Developing Country Simulation

Author: Pete Berry
School or Affiliation: Racine Case High School

Grade Level: 7-12

Overview/Purpose:

Nations are faced with numerous options when it comes to the distribution of their limited resources which could lead to the successful development of their country. Those nations also experience unexpected events that can have a tremendous effect on their well-being. In this simulation, students will receive the oppurtunity to make decisions about allocating resources, witness the results of these decisions, and experience the unexpected in an ongoing simulation in which they attempt to develop the most successful nation.

Objectives:

1. Students will design a flag that represents their countryís ideals and beliefs.
2. Students will appreciate the many difficult decisions faced by the leaders of nations.
3. Students will understand the importance of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, education, and various social issues to the well-being of a nation.
4. Students will learn to work as a team, developing, listening and reasoning skills along the way.
5. Students will examine the effect past decisions have had on the nation's success.
6. Students will be able to foresee future problems and developments and make decisions accordingly.
7. Students will appreciate how difficult it is for leaders to satisfy and improve conditions for as many citizens as possible.
8. Students will realize why some nations fail to develop and become successful nations.
9. Students will form beliefs and ideals regarding how a nation should be governed.
10. Students will evaluate the decisions that they made pertaining to the running of their country.

Materials:

Bulletin Board Markers/Colored pencils Overhead projector Paper Tacks

Activities and Procedures:

Preparation for Simulation:

Students are to develop a name, a flag, and a chart to record events on for each of their countries involved in the simulation. They are to divide these responsibilities among the group. Students also need to make their initial selections as to what projects they choose to spend their limited resources on. After making their 8 choices from the list of 16 possibilities, they are required to provide a brief explanation for each option, either why they felt it was absolutely essential to be included or why it could be omitted. This is to be turned in and saved for future reference. The flag and the chart with the name of the country visible will be tacked up on the bulletin board.

Weekly Events:

Once a week, or as often as desired, an overhead describing an event is shown on the screen. These events could include floods, war, discovery of a mineral resource, outbreak of disease, or many other types of situations. Countries will then gain or lose choices depending on their current list of programs they chose to implement. They may also remain the same. The students record the dayís event on their chart, reevaluate their choices, make a new set of selections, and then as a class, discuss the event, how it could have been handled, and relate it to a real world situation where the event or one very similiar actually occurred.

Evaluation:

Students are to keep a log or journal in which they write about what happenned to their country. Finally, at the end of the simulation the students are to write a 1-2 page essay describing what the simulation was all about, what they learned from it, and how it relates to the real world.

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