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iMinds Curriculum - for Middle Schools and Highschools
iMinds is a way of thinking about health education. It encourages young people to develop gambling literacy—the ability to live in the real world in a way that promotes well-being.
The lesson ideas fit well within the scope of BC’s K-12 curriculum. If you are interested in bringing a lesson to your classroom, connect with a Prevention and Community Engagement Provider in your city. You can find the contact information here.
Horse Racing (Social Studies 7/8/9/10)
This lesson revolves around one of the world’s oldest sports—horse racing. Students examine the history of horseracing and its influence on gambling, past and present. Students also get a chance to share and explore different perspectives on horse racing and its place in today’s world.
How Much Land Does a Man Need? (English Language Arts 6-12)
Leo Tolstoy’s short story provides the stimulus for interesting discussions around the concepts of need and greed. Students are invited to reflect on their own motivations for acquiring money and material goods and apply the lessons learned in the story to their own lives.
The Hunger Games (English Language Arts 7-9)
this popular book by Suzanne Collins provides young readers an opportunity to think about gambling and reflect on the emotional appeal and complex roles it plays in society. This iMinds lesson idea provides teachers with instuctional strategies to facilitate this exploration.
Leaving it up to Chance (Mathematics 8)
This lesson aims to engage students in a dialogue about chance-based games and encourage them to think critically about gambling.
The Lightning Thief (English Language Arts 8)
In this lesson, students follow Percy and his friends' adventure in the casino and learn about their experiences as they lose track in time playing games. Students are encouraged to explore the differences between gaming and gambling.
Rolling with Life's Challenges (Physical and Health Education 6/7/8/9)
This iMinds instructional outline is meant to help students learn about and experience alternatives to the riskier ways of dealing with life’s challenges.
From Probability to the Gambler's Fallacy (Mathematics 9)
This lesson takes the study of probability back to its original roots in the exploration of games of chance. The lesson cannot make someone a more successful gambler. But it can help students develop an understanding of probability and its usefulness and limitations relative to gambling. Lesson includes a teacher's guide, a game sheet and a worksheet.
The Lottery (English Language Arts 9-12, Arts Education 9-12)
Shirley Jackson's famous 1948 short story can provide an opportunity for meaningful exploration of issues related to gambling even though, as Homer Simpson discovered to his chagrin, it is not about gambling or lotteries in our sense. This iMinds lesson provides teachers with ideas for facilitating learning opportunities.
Examining Gambling (New Media 10/11; English 12)
This iMinds lesson idea deconstructs a number of commercial marketing pieces related to gambling as well as a social marketing site to engage students in thinking critically about social messages and concepts and their influence on individual and community well-being. A set of teaching slides with images and dialogue questions is provided.
Gambling in Canada (Social Studies 10)
This iMinds instructional outline and handout use 2009 data from Statistics Canada to explore the gambling landscape in Canada. Students are encouraged to think about the factors that might explain the relative popularity of different forms of gambling in different regions and among different populations in Canada. What might our gambling tell us about ourselves?
Gambling and Stigma (Social Studies 10)
This iMinds instructional outline aims to engage students in exploring various issues related to gambling and stigma and challenge them to consider the potential impacts stigma might have on different groups of people: those who gamble, those with gambling problems, and the people around them.
Is the Stock Market Gambling? (Social Studies 10)
Some people suggest, investing in the stock market is just like gambling at a casino. Investing and gambling both involve risk and choice. This iMinds lesson idea explores the similarities and differences between gambling and the stock market at the core of our economic system.
Lahal Game (Social Studies 10-11)
This traditional Indigenous gambling game is used in this iMinds lesson outline to explore attitudes and ideas related to gambling. Using reflection, video and inquiry the lesson explores ethical and cultural issues related to gambling.
Material Wealth and Gambling (Social Studies 10-12)
This iMinds instructional outline aims to encourage students to critically think about issues such as wealth inequality and our relationship to material goods, and social values and how these may impact gambling behaviour.
True Stories: BC voices on gambling (Composition 10/11/12, Creative Writing 10/11/12, Spoken Language 10/11/12)
Based on two true stories written by young people impacted by gambling, this lesson invites students to think, speak and/or write about gambling and its effect on individuals and families. Students also get a chance to reflect on their biases and assumptions related to gambling and broaden their understanding of key issues.
Court Trial: Digital matter (Law Studies 12)
This lesson gives students an opportunity to learn about gambling and digital matter through their own research as well as experience and contribute to a mock trial. Students also get a chance to develop critical thinking skills that may help them reduce their risk of problematic gambling in the future.
Gambling and Addiction in Nineteen Eighty-Four (English Language Arts 11)
This iMinds instructional outline engages students in a critical examination of the social and economic structures of our own time and explore how they influence peopleⅱs excessive pursuits of happiness or oblivion.
Philosophy of Money: Marx and alienation (Philosophy 12)
In this lesson, students explore the concept of money through the lens of Karl Marx’s materialist theory and the notion of ‘alienation.’ Students reflect on how money affects them, others, and the world around them, and think critically about issues that may impact gambling behaviour. Understanding what money is, and how it can influence our sense of connectedness or disconnectedness to ourselves and the world, can help us be more mindful about the ways we both see and use money.