Contemporary Social Studies

Project Plan

Project Plan: ECI 525

South America: A Farming Economy

Lesson Goal(s): To introduce students to the farming and agriculture economy of South America, providing students with a firm understanding of the hardships that many countries in South America must endure.

Instructional Objectives:

Students will play the game 3^rd World Farmer to illustrate the life a farmer might have in South America

Students will engage in a class discussion comparing and contrasting the game to what they already know about the farming economy in South America. Students will complete a Venn diagram comparing the game with prior knowledge.

Students will be able to explain how the allocation of specific resources requires economic systems to make important decisions regarding the production and distribution of goods and services.

NCSCoS Standards (6^th grade):

Competency Goal 5: The learner will evaluate the ways people of South America and Europe make decisions about the allocation and use of economic resources

Objective 5.03 Explain how the allocation of scarce resources requires economic systems to make basic decisions regarding the production and distribution of goods and services, and evaluate the impact on the standard of living in selected societies and regions of South America and Europe.

Competency Goal 6: The learner will recognize the relationship between economic activity and the quality of life in South America and Europe.

Objective 6.01 Describe different levels of economic development and assess their connections to standard of living indicators such as purchasing power, literacy rate, and life expectancy.

Materials:

Class set of laptops/access to computer lab with internet capabilities

30 copies of Venn Diagram activity

Overhead projector

Transparency of Venn Diagram

Focus/Review (10-15 minutes): Review what students already know about the economy of South America. Ask questions about the different crops that South America yields and the importance of farming with regards to South America?s economy. Shortly debrief 3^rd World Farmer. Ensure all students know computer lab rules. Walk students to computer lab and go over more specific instructions for the game 3^rd World Farmer. Pass out Venn diagram activity.

Student Activity (25-30 minutes): Students will play the game 3^rd World Farmer. Explain to students that some may not be able to finish the game due to time constraints. The longer you play, the better your farming community is doing. As students are playing the game, they should be filling out the appropriate circles in the Venn diagram activity. How is 3^rd World Farmer different from the economy in South America? How is it similar? After 20-25 minutes of pure playing, students are to pack up and return to the room.

Summary/Closure (10-15 minutes): Discuss the experience of 3^rd World farmer. Was it what students expected? What were some of the hardships they had to overcome? How did they survive? Put the transparency of the Venn diagram up on the overhead. Have students state what they thought were comparisons between the game and the actually economy of South America and what they thought was different between the two.

Assessment: Have students complete Venn diagram for homework if not already done so in class. Use Venn diagram as a participation grade.

Posted by slcarte2 ( Nov 05 2007, 06:55:37 PM EST ) Permalink Comments [0]