The World Bank Educational Resources

This site, developed by the World Bank Group, features an extensive collection of educational resources for teachers and students related to international development. Explore countries and regions, establish linkages with schools in the developing world, search databases, or take an online quiz. This web site is a great resource.

UN CyberSchoolBus

The United Nations CyberSchool Bus web site is an excellent source for global studies resources. It features information about various aspects of international development. A good place to go for units, lessons, and curricula.

World Wise Schools, which is sponsored by the Peace Corps, offers a wealth of information and resources related to increasing international and cultural understanding among students. This site features lesson plans, curricula, video resources, and information about opportunities for students to correspond with current and past Peace Corps Volunteers.

Education for Global Citizenship and Social Responsibility

The authors of this article challenge prevailing conventional thinking that says that our primary educational purpose must now be to educate students for the competitive global workplace. They invite us to think about the notion of global citizenship, and ask ourselves whether our educational institutions are meeting their mission of educating citizens, not just workers and consumers. They provide inspiring stories of teachers who are educating for this expanded notion of citizenship and provide concrete principles and numerous resources to help teachers in this worthy endeavor.

This lesson plan is intended to allow students and teachers to work together to evaluate facts from the 1998 United Nations Human Development Report. Students learn how to interpret the United Nations Human Development Reports and understand the relevance and use of the human development index in offering insight into a nation and its challenges.

Population Growth: Friend or Foe?

The environment has recently been the focus of much research and discussion. Because productive resources are limited, it is important that we use resources wisely to ensure that resources will be available for use in future generations. Of concern to both environmentalists and economists are the trends in the world's population.

Daily Activity Schedules

Developed by the Peace Corps, this lesson is meant to identify the routine labor demands of girls and boys in their daily lives. The lesson will also allow students to compare their own lives to the lives of teenage children living in less developed countries.

Testing Bangladesh’s Water: Evaluating an Environmental Crisis in the Geography Classroom

In this lesson, students assess the causes and effects of massive arsenic contamination in the water supplies of 43 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. Students evaluate why this contamination occurred, how it affects the population of Bangladesh, and why this environmental catastrophe is proving so difficult to solve.

Tending to the Greenhouse: Examining Causes, Effects, and Solutions for Global Warming

Students investigate global warming through initial discussion of recent findings of an 11-day lengthening of the growing season caused by warmer temperatures. Students then work in small groups, acting as "organizations" concerned with the trends in global warming, to research and propose solutions for restricting greenhouse gases.

"Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink"

In this lesson, students investigate the importance of water historically and in their daily lives and examine the nature of water as a limited resource. Students work in groups to research technological systems that have aimed to use water in the most productive ways, evaluate those systems, and create "How It Works" posters of those systems that incorporate their research.

Fishing for Solutions: Proposals to Solving the Global Overfishing Problem in the Classroom

In this lesson, students investigate the many ecological and economic issues related to overfishing the world's marine resources. Working in committees, students will research the related topics of equipment and fishing techniques, economic impact, "by-catch," environmental impact and pollution, and ecosystem preservation, culminating in the drafting of statements addressed to the other committees and to the United Nations regarding their topics and proposals.

An Appreciation of the World's Ever-Shrinking Rain Forests

This unit integraes the social and scientific causes leading to the devastation of the world's rain forests. It is an integrated approach to life science, social studies and computer technology. The teacher and students will explore the causes of rain forest devastation from a variety of approaches. Both actual and potential destruction will be investigated including man's struggle to stop the damage.

Hands-On Science for Teaching Rain Forest Ecosystems

The basic premise for the materials provided is to teach about rain forest ecosystems--focusing primarily on the tropical forests of Latin America. The subject is not that simple, however. The issue is not really the cutting down of trees. In order to successfully teach this unit, one has to get the students to think globally and incorporate ideas of the worldwide ramifications of forest destruction. I have provided several different types of laboratory experiences regarding the atmosphere, pollution and the effects of rain forest destruction. Also included are labs dealing with the subjects of archeology, and chemical weathering of artifacts.

The Techno Rainforest

Through interactive hands-on discovery labs, students will learn about how a rainforest grows, how birds and animals camouflage themselves, and simulate the greenhouse effect in regards to global warming.

Tropical Rain Forest

The topic of the rain forest is a very interesting and controversial topic. Topics that students are studying need to be able to reach out and grab their attention. The controversial aspect of the Rain Forest will do just that. Do you save the Rain Forest and help solve many of the world's problems or do you let the forest continue to be burned-and-cut so people will have farms and jobs? Students will research these different aspects in their Science and Language Arts classes. They will use various ways of obtaining information; the Internet, CD ROM, books, etc The Rain Forest is an ideal topic because it builds off of information they are learning in Social Studies. Latin America contains a great deal of the world's tropical rain forests and the rain forest is a political and economic issue. It is also a global environmental issue. The goal for our students is to become familiar with the rain forest and how it environmentally affects the world. After using the above methods of research the student's will make their own judgments of how the rain forest affects them in their world.

Why is there Pollution in Mexico City?

The teacher and students will explore the causes of air pollution in Mexico City from a holistic approach. To this end the unit is made up of three lessons, one each for algebra, biology, and English.

Epidemic Proportions: Researching Epidemics in the Math Classroom

In this lesson, students research various epidemics that have devastated the world population at various points in history. They then share and calculate statistics obtained in their research and develop graphs comparing and contrasting how different epidemics affected the global population.

Invisible Invaders: Analyzing the Effects of Epidemics on Different Aspects of Society

Students research various epidemics that have devastated the world population at different points in history, focusing on the historical events taking place during the times of the epidemics and the epidemics’ effects on these societies. Each student then imagines that he or she is living during the time of the outbreak of the epidemic researched in class and writes diary entries discussing how the epidemic is affecting his or her life and various aspects of society.

Solutions or Impossibilities? HIV Prevention for African Children

Students analyze maps for clues as to why children and mothers in both urban and rural areas of Africa may not be able to fight HIV the same way as those in wealthier countries could. Based on their knowledge of effective programs for HIV awareness, prevention, and treatment in the United States, students then develop an essay detailing possible solutions to curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa.

Proof of the Primate-ive Roots of AIDS: Investigating Disease Epidemics in the Science Classroom

In this lesson, students learn about recent breakthroughs in H.I.V. and AIDS research, as well as research various epidemics that have devastated the world population at various points in history.

The Fight for Human Rights

In this lesson, students explore the concept of human rights by developing and defending their own "Bills of Human Rights" and by writing a reflective essay that compares their notions of human rights and the protection of them to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Whose Rights are Right?

In this lesson plan, students consider the concept of "human rights" in relation to the current conditions and history of East Timor.

Chiapas: Where is it, Why Should We Care, and What is the EZLN?

The main objective of this unit is to have the students gain an understanding of the history and current status of the EZLN including the ongoing peace negotiations and goals of the EZLN. The students will also participate in mock negotiations and play the roles of the EZLN, landowners, campesinos, and the government. The lesson also has as an objective the development in the student of objective reporting skills.

Human Rights in Latin America: The Death Squads

Students will divide into groups of 3 or 4 and research human rights issues, particularly the organization and practice of Death Squads in El Salvador, Colombia, and Guatemala. A fourth group will study the United States' reactions to the Death Squads, focusing on two aspects: official U.S. policy and the Sanctuary Movement. This group could be larger or even divided into two groups if desired. More than one group could do the same country, particularly El Salvador, given the vast amount of materials available. The work will take place both in and out of class and last approximately 3 weeks, at which time the groups will present their findings. Students will be encouraged to use various media in their presentations, including photos, music, video, charts and reports.

Using Cartograms to Learn about Latin American Demographics

In this lesson, students will make their own cartograms, one illustrating the population of Western Hemisphere nations, and the other showing Gross Domestic Product. In the final stage of the lesson, students will compare and contrast two cartograms, one for population, and the other for Gross Domestic Product.

Urbanization in the Amazon Basin: Can Indigenous People Survive?

"Urbanization in The Amazon Basin" is designed for use in a high school geography course, although it will fit nicely in history, language, and contemporary issues classes as well. Using the Amazon Basin as its setting, the lesson highlights the concept of urbanization, and focuses on the effects of urbanization and modernization on indigenous peoples, particularly those in Rondonia, a state in Brazil. Using geography skills, students will investigate issues surrounding urbanization and its effect on in digenous peoples, and pose possible solutions to current conflicts. This is an issues based, inquiry lesson using real data. This lesson is ideally administered in a "movement" unit in geography or a Latin American history unit. Some background on the physical geography of the Amazon is required.

Tribes and Tribulations: Exploring South African History in the Social Studies Classroom

In this lesson, students explore South African history from pre-colonial times to today. First, students examine various South African tribes, focusing on traditional structures, the effects of colonialism, and the function of those tribes as a central South African government has formed. Students then create a timeline of important events in South African history and reflect on connections between this historical timeline and the existence of tribal traditions in the country.

Protecting Holy Cows

In this lesson, students reflect on and research how humans affect animal life, plant life, and environmental conditions of specific biomes, particularly due to pollution and industrialization.

Joint Center for International Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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© 1999 UWM - Joint Center for International Studies
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