Global Inequalities

4.  Factors Creating Inequalities

• Trace the interrelationships among factors that can contribute to quality of life.  For example:

  • Lack of clean water → diseases → increased mortality rates

  • Education → increased literacy rates → higher employment rates → lower fertility and birth rates → better maternal health

• Analyse how various factors have affected the economies in these locations...

  • foreign ownership of natural resources in Nigeria or Indonesia

  • colonial legacy in South Africa or Haiti

  • the debt load in Honduras or the United States

  • government expenditures in France or Mali

• ... and explain the interrelationship between these factors and quality of life in those countries:

  • war in Sudan has consumed economic resources and has led to a refugee crisis and extremely poor quality of life in refugee camps in Darfur

  • expenditures on education, health care, and social services in Norway have contributed to that country’s ranking at the top of the Human Development Index

• Assess the effectiveness of these programs and policies aimed at improving the quality of life in various countries:

  • provide clean water

  • improve literacy rates

  • provide drugs for people with HIV/AIDS

  • reduce the spread of malaria

  • reduce violence against women

  • reduce child labour or the use of child soldiers

  • promote fair trade

  • develop alternative income programs

• Assess the effectiveness of media in improving the quality of life in some countries/regions around the world: 

  • the success of various print or television advertisements for aid organizations

  • the use of celebrity spokespeople

  • journalists raising awareness of natural disasters, refugees, famine in different parts of the world

  • the broadcast of fundraisers such as Live Aid

  • the production of songs or music videos by Northern Lights or Band Aid (see videos below)

5.  Global Development Issues

• Pick a situation from the list below, and devise high-level inquiry questions (using the bottom right hand corner of the Question Matrix - see below) that will guide inquiry into your situation:

  • the social, political, and economic impact of educating girls or of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa

  • the social, political, economic, and/or environmental implications of fair trade

  • social, political, economic, and/or environmental considerations relating to the increase in foreign ownership of natural resources 

  • the social, political, and economic impact of foreign debt or of forgiving a country’s foreign debt

• Continuing with the same situation you picked in the task above, gather and organize information about the impact of your situation on the physical environment, ensuring your research reflects at least two different perspectives.  For example:

  • demographic data from the United Nations on specific countries

  • demographic maps and other information from the websites of intergovernmental organizations on population trends

  • information and data from a national government on poverty and education rates and on government expenditures in that country

  • articles from development agencies on children’s quality of life in a specific country

  • images showing housing in different regions

  • information from a website of a corporation doing business in a developing country

• Continuing with the same situation you have been working with for the last several tasks, create a map showing the spatial boundaries of your situation (consider using Google My Maps).  For example:

  • spatial patterns in HDI rankings

  • GIS to show the correlation between life expectancy and literacy rates

  • flow map to show trade patterns between countries

  • annotated map to show foreign ownership and use of agricultural land in Africa or Asia

• Continuing with the same situation you have been working with for the last several tasks, interpret and analyze information and evidence relevant to your investigation.  For example:

  • interpret the data in multiple bar graphs to determine the per capita gross domestic product and literacy rate in countries where there is a high level of child labour

  • interpret information from GIS as part of your investigation into shifts in population in developing countries

  • analyse images to determine differences in quality of life for various groups in the same country

  • use a graphic organizer to interpret different perspectives on your topic

• Continuing with the same situation you have been working with for the last several tasks, evaluate evidence and draw conclusions about the differing perspectives on your situation.

• Continuing with the same situation you have been working with for the last several tasks, communicate the results of your inquiry using appropriate vocabulary (demography, per capita, quality of life, developed/developing countries, gross national product, gross domestic product, literacy rate, correlation, exploitation, competition, fair trade) in an appropriate format.  For example:

  • create an interactive presentation on foreign debt in Africa, using an electronic white board

  • use GIS in a presentation on the impact of desertification

  • create a photo essay with accompanying text or oral comments on conditions in a city in the developing world

  • write an article for a newspaper on the impact of water privatization

6.  Economic Development

• How is Quality of Life Measured?  Identify and describe the following terms: infant mortality, fertility rate, life expectancy, birth rate, death rate, doubling time, access to medical care, access to clean water, literacy rate and access to education, poverty rate, per capita income, gross domestic product [GDP], GDP per capita, unemployment rates, national debt

• Compare various quality of life indicators between a developing country and a more developed country.  For example:

  • Compare infant and maternal mortality rates, literacy rates for men and women, and per capita GDP for Australia, Mali, and Bangladesh.

• Demonstrate the ability to analyze and construct scatter graphs when studying global development and/or quality of life.  For example:

  • What is the correlation between literacy rates and life expectancy?

  • What is the correlation between infant mortality and availability of clean water?

• Demonstrate the ability to analyze and construct population pyramids when studying demographic patterns and trends in developed and developing countries.  For example:

  • Compare life expectancy of men and women within a developing country

  • Compare life expectancies in developed and developing countries

  • Project population data to predict the future population trends for a country

• Research various international organizations' efforts to improve quality of life:

  • Planned Parenthood

  • Doctors Without Borders

  • Right to Play

  • Water for People

• Identify and describe the various types of economic systems:

  • traditional

  • command

  • market

  • mixed

• Explain how the four main economic sectors [primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary] are related to global development.  For example:

  • Countries where most people work in the primary sector rank lower on HDI than countries with more balanced economies or those where more people work in the tertiary and quaternary sectors

• Identify and describe the factors that contribute to economic development:

  • access to economic and natural resources

  • patterns of trade

  • colonial legacy

  • corruption

  • government expenditures

  • debt load

  • foreign ownership of resources

  • war or political instability

• Describe the spatial distribution of wealth, both globally and within selected countries/regions:

  • concentration of wealth in North America, Europe, and the Middle East

  • changing patterns of global wealth as a result of emerging economies such as Russia, China, and India

  • concentration of poorest nations in Africa

  • patterns of rural poverty and urban wealth

• If the World Were 100 People 2:30

• The Magic Washing Machine 5:00

• Human Development Index

• Indigenous Water Crisis

• Global Population Box by Box 10:00