Classroom Resources: Markets Without Borders

SESSIONS 1 AND 2

Before You Teach

Preview the video FRONTLINE/WORLD: Guatemala/Mexico, Coffee Country. A Ford PAS video stream is also available here if you are unable to view from the FRONTLINE/WORLD Web site.

AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD

Show the video or still photographs of Frontline World: Guatemala/Mexico, Coffee Country online, which is about coffee growers in Guatemala and the worldwide "coffee crisis."

To get started on examining the broad-reaching effects of globalization, watch a video about the changes in the coffee industry in one country, Guatemala. As you watch the video, consider the following questions:

What changes in the economy over the last century have affected coffee farmers in Guatemala?
According to the video, what is the “coffee crisis”?
What does the video suggest is causing the coffee crisis?
What were some examples of globalization in the video? In addition to economically, how else were people affected by globalization?
What types of jobs are involved with coffee production and trade? As you watch the video, make a list of the different jobs held by people that contribute to the coffee’s journey from the farm to your cup!

SESSION 3

Before You Teach

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES ON GLOBALIZATION

Cut apart one copy of RM 1.2 - Globalization Quotations (updated: 03/16/09).

EXTENSION 1.2

Access an Internet forum for young people around the world to discuss issues related to globalization. Log in to the Taking IT Global discussion forum and read through the discussion topics. Choose a theme or issue that interests you and read the messages posted on that topic. Post a question to the forum about how globalization affects people in different countries, and/or respond to a discussion thread started by someone in another country.

RM 1.3 Country Briefing Handbook Assessment

SESSION 4

Before You Teach

Preview the Taking IT Global discussion forum, on which students will pose their questions about the effects of international companies and products on the culture and language of various countries.

GLOBAL FORUM

Students investigate how companies and products can affect the culture and language of people living in different parts of the world, both positively and negatively. Group students in pairs and have them share with their partners the questions they drafted for Homework 1.3. Have pairs work together to draft a final list of questions and post them to the Taking IT Global discussion forum.

Share the second set of questions you drafted for Homework 1.3 with a partner. Together, create a final list of questions for students in other countries and post them to the Taking IT Global discussion forum. Later in this activity, you’ll go back to the Web site to read any responses you receive.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE RESEARCH

Research the cultural and workplace norms and taboos of your project country and develop a Cultural Exchange Report to give to the other Global E2 countries.

Web resources

Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions: Country Profiles NEW 4/09/08
ExecutivePlanet.com, Business Culture Guides
International Business Etiquette and Manners for Global Travelers
GlobalEDGE, Country Profiles
UNICEF, Information by Country
International Labour Organization, Child Labour Statistics
CRIN: Child Rights Information Network NEW 4/09/08
UNESCSO: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization NEW 4/09/08

SESSION 7

Before You Teach

Link to the Web forums, and see if students have received any responses to their questions. If there are no responses, make copies of RM 2.4 Cultural Impact Quotations for students to read.

Activity Overview Teacher Guide page T27

SESSIONS 7 AND 8
GLOBAL FORUM FINDINGS

Review the responses you received to the questions you posted on the discussion forum. Prepare to share the responses with your class.

EXTENSION 2.1

Imagine that you work for a consulting firm that has been hired by a foreign company that is relocating several of its employees to the United States. Research U.S. workplace norms and taboos and write a report describing them in order to help the relocated employees become acclimated to U.S. business culture.

Web resources

Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions: Country Profiles NEW 4/09/08
ExecutivePlanet.com, Business Culture Guides
International Business Etiquette and Manners for Global Travelers
GlobalEDGE, Country Profiles

EXTENSION 2.3

Research the cultural and workplace norms and taboos of a country of your choosing. Develop a storyboard for a video guide for businesspeople who will be traveling to that country with information about appropriate and inappropriate business etiquette.

Web resources

Kwintessential Cross Cultural Solutions: Country Profiles NEW 4/09/08
ExecutivePlanet.com, Business Culture Guides
International Business Etiquette and Manners for Global Travelers
GlobalEDGE, Country Profiles

Module Quiz 1

Skill Resource: Comparative Advantage

Skill Resource: Comparative Advantage with Teacher Answers

SESSION 10

Before You Teach

Post a world map at the front of the room.

BALANCE OF TRADE [Teams/Whole Class]

Tip: If you want students to examine more current U.S. trade data, guide them to the web resources listed here.

OPTIONAL: Web Resources

The Office of Trade and Industry Information: Industry, Trade, and the Economy: Data Analysis
U.S. Census Bureau: Foreign Trade Statistics

Homework 3.2

Consider the arguments you read in Figure 3.4: Trade Deficit—The Experts Weigh In about the potential strengths and weaknesses of a trade deficit. Which arguments do you find more compelling? Why? Write a paragraph about what you think the significance of a trade deficit is.

Web resources
Globalization101: Trade Issue Brief—Trade Balance
PBS Online Newshour: Widening Trade Gap

SESSION 11

Before You Teach

Web Tip:

Read about the Global E2 simulation on the Teaching Suggestions page.

Set up a simulation for your class first on the Global E2 Administration page: www.fordpas.org/globale2/fplogin.asp

Students login to the Global E2 simulation here, using the country name and password assigned by their teacher.

First, go to the Global E2 administration page and set up a simulation for your class.

INTRODUCTION TO THE GLOBAL E2 SIMULATION [Whole Class/Teams]

Log in to the Global E2 simulation using the country name and password assigned by your teacher. Then complete the steps in your student guide. Then complete the following steps:

Read “Country Info,” which briefly describes your project country, and “Your Task,” which provides an overview of what you will do in Global E2.
Select “Continue” to move on to the Facts and Figures section. Use the research links provided in the simulation to compile basic economic data about your country.
When you have finished compiling your data, post them on the PAS It Along Bulletin Board so other Country teams can view your data.
When all countries have finished posting their data, select “Explore Other Countries” and print the Country Comparison form. Make sure that each team member has a copy of his or her focus country’s data to review for homework .

REALITY CHECK

Now that you’ve made decisions about how trade could benefit your project country, determine how close your decisions were to your project country’s real-life actions. Use the following resources to conduct research to see how your project country interacts with each of the other four countries.

Web resources
Trade Port Country Profiles
World Trade Organization: International Trade Statistics
United Nations Statistics Division: International Merchandise Trade Statistics

THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE STUDENT

To get a better sense of how exchange rates affect economic decisions, use an online exchange rate converter to determine which schools Marisol can afford to attend. Use Which College to Attend? and the following links guide your research.

xe.com Currency Calculator
Historic Exchange Rates
The Universal Currency Converter
The Interactive Currency Table
Bloomberg Currency Calculator
FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter
FXHistory: Historical Currency Exchange Rates

NEGOTIATION PLANNING: CURRENCY

How has your project country’s exchange rate changed over time? Is its currency currently strong or weak? Over- or undervalued? How would the value of the country’s currency affect its international trade? And how does the value of other countries’ currencies affect your project country’s economic well-being?

Work in your Country team to find the answers to these questions. Research exchange rate data for your project country’s currency, and compare its purchasing power against the U.S. dollar and the currencies of the other countries in the Global E2 simulation. (You can do this by comparing the cost of the Big Mac in your project country to the cost in the United States and the other countries and by using the following resources:

Historic Exchange Rates
The Interactive Currency Table
FXHistory: historical currency exchange rates
FXBigMac
Bloomberg.com World Currencies
McCurrencies

Use the Country Briefing Handbook Content Guidelines on pages 14-15 as a guide for what to include in Section 4: Currency Information of your handbook. Organize the information you’ve collected, and add any resources or articles that you’ve found.

Login to Global E2 and begin the second round, Currency. Using the following resources, work individually to research and answer the Negotiation Planning questions for your focus country:

Historic Exchange Rates
The Interactive Currency Table
FXHistory: historical currency exchange rates
FXBigMac
Bloomberg World Currencies
McCurrencies

SESSION 18

Module Quiz 2

SESSION 19

Before You Teach

Read Teacher Information: Trade Barriers Simulation on pages T 70–T 74 and prepare the materials for the simulation as described.
Prepare the following four signs for placement in the four corners of the room:

BLUENATION PRODUCERS
BLUENATION CONSUMERS
PURPLANDIA PRODUCERS
PURPLANDIA CONSUMERS

SESSION 21
WE THE PEOPLE [Teams]

Web Resources

Trade Policy

Globalization 101 Trade Policy Brief: Government Regulation of Trade
Globalization 101 Trade Policy Brief: Liberalization: The “Deregulation” of International Trade
International Information Programs: Foreign Trade and Global Economic Policies

Factory Worker Team

Rescue American Jobs
The Organization for the Rights of American Workers
AFL-CIO: Issues: Jobs, Wages, and the Global Economy
United Steel Workers of America, Challenging unfair trade

Telecommunications Sales Representative Team

Top Economists Square Off in Debate over Outsourcing

Midwestern Farmer Team

National Family Farm Coalition
Economic Research Service: Farm Policy

African Cotton Farmer Team

WTO public symposium, Cultivating Poverty: U.S. Cotton Subsidies and Africa
CIA World Factbook— Mali
Global Policy Forum, Agricultural Subsidies
How Northern Subsidies Hurt Africa

Maquiladoras Worker Team

The Environmental Impact of NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
Environmental Health Coalition, Maquiladoras
CFO, Protecting the Rights of Maquiladoras Workers

Human Rights Activist Team

Washington Council on International Trade, Issue brief: China’s MFN status
HRIC (Human Rights in China)
PBS Online Newshour, The China Trade Debate

Consumer Advocate Team

Cato Institute for Trade Policy Studies
Consumers for World Trade
World Trade Organization. Freer Trade Cuts the Cost of Living

SESSION 23

Before You Teach

Preview RM 5.6, RM 5.7, RM 5.8, and RM 5.9. Decide whether you want each Subcommittee Team to review the same Senate Resolution, or whether you want to distribute a different Senate Resolution to each team. The Materials Needed section assumes you are using all of the Senate Resolutions.

SUBCOMMITTEES DELIBERATE [Teams/Whole Class]

Use the following resources to help you make decisions about your trade bill.

Globalization 101 Trade Policy Brief: Government Regulation of Trade
Globalization 101 Trade Policy Brief: Liberalization: The “Deregulation” of International Trade
International Information Programs: Foreign Trade and Global Economic Policies
World Trade Organization
Fair Trade Federation
Rescue American Jobs
The Organization for the Rights of American Workers
AFL-CIO: Issues: Jobs, Wages, and the Global Economy
WTO public symposium, Cultivating Poverty: U.S. Cotton Subsidies and Africa
CIA World Factbook— Mali
Global Policy Forum, Agricultural Subsidies
How Northern Subsidies Hurt Africa
The Environmental Impact of NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement
Environmental Health Coalition, Maquiladoras
CFO, Protecting the Rights of Maquiladoras Workers
Washington Council on International Trade, Issue brief: China’s MFN status
HRIC (Human Rights in China)
PBS Online Newshour, The China Trade Debate
Cato Institute for Trade Policy Studies
Consumers for World Trade
World Trade Organization. Freer Trade Cuts the Cost of Living

COUNTRY TRADE POLICY RESEARCH

What priority should drive trade policy in your project country? Are there struggling industries in your country that would compel you to implement trade barriers? Do you want to focus on regional partnerships, or is participation in global trade your biggest priority? Would worldwide free trade help your country’s economy, or do you think trade needs to be managed to ensure its fairness?

Begin Trade Policy, the third round of Global E2. Work in your Country teams to research your country’s current trade policies. Find out the following information using the web resources below:

Does your country belong to any regional trade organizations?
Is your country a member of the WTO? If not, would your country benefit from membership? Why or why not?
In what arena does your country need the most help economically? In other words, is there widespread unemployment? Are particular industries failing?

Web Resources
World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization, Trade Policy Reviews
The World Bank Group, Trade
North American Free Trade Agreement
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
Gateway to the European Union
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Trade

SESSION 29
LET'S MAKE A DEAL: INTERNATIONAL WAGE REGULATIONS [Whole Class/Teams] Teacher Tip

Tip: If you have extra time, you can have students develop proposals about any kind of international regulation or standard, including environmental, health, or other labor agreements. For example, students might explore child labor regulations or levels of CO 2 emissions allowed by industries in various countries. You may want to use the open-ended Round 5: Optional section of Global E2 to conduct this part of the activity. If so, go to the Global E2 Administration page to enable this round of negotiations.

EXTENSION 6.1

Use the resource below to find another example of a dispute between two or more countries that was resolved by the WTO. Decide whether you think the WTO was justified in ruling the way it did, or whether you think a country’s sovereignty was unfairly infringed upon. Then use the Taking IT Global online forum to ask young people in other countries about their opinion on the dispute and on the way the WTO resolved it. How, if at all, did their opinions alter your perspective on the issue? Why or why not?

Web resources
World Trade Organization, Index of Dispute Issues

SESSION 30

Module Test

Comparative Advantage

Comparative Advantage with Teacher Answers

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