“Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality.”
– Lewis Carroll

Materials needed: Computer (and projector if possible) to show video clip, paper and writing utensil, white board and dry erase marker or chalkboard and chalk

Activity:

Part 1: Ask students to write a list of 5 things that they can imagine and wish to see in the world that don’t already exist.

1.1: Then ask them to make another list of 5 things that at one point did not exist, but through creative thinking, eventually did (give a few ideas or suggestions such as inventions, social changes, personal changes, etc.).

1.2: Then ask students to break into groups of 3 and discuss:
          A. Did their thinking change from the first question to the next? How so?
          B. How might they draw a connection between what they can imagine and what is real, and how those things can potentially change over time?

Part 2: Ask students to share out to the whole group some of the ideas they came up with from the second list and write them on the board. After 5 are listed, ask if students have any questions about this (i.e. if they don’t understand how something which at one point wasn’t “real” or existing, came to be etc.)

Part 3: Ask students to get back into their groups of 3 and come up with a current issue they experience in school, or in the world more generally, for which they wish they could imagine a solution, but haven’t yet seen one.

Part 4: Ask students to share some of their ideas with the whole group. Write them on the white board. After 5 or so are listed, ask students to take a vote on which one they would like to collectively explore further. Conduct a silent vote with students’ eyes closed, and tally the votes.

Part 5: Have an open-ended full group discussion on how we might imagine solutions to the proposed topic and how those steps might lead us to see a shift from what they can imagine to reality.