The 2023-2024 World of 8 Billion student video contest is now closed. Winners will be announced on May 21, 2024!

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3 Ways to Use the World of 8 Billion Video Contest in Your Classroom

The World of 8 Billion Student Video Contest is not only a great opportunity for students to explore and advocate for population challenges they are passionate about, but it’s also a practical classroom tool that can be used as a culminating unit project, an option for a genius hour, or as an activity during extracurricular time. The project allows students to get creative, amplify their voices, and build skills that they will use long after they submit their videos. If you have taken a look at the overview of the contest you know that creating videos will take more than a couple of class periods to complete. Below are three ways for teachers to meaningfully utilize the video contest this school year!

1. Assign the contest as a culminating project in a unit

The contest would be an incredible end-of-unit project to show what students learned about global population challenges. 

Kick off the unit by introducing the contest using the video contest lesson plan. Then have students dive deeper into the history of human population growth by exploring the Quick Trip to 7.6 Billion Wall Chart and using some of the associated lesson plans. Next, use the topical lesson plans to build students’ foundational knowledge of this year’s global challenges – climate change, gender equality, and waste. Have students use the Video Project Organizer to plan their videos. At the end of the unit use the judging rubric to assess their videos before they submit them by the deadline of March 5, 2024. 

Revisit student videos and the content from the lesson plans as a review in additional units later in the year. See where else this year’s global challenges may fit into your curriculum!

2. Use the contest for a genius hour or student passion project

Are your students interested in this year’s global challenges but they don’t quite fit into a single unit for your class? Use the contest as an option for students to complete as a genius hour, passion project, or environmental stewardship project throughout the year. 

Give students an hour a week to work on the video project in small groups. Have students map out their group roles and approximate timelines using the first two pages of the Video Project Organizer to get the contest done by the deadline. If time permits, assign the contest over a 9-week period and have students complete one of the nine steps on the Video Project Organizer each week. Check-in with student groups each week to gauge their progress and give them feedback. Have students self-assess their videos and get peer feedback using the judging rubric

3. Add the contest as a project for a school club to complete

If you are the leader of a school club that is focused on social justice, the environment, debate, or film (and many more) the contest could be a project to build awareness about this year’s global challenges within the school community and beyond. After students submit their videos they can use the Activism Toolkit to take action and make an even greater impact on the issues they explored in their videos. The Toolkit introduces ways for students to model their message, fundraise, make changes in their school and surrounding community, use the media to magnify their impact, and how they can connect with local, state, and national lawmakers.

Image credits: Video Blog Stock Photo (ID 1016589628 ©LightFieldStudios, iStockphoto.com)