To develop awareness and appreciation of the importance of resources, compromise, politics and priorities in international trade. To engage in group efforts in an attempt to meet a country's needs with limited resources. To provide students with a global perspective on energy resources. The social studies portion of this interdisciplinary unit focuses on world trade, with an emphasis on energy resources.
Students play the roles of resource specialists for six real countries.
Provided with knowledge of what their country has and what they need, students proceed to engage in trade with other countries in an effort to meet the needs of their own country. Students are provided with trading cards representing their country's food supply, energy resources and manufactured goods. An interesting twist is thrown in by also giving the countries involved cards representing nuclear waste. The point values on their cards indicate the number of units involved. Through this exercise, students will make a number of conclusions regarding the world perspective on energy resources and relationships between countries.