People say a place is 'developed' as if everyone means the same thing. Today you put three definitions side by side and see what each one counts, and what each one quietly ignores. By the end you should be able to say what a definition of development is for, and name one thing it leaves out.

When somebody calls a country or a town 'developed', they are using a measuring stick. Different people hold different sticks. Put these three one-liners on the board and leave them up:

• Economic growth: rising production and income.
• People's lives: health, schooling, and a decent standard of living.
• Lasting gains: meeting needs now without using up what the next generation will need.

Open the comparison. Start on the row 'What it quietly leaves out'. Your teacher models one click with the class, then you take the remaining rows one at a time. For each row, decide which definition handles that question most clearly for you and click it. There is no official winner: they do different jobs. You do not need every row finished before the places.

Riverside. A factory opened five years ago. Average wages roughly doubled. The river runs grey after heavy rain. There are not enough secondary school places. Most young people who can leave, leave.

Hillside. Incomes rose only a little. The woodland was kept. The primary school is strong. People live longer than twenty years ago. There are few new jobs.

In pairs, two full minutes on this hook: a council can fund a factory upgrade or a secondary school. What does each definition push them toward, and why does that choice of measuring stick matter for what gets funded?

On your own, write one or two sentences:

Which definition do you prefer right now, and what is the one important thing it leaves out?

You compared three ways of defining development: by economic growth, by people's lives, and by whether gains can last. You saw that the same place can look developed or not depending on the measuring stick. You named what your preferred definition leaves out. Next you will turn that thinking into a class definition of sustainable development you can keep.