December is Universal Human Rights Month, and Human Rights Day is observed annually around the world on Dec. 10. The theme for Human Rights Day 2025 is "Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials," emphasizing that human rights are positive, essential and attainable.
Human Rights Day commemorates the anniversary of one of the world's most groundbreaking global pledges: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This landmark document enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being—regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Check out the following list of resources to help you incorporate human rights education in your science classroom.
Human Rights Day - Resources
This list of resources from the United Nations includes educational material about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, plus websites related to human rights.
Human Rights Day Toolkit
Designed by the Human Rights Watch Student Task Force, this toolkit helps empower students and teachers to educate their communities about Human Rights Day. The webpage includes background information, basic human rights vocabulary and event planning ideas.
Human rights lesson plans
The Human Rights Education Library from Human Rights Educators USA is a curated, resource-rich collection of materials for K-12 educators. The library includes science and technology lesson plans, such as "A Right to Water for Everyone?" (Grades 9-12) from the Pulitzer Center. You can also find curriculum, documents, manuals, articles, books and more. As civil rights activist and educator Bob Moses once said, "The most urgent social issue affecting poor people and people of color is economic access… [and that] depends crucially on math and science literacy."
Integrating Social Justice Issues in Science Classrooms
In this Knowles Teacher Initiative blog post, senior teaching fellow Shannon Morey tells the story of implementing a social justice unit—connecting thermal energy content to the urban heat island effect—in her science classroom and reflects on lessons learned.