Classroom Resources

Learning at Home: Worksheets and Activities on Challenge

Each week, the WorldStrides Education team prepares new lessons and activities around a broad, central theme that aims to give teachers, students, and parents new tools and resources that can be useful in the classroom (the new online classroom, that is) and at home. This week, our focus is on challenge.

If you google “quotes about challenge,” you’ll get about 1,410,000,000 results in 0.53 seconds. Go ahead, try it.

There’s a lot to say about what challenge means, the obstacles it presents us, and the countless ways we attempt to overcome it. Challenge comes in various forms and sizes: people, ideas, ailment, and competition, just to name a few. We might feel powerful and strong when we conquer a challenge. We could feel weak and feeble if we’re on the losing side. Win, lose, or draw, challenge is a teacher, and we’ll always be its student.

The challenges we live with today due to Covid-19 are no doubt new, in some shape or form, for the entire planet. How we respond to these challenges is a continual and changing exercise in which we reveal who are – as individuals, as families, and as communities, countries, and human beings.

As you consider today’s world, remember that challenge brings with it the call to be your best self, the opportunity to rise to a new occasion, and the chance to learn more about who you are. That’s not to say it’s easy. However, as you’ll see in this week’s lessons and activities, it is an insight into our collective ability to understand, accept, and overcome the hand that challenge deals by using everything we’ve got.

Social Studies Worksheets and Activities

Best for:  Middle/High School
⏳: 60-90 minutes
Challenge Accepted! 
Throughout history, we’ve been motivated by the desire to achieve what hasn’t been done, to face our challenges head-on. This week, are you up to the challenge to learn from the past to face the future? 

How have national and global leaders motivated the citizenry during times of challenge? What do we learn about our abilities when faced with a challenge?

How can recreating monuments, memorials, and architectural wonders give us a greater understanding of the design choices and symbolism within these structures?

Science Worksheets and Activities

Best for:  Elementary/Middle School
⏳: 1-2 hours
How Did Early Humans Make Art?

One of the unique traits that make us human is our need to express ourselves. Some forms of expression, like dance require little in the way of tools or equipment. Visual art, however, was a much bigger challenge for our early ancestors.

Some of the earliest examples of human art are found in dark, remote (and scary!) caves. They were clearly very determined to make art in a place they deemed to be meaningful and special!

Explore: Explore 19,000-year-old cave paintings at Lascaux in France https://archeologie.culture.fr/lascaux/en

Today, we can simply go to the store to buy art supplies or order them online. For a more prehistoric experience, challenge yourself to create works of art like our earliest ancestors did.

International Worksheets and Activities

Best for:  Middle/High School
⏳: 60-90 minutes

Traveling often challenges us to immerse ourselves in a new environment, speak another language, and experience the world in a new way.  We all have destinations that are at the top of our lists to visit, but what about visiting a country that isn’t in your top five? What about a destination that pushes us outside our comfort zone? Challenge yourself during this time when you can’t travel to learn about the places outside of your comfort zone.

• How can you prepare to experience a new country?
• How does geography help you understand history?

Movement Activities

Best for:  Middle/High School
⏳: 15–30 minutes

Make the Perfect Exercise Playlist 
The first challenge with any new exercise routine is getting into the right mindset. If you find yourself stuck and in need of motivation, consider incorporating music into your routine! A great playlist can increase your enjoyment of physical activity and enhance your overall performance.  

What is BPM? 
BPM refers to beats per minute, and it can help you determine which songs will best complement your exercise routine. Slower songs are great for warming up, while faster songs can help you hit your stride. At the peak of your workout, aim for songs between 120 and 145 BPM, in order to reach your target heart rate. Find out the BPM of your favorite songs here. 

Want to learn more about BPM? Check out these recommendations for matching your playlist to your daily activities. 

Go Further: Use your new playlist to create your own movie training montage! The training montage is a movie trope that shows an underdog athlete or reluctant hero transforming into a formidable competitor. When creating your scene, remember: the best montages have an inspiring song and build up to a triumphant conclusion. 

Social and Emotional Learning Activity

Best for:  Middle/High School
⏳: 60 minutes
A Day in the Life

When we travel, we often find ourselves in situations that take us out of our comfort zone. Although challenging, this can be extremely beneficial to our own personal growth. As young children, we learn how to communicate, both verbally and non-verbally. When we travel internationally, we may find ourselves having to communicate with someone who does not speak the same language as us. Because communication is not only verbal, we can communicate our needs despite speaking different languages. 

Commit to not using your verbal communication skills for one day, or even one hour to start. Do this during a time where you know that you will need to communicate with others to challenge yourself to find alternative ways of communicating. While traveling, you may or may not have tools to help you with these moments (like apps that help you translate), but see how resourceful you can get without them. If you study another language at school that your family is unfamiliar with, you could challenge yourself to speak in only that language for the day. Get creative! 

• What observations did you make about how this experience made you feel? 
• How did others react to you? 
• What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them? 
• What did you learn about yourself through this experience? 

Art Learning Activity

Best for:  Middle/High School
⏳: 30-60 minutes
The Challenge of Creativity

How can one become more creative?

Creativity is often one of those things we feel we either are or aren’t. Unknown to many, creativity is something that we can improve. Creative ability helps with writing, problem-solving, and many artistic forms. Some of the most creative people I know are artists and musicians. Try the activity below, taken from this article!

What’s next? Imagine you are a specific famous artist, historian, scientist, or musician. Do some research and review their most recent works. Now, you get to create their next famous piece, policy, discovery, or song. What would that look like? How would their work shift based upon the world today? What story would you tell? How would you interpret their creativity in a new way?

Looking for inspiration? Try these suggestions: Leonardo Da Vinci, Banksy, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Taylor Swift, or Lady Gaga.

Our theme for next week will be Resourcefulness. Be sure to come back to check out more timely resources and activities to share with your students! And, if you want to give our Education team some feedback or ideas for future topics, reach out to us at discovery@worldstrides.com