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Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization

Students examine items that they use in everyday life; the origins of those items; and the political, economic, environmental or social impacts of those items in relation to globalization.

Instructional Support

A number of possible tasks are provided in this suggested activity. It is not intended that you work through all of the tasks, but rather select those tasks and resources that will best meet the learning needs of your students. The focus should be on ensuring that students have the background and support to be successful with the skill that is the focus for assessment (analyze opportunities and challenges of globalization).

Setting the Context for Learning

• Ask students if they have heard of the hundred mile challenge. Explain for those who haven't that this is an attempt by individuals to consume only what is grown and produced within a one hundred mile radius of where they live. Encourage students to discuss how easy or difficult this would be.

• Mention to students that Aboriginal societies have always placed a high value on sustainability. Aboriginal societies emphasize respect for, and care of, plant and animal life that sustains current and future generations. This way of life supports stewardship of the environment, people and future generations.

• Invite students to think about the items they use in their everyday lives. Where do these items originate?

• Let students know that as they work through their inquiry over the next several classes, they will be working on the skills that they need in order to be successful with the Summative Assessment Task: A Day in Your Life [pic].

• Share the summative assessment task and the assessment task rubric [pic] with students. Point out the different parts of the task, and let students know that they will be working on the various parts of the task as the classes proceed.

• The language of the assessment task rubric is clarified through the formative assessment opportunities provided for each suggested activity. The boldfaced descriptive words in the rubric are also clarified in the Summative Assessment Task Rubric Glossary [pic].

Analyze Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization

• Have students choose one or more items they use in their lives and consider questions such as the following in relation to the item(s) they have selected:

o Who produces the item? 

o Why is the item produced? What is its purpose?

o Where is the item produced?

o Where are the resources located that are used to produce the item?

o What is involved in the production, distribution, sale and purchase of the item?

o Who or what is positively or negatively affected by the production and sale of the item?

o Are there any issues related to the production and sale of the item that need to be addressed?

Students may need to investigate any questions they don't have answers to in order to gain accurate information.

• You may wish to have students who have selected similar items work together and share information from their inquiry.

• Assist students in making the connection between the production and sale of items on their list and the concept of globalization.

• Remind students that globalization doesn't exist in a vacuum. There is a direct link between our individual lives and globalization, including a link between items that we choose to purchase and the political, economic, environmental and human impacts that these purchases have on society.

• Encourage students to consider a variety of aspects of globalization related to their item(s); in particular, encourage them to consider issues of:

o sustainability (e.g., Are the resources used to produce the item easily renewable? Can the production of the item last for a long time with more positive than negative impacts? Are considerations made for the long-term sustainability of the resource for future generations?)

o prosperity (e.g., Who economically benefits or makes a profit from the production of the item? Do the economic benefits from the item outweigh its impact on people's lives and on the environment?)

o land use (e.g., Is the use of land in producing this item sustainable?)

o resource use (e.g., Are the resources used to produce this item sustainable?)

o impact on humanity (e.g., Does the production of this item result in mostly positive or mostly negative impacts on humanity?)

• Do some pre-assessment to determine student understanding of the terms and, where required, provide additional instructional support within the context of current issues under discussion and study. It is not intended that students receive direct instruction in vocabulary definitions and recall of terms.

• The following links may be helpful in continuing with the banana example as presented in the summative assessment task. Additional links are provided in the Suggested Supporting Resources section.

o Dole Bananas

o Chiquita Bananas

o High Price of Cheap Bananas

o The Journey of Bananas: From Land to Your Hand

o Bananas Unpeeled

Also, the political, economic, environmental and social impacts of the commercial production and global sale of bananas are examined on pages 50–55 of McGraw-Hill Ryerson's Exploring Globalization.

• It may be helpful to review with students the concept of quality of life that has been threaded through previous social studies courses. Judging Quality of Life, from LearnAlberta.ca, is an activity that could be used or adapted.

• Ask students to analyze how the production and sale of their items shows how globalization presents both opportunities and challenges. In their analysis, students need to go beyond simply identifying items in their life that are a result of globalization and sharing information about their production; rather, they must explain what they see as the positive and negative economic, political, environmental and/or social (human) impacts associated with their selected items.

• Prompt students to extend their thinking about impact by asking the following questions:

o What is the connection between your item and the sustainability of the environment?

o Whose prosperity is increased because of your item?

o Whose prosperity is decreased because of your item?

o Whose quality of life is increased because of your item?

o Whose quality of life is decreased because of your item?

o How long are the resources used to make your item likely to last?

o What effect does the creation of your item have on the people who produce it and on the area where it is produced?

• Consider suggesting a variety of ways for students to organize their brainstorming about the opportunities and challenges of globalization. Charts, mind maps or webs could be useful organizational tools.

Formative Assessment

Throughout this suggested activity, you will support students in achieving the following skill that is the focus for assessment:

• analyze opportunities and challenges of globalization

The following formative assessment opportunity is provided to help students unpack and develop the focus skill for assessment. Feedback prompts are also provided to help students enhance their demonstration of the focus skill for this activity. Formative assessment support is not intended to generate a grade or score.

Formative Assessment: Assessment for Learning Opportunity

Analyze Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization

Involve students in a think-pair-share activity to provide and receive feedback on the perceptiveness of their analysis of the opportunities and challenges of globalization. Use the feedback prompts below to provide structure in guiding students through this formative assessment opportunity.

Feedback Prompts:

• Have I identified positive and negative consequences of globalization?

• Have I provided accurate information about the impact or consequences of globalization?

• Does my analysis link to the following aspects and impacts of globalization?

o sustainability

o prosperity

o land use

o resource use

o impact on humanity

These feedback prompts can be posted on an interactive white board or bulletin board, or incorporated into a feedback tool that can be copied for student use. Samples of tools created for a similar skill within a different formative assessment context may be found in the Social Studies 10-4 Formative Assessment Summary [pic].

Linking to the Summative Assessment Task

• As students complete their analysis of the opportunities and challenges of globalization through the suggested activity Opportunities and Challenges of Globalization, they will have completed the first portion of the Summative Assessment Task: A Day in Your Life [pic].

• Students should consult the assessment task and the assessment task rubric [pic] to ensure that they have provided the information required.

• Encourage students to use the feedback received during the formative assessment opportunity to make enhancements to their work in progress.

• If necessary, continue to use the feedback prompts from the formative assessment opportunity to coach students toward completion of a quality product.

Suggested Supporting Resources

Textbook References

Student Basic Resource—Oxford University Press, Living in a Globalizing World:

• Pages 176–177 Implications and Consequences of Globalization

• Page 183 Understandings of Economic Globalization

Student Basic Resource—McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Exploring Globalization:

• Pages 50–55 How Is Identity Affected by Some Economic, Political, Environmental, and Social Dimensions of Globalization?

Teaching Resource—Oxford University Press, Living in a Globalizing World:

• RM 0.3 Analyzing & Discussing Issues 

• RM 0.22 Organizer to Present an Informed Position

• RM 1.1 Global Connections

• RM 9.1 Chocolate—What's the Real Story?

• AM 1 Demonstrating Understanding Rubric

• AM 2 Generating & Organizing Ideas Rubric

• AM 3 Considering Multiple Perspectives Rating Scale

• AM 4 Considering Multiple Perspectives & Viewpoints Rubric

• AM 12 Defending a Position Rubric

• AM 15 Discussing Issues Rating Scale

Teaching Resource—Oxford University Press, Understandings of Ideologies:

• RM 3.6 Presenting an Informed Position

• RM 10.4 Skill Path: Analyzing Positions on an Issue and Developing Your Own Position

Web Resources

Web Links for Online Sources:

Note: The vocabulary found in some of these links may be challenging for students. You may wish to use certain sites for your own reference only.

• Dole Bananas website

• Chiquita Bananas website

• The Toronto Star—article: High Price of Cheap Bananas

• One Green Planet website—article: The Human and Environmental Impact of Bananas

• The Guardian website—Green Living Blog section: What's the Carbon Footprint of … a Banana?

Knowledge and Employability Studio (Social Studies): 

• Self-assessment Checklist: 10-4.3 Globalization and the Economy [pic]

Videos:

• website: The Journey of Bananas: From Land to Your Hand

• Vimeo website: Bananas Unpeeled

Distributed Learning/Tools4Teachers Resources:

• LearnAlberta.ca: Social Studies 10-2 Module 5: Stewardship and Sustainable Prosperity

Critical Challenges:

• LearnAlberta.ca:

o Creating Sustainable Prosperity

o Globalization and Free Market Conditions

o Transnational Corporations and the Interests of the Country

o The Tools of Economic Globalization

o Judging Quality of Life

Stories and Other Media (e.g., films, stories/literature, nonfiction, graphic novels)

• Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet, by Carol Off (nonfiction, Random House Canada)

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