INTERDEPENDENCE

Fred Willman

Preview of Main Ideas

Students learn about many of the problems facing the countries of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. They do so by representing the countries of these regions, having to face their real problems, and then trying to solve them. In the process they learn that countries are dependent upon each other and affected by each other in many ways.

Connection with the Curriculum

This activity can be taught in either geography or social studies classes.

Teaching Level: Grades 5-8 (particularly 7^th or 8^th grade).

Objective Classification Outline (Also see objectives classification matrix below.)

Objective #1: The student will understand how and why countries interact with each other.

Essential Element: Human Systems.

Standard #11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement #2: The basis for Global Interdependence.

Skill Set #5: Answering geographic questions.

Skill #1: Develop and present combinations of geographic information to answer geographic questions.

Theme: Human-Environment Interaction.

Essential Element: Human Systems.

Standard #13: How forces of cooperation and conflict among people contribute to economic and social divisions of Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement #3: How cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.

Skill Set #5: Answering geographic questions.

Skill #1: Develop and present combinations of geographic inforamtion to answer geographic questions.

Theme: Human-Environment Interaction

Objective #2: The student will learn some of the specific problems facing countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia.

Essential Element: Human Systems.

Standard #11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement #2: The basis for global interdependence.

Skill Set #1: Asking geographic questions.

Skill #1: Identify geographic issues, define geographic problems, and pose geographic questions.

Theme: Place.

Objective #3: The student will have the opportunity to interact with others to solve serious, real life issues. (This objective is not directly related to the geography standards.)

Materials

The only materials needed are the papers provided with this lesson and a pencil.

Suggestions for Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

1.      Pass out the interdependence map and the country description sheets. Explain that students will be studying this imaginary place called Interdependence made of 15 countries. Assign one or two people to represent each country. Read the country descriptions to the students so they are familiar with them.

2.      Now hand out each country's top-secret information slip to the people from each country. You will need to cut up the Top Secret Information sheets into individual slips. Students are not to share this information with people from other countries.

Developing the Lesson

1.      Now hand out the News Flash sheets and ask students to respond to the situations in writing. They are allowed to as questions and make comments in class before making their decisions. It would be a good idea to have students decide upon and discuss the first couple of News Flash crises in class before asking them to write their responses to the rest.

2.      Hand out the Interdependence Score Sheet to the students representing each country. Now discuss what countries to chose to do in each of the crisis situations. As they do this, have them categorize their responses under one of four headings on the score sheet which are Good, Bad, Good and Bad, and Do Nothing. Good means they did something to help those in trouble. Bad means they did something to hurt those in trouble. Good and bad means they did some of both. Do Nothing means they choice to stay uninvolved.

Concluding the Lesson

1.      When discussions of all the crisis situations is finished, ask students to tally up all their goods, bads, goods and bads, and do nothings. Now have them add their good, bads, and goods and bads together. These are situations in which they chose to become involved somehow. How many times did they choose to become involved in some way rather than remain uninvolved and do nothing? Add up the results of all the countries into class totals for all categories. Point out how often countries chose to become involved in some way because it was in their best interest to do so. Point out that if it is often in a country's best interests to get involved with other countries, it would be wise for them to become knowledgeable about international affairs so that the best possible decisions would be made by them. Discuss ways that negative actions could be made into positive ones. Discuss the meaning of the terms interdependence and global issues.

2.      Now reveal to students that they have actually been studying South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia all along by having them turn the map upside down and hand out the paper called "The Secrets of Interdependence." Read and discuss it with them.

Extending the Lesson

1.      Specific regions or countries in this part of the world could now be studied.

2.      Students could be asked to pick three or four countries from this part of the world, identify the three biggest problems of each of them, and propose solutions to those problems. Through this activity students become aware of the complexity of the problems and the difficulty in solving them.

Assessing the Lesson

Describe each of the countries in South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia and ask students to identify them after reading their descriptions. Then ask students to list the various methods available to countries to deal with national and international problems and to list some of the pros and cons of these actions.

Acknowledgements

I thank Jesse Markow who had the original idea of this lesson. I added to and refined his creative blueprint.

 

GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS CLASSIFICATION MATRIX – GRADES           7-9   

Title:          Interdependence          Author:     Jesse Markow and Fred Willman

Note:  See also Objectives Classification Outline in the lesson.

Handouts

Handout A

Handout B/C

INTERDEPENDENCE

Here is some information about the countries in this imaginary and complex place.

AMNESIA--This country is agricultural, fairly poor, has few natural resources and is communistic.  It has a small,
     well-trained, well-equipped military.  It wants to industrialize.

DOGPATCH--This is a mountainous, isolated, poor, backward, landlocked, sparsely populated country with few natural
     resources.  It has no armed forces and is a monarchy.

FOO-TSI--There are proud, independent people in this ancient country, which has a constitutional monarchy.  They are a
     major producer and exporter of food.  They have a peaceful country and adequate armed forces to defend themselves.
     The people earn a moderate income.  The population has been increasing fairly rapidly.

GLEP--This democratic country is fairly heavily populated by poor people who work at a variety of jobs.  Their armed
     forces are large, modern, and powerful.  They have some differences of opinion with neighboring Triscuit over religious
     beliefs and some disputed territory in the southern part of the country. 

KOALA--This is a massively overpopulated, poor, agricultural country with no natural resources Except for their rich soil
     and abundant rainfall.  They have a small, weak military.  The government is democratic, but occasionally becomes a
     military dictatorship during times of crisis.  Devastating cyclones hit this low, flat country occasionally.

NARNIA--This small, agricultural country grows enough food or itself, but has no other natural resources.  The people are
     fairly poor in this communist country with a small military force of mostly guerrilla fighters.

OUTLANDISH--Few people live in this windy, dry, grassland country.  The people are poor and Isolated.  They raise
     livestock to survive.  They are a newly democratic country that is afraid of their powerful, communist neighbor, Ungava.
     They have a very small military made up of fierce fighters.

PASTA--This is a wealthy, heavily industrialized, heavily populated, constitutional monarch That relies heavily on trade to
     survive.  They cannot grow nearly enough food for all their people and they have no natural resources.  Their small
     armed forces is meant only to defend itself, not to attack others.  Natural disasters such as earthquakes and violent
     storms seriously hurt this mountainous country from time to time.

PING--This newly industrialized country is improving quickly in their standard of living.  Trade has become very important
     to them.  They have a military dictatorship and a large, modern, powerful aggressive armed forces.  This fairly heavily
     populated country also has much agriculture.

PONG--The people of Pong are not doing anywhere near as well as those in Ping.  The country is even more heavily
     populated than Ping, less industrialized, and less agricultural.  It has no natural resources and is communistic.  The people
     are very poor.  They are very envious of Ping's success.  They have a large, powerful, aggressive armed forces and have
     nuclear weapons. 

RIFF-RAFF--This democratic country has a large population, which is unevenly distributed on its mountainous islands.
     There are many different cultural groups living in this country.  They are a major exporter of oil.  Their armed forces are
     adequate to defend themselves.  A few people are wealthy, there is a small middle class, but most of the people are fairly
     poor in this largely agricultural country.

TRISCUIT--This heavily overpopulated country is both agricultural and industrial.  It is able to feed its gigantic population,
     but just barely.  The population is growing at an alarmingly high rate.  Most people are very poor.  There is a large, fairly
     well trained military in this democratic country.  They have nuclear weapons.  They are having border disputes with both
     Ungava and Glep.  They do have some useful natural resources.

UNGAVA--This is a very heavily populated country which has even more people than Triscuit.  But the population growth
     rate is now much lower than Triscuit.  A nuclear power with large and powerful armed forces, this communist country is
     a force to be reckoned with in this part of the world. The people are poor, but have enough to eat thanks to major
     agricultural production.  They also have industry that is beginning to rapidly increase.  They have abundant natural
     resources.  They have remained isolated from the rest of the world for many years but are now starting to become much
     more involved in trade.  They have a border dispute with Triscuit.  An ethnic group near Dogpatch wants their
     independence from Ungava.

WALDO--This small, poor, heavily populated island country is democratic and largely agricultural, although there is some
     industry.  Waldo has internal problems between two cultural groups with different religions and languages.  One group
     came from Triscuit and is being discriminated against by the native inhabitants.  The military is small and barely adequate
     to take care of conflicts within the country. 

WANNA--This heavily populated island country is doing quite well.  It has a steadily improving standard of living because
     of the hard working, well educated people who have both agriculture and industry in their strict, yet democratic,
     country.  The armed forces are small, but well trained and equipped.  Trade is important to these people because they
     have little mineral wealth.  They are trying to increase trade even more.  Natural disasters such as volcanoes,
     earthquakes, and typhoons occur occasionally and can be quite devastating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Handout D/E

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - AMNESIA

They dislike and distrust Ungava.  They would like to conquer Narnia.  They dislike Foo-Tsi.  They envy Wanna. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION  - DOGPATCH

They must stay neutral in international affairs because they are so weak.  They rely on Triscuit for help, so they try to cooperate and agree with Triscuit whenever they can.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - FOO-TSI

They want to maintain their long history of independence, so they try to avoid taking sides in international disputes.  They need foreign investors to build more industries.  Until they do, they must trade food to industrialized countries for manufactured goods.  They want peace in their region so there will be fewer refugees trying to enter their country.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - GLEP

Glep dislikes Triscuit because of strong religious differences and a dispute over land in the southern parts of both countries.  Glep does not want Ungava to gain any more power. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - KOALA

Koala needs any kind of loans or foreign aid it can get from any country because it is so desperately poor.  It will promise almost any favor to any country to get what it needs.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - NARNIA

Narnia is very afraid of Amnesia trying to conquer them.  Narnia would like to make some friends with some powerful countries that would help protect them and provide money to improve this very poor country.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - OUTLANDISH

They distrust and fear Ungava.  They cannot do anything to upset Ungava too much.  They must trade and get foreign aid and investment to survive.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - PASTA

They badly need Riff-Raff's oil and Foo-Tsi's food.  They will gladly trade industrial products to get these things.  Ungava, Ping, and Wanna are all becoming serious rivals for trade.  Pasta must do something to out compete these new rivals. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - PING

Ping wants Pong to collapse and join Ping to form Ping Pong.  Ping does not want Ungava to take over Pong.  Ping wants to take away some of Pasta's trade with other countries.  They also want to take away some of Wanna's customers.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - PONG

Pong hates Ping and wants to conquer it.  Pong needs Ungava's economic support to survive, so they try to agree with Ungava whenever they can.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - RIFF-RAFF

They use their large oil supply to get countries to do what they want before they sell it to them. They want more power and respect.  They envy Pasta, Wanna, and Ping.  They have internal problems with militant cultural groups who want their independence.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - TRISCUIT

Triscuit does not get along well with Koala, Waldo, or Glep.  But Ungava is an even bigger threat, so, if forced to take sides, Triscuit would support these three against Ungava.  Triscuit must not give up any of the land it is having a dispute over with Ungava unless it gets something important to return.  It cannot lose more than half the land Glep claims to own.  Triscuit badly needs foreign aid of any kind for economic development and human services.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - UNGAVA

Ungava cannot let Ping and Pong become one country.  They must industrialize more, trade more, and compete with Pasta and Ping.  They want to conquer Wanna.  It used to be part of Ungava long ago.  They want communism to return to Outlandish.  They want Amnesia and Narnia to remain communistic.  They would like to settle their border differences with Triscuit.  They have serious problems with an ethnic group by Dogpatch that wants their freedom.  Other minorities might follow if this first group succeeds. 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - WALDO

Waldo distrusts Triscuit and fears that Triscuit will interfere to defend an ethnic group from Triscuit  that is being mistreated in Waldo.  Waldo needs to trade.  They need more foreign investment for industry, too.  They must not make Triscuit mad enough to cause problems.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

TOP SECRET INFORMATION - WANNA

Wanna hates Ungava.  Trade rivals are Pasta and Ping.  They need fuel and raw materials.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Handout F/G

Name:_______________________Country:_______________Period:_____Score:____Grade:

NEWS FLASHES. How should your country react to each of these crises?

#1        A cyclone has hit Koala.  Flooding has killed thousands and left ten times as many people homeless.  Food supplies have been destroyed.  The threat of disease epidemics is great.  How will your country react?

#2        Ungava has moved troops to its border with Foo-Tsi.  It claims Foo-Tsi is allowing opium poppies used to produce heroin to be grown in remote regions near its border with Ungava.  The herion is being smuggled into Ungava and sold.  Their accusations are probably true since Foo-Tsi has been trafficking illegal drugs from many years.  How will your country react?

#3        Citizens from Glep are sneaking across the border into Triscuit and living in the disputed territory claimed by both Glep and Triscuit.  Triscuit is arresting these illegal aliens and punishing them.  Triscuit is demanding that Glep patrol its borders better.  Glep says its borders are within Triscuit.  They demand the immediate release of those arrested claiming they have done nothing wrong.  The threat of war has escalated between these countries.  How should your country react?

#4        Ungava declares it will refuse to trade with or give aid to any country that recognizes Wanna as a country or trades with them.  How does your country react to this statement?

#5        Pasta has bee struck by a powerful earthquake that has caused incredible damage.  Their economy has been seriously disrupted and hurt because of all the industries and office buildings that were destroyed.  How will your country react?

#6        A civil war has started in Waldo between the two conflicting cultural groups there.  It is a violent and bitter war.  How should your country react?

#7        For some reason Ungava is sending massive quantities of soldiers, military equipment, and supplies to the eastern parts of its country.  How will your country react?

#8        Pong's food supplies run out after a very poor harvest.  Hunger, malnutrition, and even starvation loom ahead during the upcoming winter.  How does your country react?

#9        Riff-Raff threatens to raise drastically oil prices to any country that will not buy certain amounts of other Riff-Raff products.  Many are products the other countries do not need.  Even with this increase in the price of oil, it is still slightly cheaper to buy oil from Riff-Raff than Middle East countries because of lower transportation costs.  What will your country do?

#10      Amnesia invades Narnia.  How should your country react?

#11      Dogpatch is facing economic and environmental disaster because they have deforested their mountain slopes for firewood.  Erosion and lack of fuel have left the people cold and hungry, since the soil in which they grow their food washed away.  How will your country react?

#12      Triscuit's ability to feed and provide jobs for its gigantic population cannot keep up with its rapid rate of population increase.  Triscuit is steadily becoming poorer, the people are losing faith in their government, and the future looks dim.  What is your country's response?

#13      Wanna, Ping, and Ungava greatly increase their industrial efficiency and capacity.  They flood the world market with many products.  They are forced to reduce prices greatly in order to sell them.  This action hurts their economies, but especially hurts Pasta, which must sell its products for reasonable prices to survive.  As a result of all this, a deep recession occurs in this part of the world.  What will your country do?

#14      It is discovered that Ungava is carrying on illegal underground nuclear testing somewhere in western frontier, despite signing a treaty agreeing not to do so.  How will your country react?

#15      Both Riff-Raff and Amnesia decide to enforce a 200 mile offshore fishing limit.  That action means countries must get permission to fish within 200 miles of each country's coastline.  The enforcement especially hurts Pasta but other countries, too.  Pasta, needs all the food it can get.  What is your reaction?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Handout H

Interdependence Score Sheet

Name:__________________________Period:____ G:___B:___G/B:__N:___

Country:_______________________ G + B + G/B=___ DN=

News Flash        Good           Bad           Good and Bad         Do Nothing

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

What conclusions can your reach after looking over the results on this score sheet?

Write them on the back of this paper.  Write a paragraph of at least five sentences.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Handout I/J

The Secrets of Interdependence

Interdependence is not really an imaginary place.  It is East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia upside down.  Here is who the countries really represent:

The crisis situations that occurred were not made up.  They were based on real events.  Here is a summary of them.

#1        Bangladesh is regularly hit by very destructive cyclones.

#2        There is a place called "The Golden Triangle" where large amounts of opium poppies are grown.  It is located where the borders of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar come together.

#3        Pakistan and India have had a dispute for many years over Jammu and Kashmir, which are located in the northern parts of both countries.  China even claims to own a mountainous region nearby that is also claimed by India. 

#4        China and Taiwan do not recognize each other as countries since the communists took over the government of what
            is today China.  They forced the non-communists to flee to the island of Formosa and create their own country,
            which they call Taiwan.

#5        Japan is sitting along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," the edge of an enormous tectonic plate along which there are frequent volcanoes and earthquakes.  These have struck Japan regularly for many centuries.

#6        Sri Lanka has a serious problem between Sindhs and Tamils.  The Tamils, from India, are Hindus and are discriminated against by the Buddhist Sindhs.  India has threatened to interfere before.

#7        China conquered Tibet in 1954.  Tibetans still want their independence, like some other small ethnic groups on the fringes of China.  From time to time China has sent troops to its borders because of disputes with the former Soviet Union and India.

#8        North Korea has faced economic hardship for years.  But communist China and the former Soviet Union have supported them financially.  Now that the Soviet Union no longer exists and communism is not as popular as it used to be, North Korea faces even tougher times ahead.  They have accepted grain from their mortal enemy, South Korea, to feed their people.

#9        Indonesia and Brunei both have much oil wealth.  Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world in population.  Yet, because of its location and its many islands and cultural groups who do not know each other very well or get along with each other, Indonesia has never managed to achieve the level of importance in the world if feels it deserves.

#10      Vietnam has invaded and conquered Cambodia before.

#11      Nepel already faces severe deforestation and erosion problems.  Mountain climbing expeditions to Mount Everest as well as other mountains have been one of the causes of deforestation.  An increasing population in another. 

#12      India can barely feed its population now.  Their population growth rate is high.  The future looks grim.

#13      Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and China are all becoming much more modern and industrialized.  Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, North Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia are also improving.  Who will buy all their products?

#14      China had done illegal nuclear testing before or refused to sign nuclear test ban treaties at all.

#15      With world population increasing, the oceans will become even more important sources of food in the future.  200
            mile offshore fishing limits are legal.  Several countries in the world already enforce them.  Japan relies greatly upon
            fishing for food. 

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