Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 02 — Two Choices, Two Futures

Learners practice **comparing two possible choices and their consequences for others before deciding**. They analyze a worked decision fork, complete choice scenarios in pairs, and record their own two-futures comparison.

D09 P4: Contextual & Ecological Awareness D09.S1 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

How do I compare two choices by their consequences for others before deciding?

choiceconsequencecomparedecidefor others

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

A decision-fork diagram. At the top, a box reads "you find a wallet on the path." Two branches split downward. The left branch, labeled "Choice A: return it," leads to a bubble reading "the owner gets their money and papers back." The right branch, labeled "Choice B: keep it," leads to a bubble reading "the owner loses what they need." Below, a caption reads "compare the consequences for others before you decide." Arrows and labels, not color alone, carry the meaning.
A decision-fork diagram. At the top, a box reads "you find a wallet on the path." Two branches split downward. The left branch, labeled "Choice A: return it," leads to a bubble reading "the owner gets their money and papers back." The right branch, labeled "Choice B: keep it," leads to a bubble reading "the owner loses what they need." Below, a caption reads "compare the consequences for others before you decide." Arrows and labels, not color alone, carry the meaning.

Lesson 2 — Two Choices, Two Futures

Summary

Learners practice comparing two possible choices and their consequences for others before deciding. They meet a simple tool — the decision fork — analyze a worked example, then work through choice scenarios in pairs and record their own two-futures comparison.

Objectives

  • Compare two possible choices and their consequences for others before deciding. (D09.S1.05.02)

Connection

You find a wallet on the path. Choice A: return it. Choice B: keep it. Before you decide, you can look down each road and ask: what happens to the other person? The owner gets their money and papers back — or loses what they need. Comparing the consequences for others, not just for yourself, is how careful decisions are made — at a market stall, on a shared trail, or anywhere your choice touches someone else.

Materials

  • Decision-fork poster
  • Choice scenarios
  • Two-futures record page

Preparation

  • Print or draw the decision-fork poster (one situation, two branches, consequences for others under each).
  • Copy choice scenarios for each pair and a two-futures record page for each learner.
  • Prepare one spoken scenario for the opening if going low-tech.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). The skill to land is comparing two choices by their consequences for others before deciding — a reasoning routine, so model it as a worked example before independent practice (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006). Keep the emphasis on consequences for others, not just self-interest; that egalitarian move — who else is affected? — is the heart of the standard. Do not mark any learner’s genuine choice as “wrong”; instead ask whether they considered the consequences for others before deciding. Distinguish evidence from values: what the consequences are is something we can observe and compare; which consequence matters most is a value judgment. Hold it open. See docs/facilitation.md.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Last time you saw that values shape choices. Today you practice the next step: before you decide, compare two choices by what they do to other people.
  2. Meet the decision fork (10 min). Look at the poster. A situation sits at the top. Two branches split down from it — Choice A and Choice B. Under each branch, a bubble names the consequences for others. That fork is a thinking tool: you walk each branch in your mind before you pick one.
  3. Worked example (10 min). Build one together. Situation: “Sam borrowed Maya’s tool and broke it.” Choice A: tell Maya and offer to fix it. Choice B: hide it and say nothing. Walk each branch: what happens for Maya in each? For the friendship? Then decide together, and say why. Notice: you compared consequences for another person before deciding.
  4. Practice with a partner (10 min). Take a scenario. Draw or say the fork: two choices, and under each, the consequences for others. Then decide together and explain your choice in one sentence: “We chose ___ because for the other person it means ___.”
  5. Your own fork (10 min). On your page, write a real or invented situation, draw two branches, and fill in the consequences for others under each. Then mark the choice you would make and why.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a pre-drawn fork with one branch filled in; the learner completes the second branch and the consequences-for-others bubbles.
  • Extension: Add a third choice to the fork, or weigh which consequence matters most and defend that judgment.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner name two choices and describe a consequence for another person for each, before deciding?
  • Peer check: Partners check each other’s fork: “Did you name a consequence for someone else, not only for yourself?”

Home connection

Next time a choice at home affects someone else, stop and name two options and one consequence for the other person for each — then decide.

Resources