Date: 8 November 2013 Teacher: Darryl Plummer Course Name: Geography Unit: Europe Lesson: Separatism Total Estimated

Time: One 51 minute class period

Overview: Nationalist and separatist movements are occurring all over Europe (and the world) due to increasing globalization and increasing ability/desire to assert ethnic identity and sovereignty. Notable examples are Scotland, Catalonia, Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transistria, and the Basque Country. These regions are currently under the governance of other countries but assert their ethnic differences and desire independence to varying degrees. Generally, the country to which they belong to does not support their claims to independence (with the exception of Scotland). The intent of this lesson is to give students an experiential lesson on why a region might want to separate from their country despite the economic benefits they receive from the EU or other trade agreements their country has. While the EU lesson was presented as a unifying force, this lesson seeks to highlight the dis-unifying forces present. I am unable to give students an experience in which they feel their ethnicity is not represented by their government, but I can give them an economic experience. Generally, the regions that desire independence pay more in taxes than they receive in spending from the government and are generally resource rich. Students will experience through a role play what it is like to have the fruits of their labor taken by a democratic vote.

Standards: Geography: 2. Explain and interpret geographic variables that influence the interactions of people, places, and environments.

21st Century Skills: 1. 21st Century Themes a. Global Awareness

b. Civic Literacy 2. Learning and innovation skills a. Critical thinking and problem solving b. Communication and collaboration 3. Life and Career skills a. Social and cross-cultural skills b. Leadership and responsibility Daily Objectives: Students will be able to (SWBAT) Relate to the reasons a region or people might want to separate from their existing political structure Vote on the issue at hand in a way that benefits them most Defend their decision to vote the way they did Evaluate how the activity is analogous to real world politics Debate their plan of action with peers

Preparation: Lesson plan Groups pre-selected

Materials: Candy and extra credit (resources) White board

Pre-Assessment: None given. Anticipatory Set: Students will be told there is an opportunity for candy and extra credit today. There is not enough for everyone in the class, so they will have to vote how it is distributed. Connection to previous learning or life: I will connect this to previous learning by telling students that they will vote democratically on how resources are distributed (students will like the idea that they get to chose). What students do not realize is that I have rigged the role play so that certain factions will likely always vote a certain way.

Agenda for the Board:

Will be written on the board: Schedule on back white board I will keep a tally of votes on the front board

Instruction/Activity 1. After initial connection to prior learning and the anticipatory set are given, I will assign the groups. 2. The groups are pre-assigned. There is one group of 5 students and the other group of 18 (23 students total in the class). I intentionally created the group of 5 to be composed of students who can put ideas together and build knowledge themselves. They are also generally outspoken students who do not shy away from sharing their opinion. I do this because the success of the activity requires the group of 5 to determine what their interests are and how to achieve them. If the group of 5 students are unable to do this, the role play will fail. 3. I will have both groups split up on either side of the room and stand together. 4. I will explain that there is a country called the Caldari Union. Within the Caldari Union there is 1 province called Minmatar that is particularly resource rich and produces a large share of the wealth in the country. I will re-iterate that entire Caldari Union will vote as a block to determine how resources are distributed. 5. I will have each side elect a speaker who will tally the votes and direct their constituents. If students are unable to decide I will choose a speaker based on their leadership ability. 6. I will inform the Caldari Union that voting is about to begin. I will make a T chart to tally votes on the board. I will thenceforth refer to each side by their names (Minmatar or Caldari Union) 7. I will tell students that in the Caldari Union, there are only 19 desks (this is 1 more desk than students in the Caldari side). 8. I will tell students that they will vote how the desks are distributed. However, they will not vote directly. They will simply vote as a class whether the Minmatar or the Caldari side has the right to choose how the desks are distributed. The Caldari side has the majority so they should vote for themselves. After the Caldari side wins the right to distribute the desks, I will have the speaker organize internally how to distribute the desks. I expect the Caldari side will vote to give themselves the majority of the desks, perhaps giving 1 to the Minmatar side. Even if they attempt to distribute them equitably, the Minmatar side is likely to have a higher percentage of students who have to stand. 9. After the desks are distributed, I will enforce the rule that only students who have a desk can sit. No leaning on counters, no sitting on others desks, no sitting on the floor. I will have students arrange the desks so the Caldari side faces the Minmatar side. 10. I will introduce the next thing to be voted on. I will say that due to the productivity of the Minmatar (minority) side, they have produced 7 pieces of candy, while the Caldari side produced 2. I will put the candy on my desk and divide it accordingly 11. I will then call for a vote on which side gets to distribute the candy. Again, I expect that the Caldari side will outvote the Minmatar side because Caldari students are unlikely to vote that the other side gets to distribute the candy. After Caldari wins, I will have the speaker organize

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an internal vote amongst the Caldari to determine how the candy is distributed. I expect the Caldari side will keep most or all of the candy on their side. I chose 9 pieces total because some students on the Caldari side might not want candy, but with only 9 pieces, it is assured that at least 9 people on the Caldari side will want the candy. This, to some degree, forces the Caldari side to deal with scarce resources on their side before they even consider the Minmatar side and is more likely to result in an internal Caldari vote that gives no candy to the Minmatar side. I will instruct students NOT to eat the candy in class because I do not want them distracted. It is important to note that after each class vote, I will ask students WHY they voted the way they did. I will ask the Minmatar side if they thought the vote was fair and why or why not. After the resources are distributed, I will ask the side that won the right to distribute why they distributed how they did. I will ask the Minmatar side if they are happy with that decision. The last thing that students will vote on is what I expect to be the most coveted resource; extra credit. There will be 5 pieces of paper worth 5 points of extra credit each. I chose 5 because that is the number of Minmatar students. I will tell the class that the Minmatar side is produced all the extra credit (The Caldari side does not have the natural resources to produce them) and I will set them on the Minmatar side of the table. At this point, I expect the Minmatar side to become somewhat angry or frustrated, especially as they are all top students and have generally type-A personalities. They may have regretted the loss of desks and candy, but will become truly upset over the prospect of losing extra credit to a rigged vote. I will act as though I am prepared to start the voting process, but will stop, and tell the Minmatar side that they have the opportunity to vote on secession. I will explain that if they secede, they will have sole control over the extra credit resource and sole discretion on how they want to distribute it. I expect the Minmatar side will vote to secede. I will then have the Minmatar side decide how to distribute the resource. After, I will ask the Minmatar side why they chose to secede. I will ask the Caldari side if they understand their desire to secede. Depending on time, I want to formally end the activity and discuss what happened, why it happened, the effects of what happened, and how students feel about those effects.

Closure: I will conduct significant closure on this activity. I want to make sure I am able to properly debrief the activity so that students do not enter the hall still angry or frustrated. I specifically do intend to let their decisions stand and I do not intend to give everyone candy and extra credit at the end for a good effort. I want students to think and give logical answers for voting the way they did and I want them to understand the other sides reasons as well. I will do this by addressing questions to each side, individuals, or the class. Post Assessment: None Given.

Potential Modifications: 1. Secession could cause resource destruction. Meaning that in the act of seceding, some of the candy and extra credit is destroyed. In this case, I would give more candy and extra credit as resources. I may very well do this in this lesson. It depends on how greedy the Caldari Union side is. If they are greedy and take all the resources without sharing, I will create the resource destruction dynamic to mimic a civil war. If the Caldari side at least attempts to distribute the resources equitably, I will not introduce this dynamic because I think it will make both sides angry. 2. If resource destruction is introduced, more extra credit (probably 10) should be introduced so that the Minmatar side is left with 5. 3. Which students are on each side is debatable. I will include more type A students on the Minmatar (minority side) to ensure they will really want the extra credit. I also tried to include friends together on the Minmatar side so they would feel less inclination to remain a part of the Caldari side. Finally, I included students on the Minmatar side who are generally able to see the big picture quicker and more easily. I did want to keep at least a few outspoken students on the Caldari side to argue for their interests. I think randomly assigning students to each side could result in the activity failing. The Minmatar side needs to fully realize exactly how they are being passed over and how to correct it. However, how students are split up will vary from class to class.