Lesson Plan Overview: Suggested 11 lessons over 15 days

Lesson 1: Digital Citizenship Introduction (45-60 Minutes) — Students are introduced to the topic of digital citizenship and begin to learn how it is relevant to everyday habits and actions. Students also meet their hosts—Teddy, Axel, and Maze—and learn about the problematic digital haze that has taken over the universe. Students must help Maze travel the universe and learn what it means to be a good digital citizen in order to lift the haze and restore balance to the solar system.

Lesson 2: Private and Personal Information (45-60 Minutes) — Students learn the difference between private information and personal information. They then identify examples of when it would be safe to share personal and private information.

Lesson 3: Creating a Strong Password (45-60 Minutes) — Students learn how to create strong passwords to help protect their private and personal information. 

Lesson 4: Understanding the Impact of Your Digital Tattoo (45-60 Minutes) — Students consider long-term, permanent effects of their digital actions by discussing digital tattoos.

Lesson 5: Safe Digital Communication (45-60 Minutes) — Students discuss the risks and benefits of connecting with other people online and learn how to identify warning signs of a risky conversations. They then practice how they would respond to a risky conversation so they can “keep it safe and keep it fun”.

Lesson 6: Identifying Phishing Scams (45-60 Minutes) — Students learn ways to recognize potential phishing and catfishing scams.

Lesson 7: Identifying Trustworthy Sites and Communication (45-60 Minutes) — Students learn how to determine the credibility of a digital source and consider the impacts of sharing information with others in the digital space.

Lesson 8: Identifying and Addressing Cyberbullying (45-60 Minutes) — Students discuss what cyberbullying is, how it happens, what it looks like, and what they can do if they witness cyberbullying or are being cyberbullied.

Lesson 9: Positive and Responsible Sharing (45-60 Minutes) — Students look at examples of positive digital sharing and discuss their responsibility to others with these actions.

Lesson 10: Finding Our Digital Balance (45-60 Minutes) — Students discuss the importance of balancing their digital and non-digital activities and brainstorm ways to manage negative thoughts and feelings caused by digital media.

Final Challenge: Lift the Haze, Restore the Balance! (two to three 30-minute classes) — For the culminating activity, students are asked to create a PSA for Maze to broadcast across the entire Digital Universe. Students must recall the digital citizenship lessons they’ve learned throughout the challenge to create an informing and attention-grabbing segment. Students have the option of filming their PSA or acting it out for the class in a skit format.