Suggested Activities
This list of activities is designed to integrate global economics concepts with workplace learning and community involvement.Short-term projects
1. Send individuals to a store (e.g., clothing, grocery, hardware) to do an "international analysis" of a set of shelves or section of the store. For each item or ingredient, list the country of origin. Then conduct a "technology analysis" of your school to find the origins of machines, vehicles, and computers. Compare and contrast the lists.
2. Take on the role of translator. Bring in labels to translate into another language. Use assembly instructions from a recent consumer product as your model.
3. Examine how America’s waste products become "new" products overseas. Investigate the reasons, both economic and cultural, for reselling Levis in Asia or selling Goodwill items on the street in South America.
4. Examine yourself as a consumer. Track where your money goes. What businesses get your money? What countries?
5. Explore the transfer of goods across countries. Create a chart or map to depict the transfer of goods. (For example, the U.S. sells wood to China. A factory in China makes furniture. That furniture is then imported by a U.S. company.) Ask students to find examples from their own homes. Then analyze what communication and negotiations might take place in the various transfers. List the jobs involved in the process.
6. Find out if your community has a "sister city" in another country. Set up an e-mail correspondence with students from that country.
7. Create an "Are You Ready for the Global Economy?" game show based on terms and definitions. Do your students know what these acronyms mean: NAFTA, GATT, EEC?
8. Have your students learn 10 basic words of commerce in another language. Then investigate body language cross culturally. Compare nonverbal communication of business in other countries.
9. Set up a local advisory committee to gain support for your global economics class, one that can help you locate and use community resources. Committee members can often function as guest speakers or mentors. They can also help you investigate work-based learning options in your community. Find out what site tours, career speakers, or job shadows are available to your students.
10. Investigate an environmental problem and analyze its economic impact worldwide.
Long-term projects
1. Choose a job, a concept from global economics, and a product (they may or may not be related). Trace and investigate each job, concept, and product. Start with your own home and look at career opportunities in this field or economic issues associated with this product. Move to your community. Extend your study nationwide. Look at other countries. Develop a global perspective on this topic. Take your study into the past. What did this job, concept, or product look like 10 years ago? 100? 500? Imagine the future of this job, concept, or product. How will it change in the next five years? 50? Findings can be presented to the student body at your school, to a trade organization, to the local chamber of commerce. Have your students create a display, video, photo essay, report, or demonstration.
2. Examine different approaches to marketing worldwide or choose two countries for comparison. Would an advertisement aimed at teenagers in the U.S. be as appealing to the same population in South Africa? Why or why not? Assess the "look" of products from other countries. What conclusions can you draw? Then select one product and market it to two different countries.
3. In teams, inventory and analyze the economy of your community. Start by identifying natural resources shipped overseas, products, or services that have their origins in your area. Next, look at the effect of global forces on your community. How does international trade affect the economy of your city or community? Present your findings to an outside audience. Try the local chamber of commerce or your school board.
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