. Flexible. Ready to use.
For busy teachers who still want meaningful learning
You already use the School Journals.
Now you can unlock their full potential—without adding to your workload.
nature, the economy, society, wellbeing – they’re all interconnected.
