Fulfilling Human Needs Activity

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Fulfilling Human Needs Activity
Time 15 60 mins Group size Any divided into
groups, (max 6) Requirements Needs cards
prepared in advance
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• Activity Purpose

To help students to think about human needs and
how they are fulfilled As a starter activity,
this may not be anything more than something that
sows seeds but students should become more aware
of themselves as consumers whose decisions impact
on lives and livelihoods elsewhere as a result of
completing the activity.
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Needs cards   Subsistence     Affection     Partic
ipation   
Protection     Understanding      Creation
Identity     Recreation     Freedom  
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Setting up the activity Select all or a number of
needs in advance print them in bold, large
print on cards enough for one set of needs for
each group (groups should be maximum of 6
students) Give each group a set of needs
cards. Ask each group to lay the cards down in
front of them so they can read the needs. Each
student in the group should pick a context from
their life (e.g. driving, shopping, cinema,
washing) Ask each student to select four of the
needs that are met by the context they have
chosen, and list them in order of importance to
themselves.
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Setting up the activity Each student should then
describe to the group why these needs are
fulfilled through this context. When all students
in the group have done this each group should
discuss whether there are other needs they would
rather see fulfilled what it would take in
order to satisfy them. The ask each group what
needs they were fulfilling and what others they
would prefer to be fulfilled. The teacher should
then try to draw conclusions about the types of
needs that current ways of living are not
satisfying.