Elaborate on and discuss a number of international and global challenges

Seems like a tall order for students to be able to both elaborate and discuss a number of international and global challenges.  In many areas in school, students are not only asked to write about complex issues, but expected to solve problems we have been struggling with many years. The headline here is a curriculum goal for year 2 of high school in Norway.TED talks  provides “Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world”. We can listen to some of the smartest people around the world who have been working on these particular issues. It might make the task a little easier, certainly a lot more interesting.  And who knows, perhaps students from my class will end up solving some of these problems!

Lesson plan:

1. In groups of 3 chose one of the lectures listed under. Take notes and compare. Discuss your findings and see if you can find additional information online. You should always rely on at least 3 different sources. Try Wikipedia and Britannica Online.
2. Read this article about the temperature in Kuwait this summer, and these articles from the Washington Post. Discuss in your group how this can be related to global challenges.
3. What do the candidates in this year’s US election think about this topic? Find info online, UsaToday.
4. Compared to the rest of the world, how do you feel your country contributes to saving the environment?
5. Write a blog post about global challenges on your blog. Base you article on the lecture you listened to and your readings. The group can write one article together, but you need to post it on your own blog.
6. The group should then prepare a 5 min mini lecture about their findings for the rest of the class. Post your topics here: and also chose 2 mini lectures you would like to attend.

1. Al Gore’s new thinking on the climate crisis | Video on TED.com In this brand-new slideshow (premiering on TED.com), 30 minutes  Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act
2. Bjorn Lomborg | Profile on TED.com  16 minutes Danish political scientist Bjorn Lomborg heads the Copenhagen Consensus, which has prioritized the world’s greatest problems — global warming, world poverty, disease — based on how effective our…..
3.  Bill Clinton President William J. Clinton  24 minutes “All of us have an unprecedented amount of power to solve problems, save lives and help see the future.” Elected President of the Unite..
4. David Keith  16 minutes   David Keith studies our climate, and the many ideas we’ve come up with to fix it. A wildly original thinker, he challenges us to look at climate solutions that may seem daring, sometimes even shock.

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