Term 4
Global Citizenship
This term our Year 7 students are exploring Global Citizenship through the lens of Economics. During this unit students will engage with a wide range of questions and concepts including: What is wealth? Who is rich? Who is poor? How much is enough? They will learn introductory economic concepts such as the difference between needs and wants, the basics of how an economy works, and how countries trade with each other.
Students will undertake a study on Fair Trade and learn how our global economy affects people in the most distant places.
Students will learn how to compare data, they will grapple with philosophical questions, engage in team work and learn how to budget small amounts of money.
In-class Activities:
A sense of perspective: Miniature Earth
Class will view the Miniature Earth clip at http://www.miniature-earth.com/. They will discuss the film and the information presented and then break into smaller groups to focus on specific information.
Individual response:
a) Create a collage
b) Chart a selection of the statistics presented in the film clip (may use MS Excel)
c) Write a 100-200 word response: Where do I fit into the ‘100 people’?
What is wealth? Philosophy for Kids
Opening question: ‘What is wealth?’
Students will participate in a class discussion with further questioning on the topic using the Socratic technique.
Supplementary questions: “India, China, America, Australia – rich or poor?” and “What is the ‘poverty line’?”, “Is it different for each country?”
Questions will be posted on the Philosophy page on the class wiki and students are encouraged to participate in the discussion forums on that site.
Food Comparisons
Students will examine the ‘Breakfasts from around the world’ display in the cabinet and discuss what they see. What is different? What is the same? How much do the food items cost?
The class will view some images from the Hungry Planet project that compare weekly food bills in several countries – website http://www.rustylime.com/show_article.php?id=1497
Independent homework activity: check your latest grocery receipt, shopping list or pantry. What are the staple foods in your house? What are treats? What is your weekly food bill?
Create a Country: whole class interactive game (run over several lessons)
Students are to work as a class to create a ‘world’. In teams they will create a country and then each ‘country’ will interact with the others through trade, international relations and other means. The game is guided by the teacher who poses problems and adds information at strategic points throughout the game.
At the end of the game, students conduct a self-assessment and peer review of the game process, their teamwork and their learning.
Game includes integration of the following concepts:
Needs and Wants
During the game students will engage with several important introductory ideas studied in Economics. They will consider the idea of ‘needs’ and ‘wants’, look at trade between countries and compare the trading activity of Australia in the global economy.
Trade: Imports and Exports
Students will learn the distinction between imports and exports. Questions to be examined include: Who are Australia’s major trading partners and what do they trade? How are China and India important to Australia’s economy? Why would people be suggesting these two countries are the new economic powerhouses of the 21st C global economy?
Students will participate in a class activity where they will locate trading nations on a map.
Resources
Students will be introduced to the major categories of resources important to an economy. Questions to be investigated include: What are ‘resources’? How are resources important to an economy? What connection is there between resources and our needs and wants? Where do Australia’s resources go? What resources do we import?
As part of the game, the class will look at the difference between the different types of resource: capital, natural, human, management and use game strategies to assess the impact of resources on their country’s economy.
How does an economy work? How does a business work?
As part of the learning and review process during the game, students will discuss and further explore what a business is and how an economy works, including how consumers are influenced by marketing, advertising, government interventions and strategies.
Poverty vs Wealth: closing the divide, addressing the issues
Case Study: Fair Trade
This unit includes a study of Fair Trade. Over the course of the study, students will engage with a range of questions relating to global citizenship and poverty. Class activities will guide students through their study assignment. To understand how Fair Trade operates, students will examine the historical and global nature of trade. They will critically evaluate how Fair Trade addresses poverty.
Other classroom activities to support student’s understanding include:
- What can be done to reduce global poverty? Students will watch and discuss the ‘Girl Effect’, available at: http://www.girleffect.org/
- Students will be presented with the scenario – “If you lived on less that $1 a day, you had few resources, and you lived in a remote place with extreme weather conditions, how would you escape poverty?”
- Students debate the proposition “That microcredit helps the poorest of the poor”.
- $50 Activity: students are asked to consider the value of $50: what does $50 mean to them? What would they do with $50? Would $50 change their life?
- Living on a limited income activity: students visit the local supermarket to complete the activity.
Additional Learning Opportunities
The following independent learning activities are available for students to extend their learning or in case they missed the homework handed out in class. Any or all of these activities are recommended.
Free Rice
Explore the website http://beta.freerice.com/ Read the information as to what the site is for and why it was established. Sign up to the site, following the instructions. Join Dr J’s group and play as often as you like. Keep a tab on your score.
Needs and Wants
Students create two lists: one of their ‘needs’ and one of their ‘wants’. They review the list and after discussion in class, may choose to revise their original lists.
Trade: imports and exports
Homework activity: look around your bedroom or house. Collect a list of at least ten items, find the ‘made in..’ labels and note down where the items were made. Email the list to your teacher.
How does a business work?
Homework activity: draw a flow chart of how a business works – the cycle of money from customer to business to wholesaler to manufacturer to raw materials supplier.
Extension Questions
Philosophy and thinking questions will be posted on the Philosophy page on the class wiki and students are encouraged to participate in the discussion forums on that site. Think, discuss and post a response on the discussion page. (For those with limited internet/computer access, responses may be handwritten, typed or emailed from your school account).
- Where do I fit into the ‘100 people’ in the Miniature Earth concept?
- What is wealth?
- What is the ‘poverty line’? Is it different for each country?
- India, China, America, Australia – rich or poor?
- How does an economy work?
- Who are Australia’s major trading partners and what do they trade?
- How does microcredit help those most in need?
- In what ways are China and India important to Australia’s economy?
- Why might people be suggesting that India and China are the new economic powerhouses of the 21st C global economy?
- Can you add questions of your own for others to discuss?
