Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Engage students in brainstorming how nations might cooperate with each other, in what context, for what goals, and through what means? Using the presentation, United States and Canada-Today's Partners, provided by O.C.S.S., ask students to note ways in which the U.S. and Canada are connected through voluntary means of cooperation, matching each example to their brainstormed lists. Ask students to develop a T-chart, identifying the advantages and disadvantages of international cooperation. 

• Reinforce student understanding of internal conflicts among the people of the same nation, using the example of the separatist movement in Quebec. Ask students to analyze the reasons causing cultural conflict from information provided in the narrative, Quebec Question of Sovereignty, noting their findings on the episodic organizer. How does multiculturalism sometimes present unique challenges among the people of any nation? Encourage students to take a stand in the secession debate.

• Engage students in an extended study of the cooperative success of the St. Lawrence Seaway. How did it impact both Americans and Canadians? What future projects might be equally successful between our nations? Ask students to explore these questions, accessing the collection of resources provided by O.C.S.S. in the livebinder, St. Lawrence Seaway Success Story. 

• Invite students to consider the words of President Kennedy when he defined the role of the United States in international affairs, using his USAid speech. Introduce students to the types of foreign aid that many nations choose to provide to regions in need, using the presentation, What is Foreign Aid, provided by OKAGE. Ask students to describe various perceptions of public opinion toward foreign aid and compare ideas to those provided in the article, What Every American Should Know About Foreign Aid, from the Brookings Institute. Encourage students to consider the extent and nature of American foreign aid. Ask students to develop a community survey from the article and compare student and family/community responses. 

•  Ask students to conduct independent research, tracing the response of the United States and Canada to humanitarian crises affecting other regions of the Western Hemisphere, such as groups seeking asylum from Central America, Venezuela’s economic collapse, or natural disasters in the Caribbean. Working collaboratively, students should identify types of aid in an assigned situation. 

   

Primary and Secondary Sources

•  How Does the U.S. Spend Its Foreign Aid, (2018) article from the Council on Foreign Relations; for teacher reference.

•  USAid, website for information, aid programs, recipients, and major issues; for student and teacher reference. 

•  Canadian International Development, website for information regarding aid programs and recipients; for student and teacher reference.

Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Reinforce student understandings of the types, causes, and nature of both international and internal conflicts, using the presentation, What is Conflict, provided by O.C.S.S. Ask students to rank which types of conflict produce the most significant and lasting effects on a population and its environment. Re-rank each type based on the extent that a superpower, such as the United States, has the means and potential to address. Use the presentation, What is the United Nations, provided by OKAGE, as an overview of the organization. Based on its membership and structure, how can the U.N. intercede to resolve conflict? 

• Ask students to analyze the function and symbolism of a border wall, comparing the borders of the United States and Canada to the Mexican border. Ask students to consider different proposed prototypes for a southern border wall. What do such walls symbolize to the American public and the world? Using the lesson, Deconstructing the Wall: Teaching About the Symbolism, Politics and Reality of the U.S.-Mexico Border, from The New York Times, ask students to identify the pros and cons regarding future construction of a southern border wall.

• Ask students to compare international organizations and their roles in helping citizens around the world, using the classroom presentation, Cooperation and World's Organizations, provided by OKAGE. Ask students to  work in four collaborative groups to examine the key principles of the United Nations and its effectiveness in the areas of sustainable development, humanitarian assistance, international peace, and protection of human rights (U.N. Annual Reports Collection). Invite students to participate in a mock General Assembly to debate whether the recent year can be considered successful and where future focus should be place.

Primary and Secondary Sources 

• United Nations Annual Report, summaries provided for student and teacher reference. 

• American Red Cross, organization's website for student and teacher reference. 

Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Ask students to examine the differences in aid organizations or programs supported by governments and non-governmental organizations, including the World Bank, NGOs, and micro-financing by private banks. Using the lesson, Teach a Man to Fish, provided by OKAGE, ask students to analyze photographs from aid fieldworkers to understand the goals and operations of different forms of foreign aid. Encourage students to engage in a class deliberation, supporting one of four options for U.S. involvement in foreign affairs. 

• Ask students to analyze the causes and effects of different international and internal conflicts of South America, such as those identified in narratives (below). Using the case study of the Galapagos Fish Fight ask students to develop graphic organizers, tracing cause-effect relationships. Encourage students to identify commonalities between conflicts and the effectiveness of government or non-governmental entities to help address the conflicts.  

• Introduce students to an Oklahoma-based NGO and its work among the poorer sectors of Latin America, using a collection of resources, Our Neighbors of Latin America, provided by World Neighbors.org. Ask students to compare three case studies of how World Neighbors works cooperatively and collaboratively with smaller communities. What other NGOs do Americans actively support? Students may wish to investigate into the work of domestic and/or international relief organizations, such as Heifer International. Encourage students to investigate an NGO of their choosing, creating a fund-raising brochure, featuring information about the organization's purpose and work in the Western Hemisphere. 

Primary and Secondary Sources 

• Land Rights Conflict in Peru, from Geography in the News.  

• Land Rights in the Amazon Basin, from United Nations in the Field.

• Gas Wars in Bolivia, from Geography in the News.

• World Neighbors, Oklahoma City; organization's website for student and teacher reference.

• Feed the Children, Oklahoma City; organization's website for updated information. 

• Heifer International, Arkansas-based organization's website for student reference.