The World We Live In Unit

CA State Standards Addressed

10.10 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East, Africa, Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and China.

1.  Understand the challenges in the regions, including their geopolitical, cultural, military, and economic significance and the international relationships in which they are involved.

2.  Describe the recent history of the regions, including political divisions and systems, key leaders, religious issues, natural features, resources, and population patterns.

3.  Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.

In this unit you will serve as a CIA operative assigned to become an expert on one contemporary (current) country of the world. You will then be prepared to present your findings to the class in the form of a brief 5-10 slide debrief. There will be a series of assignments that you will complete that will prepare you for this culminating activity. You will be provided at least two days weekly with computers.

Assignment #1- I-search

Complete country research using the recording sheet attached. The information can be found at the CIA Factbook Website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

You can find a link to this website and others on my class website.

Assignment #2-

Complete one current event related to your country. Post a link to the article on Moodle “Country Current Event.” Include a summary of what we will learn from the link and how the content of the article might influence individual freedom or democracy in their country or ours.

Assignment #3-

Create a PowerPoint or Similar Presentation to debrief the class on your research in item 1 above. You might try Google Presentation or Prezi if you are in the mood to learn a new technology. You must have slides that include the following:

1.  A map that shows your country and surrounding countries.

2.  The challenges your country is currently facing.

3.  A recent history of your country- leaders, religious issues, resource issues

4.  Important trends in your country’s region today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy.

Assignment #4-

Obtain a map of one of the following regions of the world: Africa, the America’s, Europe or Asia. Locate and label all of the countries on the map. Memorize their locations for a test.

Assignment #5-

This will be a two or three day test of your knowledge of the contemporary world (the world today). On day one you will be provided a country to study. You will have the entire period to study that country, take notes, outline, etc. On day two you will write your report. The thesis of your paper will be. . . If the trends in ______continue, the future of freedom and democracy will be . . .

Your paper will then be electronically submitted to “Turn It In.”