IB MYP Global Issues Project Organizer 5 0199180830, 9780199180837

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Project Organizer

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f Barclay Lelieure Mike East

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Anita Knight Talei Kunkel t

Barclay LelieYre Mike East Anita Knight Talei Kunkel

Name:

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oxroRD LINryERSITY

PRESS

OX-FORD \INTVERSITY PRBSS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP

Acl,urowledgments

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Author acl,qrowledgments To the mothers in our lives, who, 'when trouble thickens around us ... the clouds ofdarkness, and cause peace to retum to our hearts'. Borclay Leliffie

will dissipate

Thank you to my family md the Colegio Intemacional de Caracas for the unwavering support you have given me. Mikr E6t To Dad, for

you wisdom

aad encoura gemeat. Anita Knight

To my Dad, Ted Kunkel, for being such an excellent role model and showing me

that though detemination aad dedication you can accomplish anything. TabiKunkl The publishers would like to thank Lisa Nicholson for her advice, and the Intemational Baccalaureate and Anita Knight, Isabel Machinandiarena, Patrick Sweeney, and Annie Termaat for pemission to reproduce the leamer profile on page 5 which originally appeared in MYP If,rtract (lntemational Baccalaureate, 2008).

Companion website:

w.OxfordSecondary.co.uk/myp

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Pl0tr

With offices in

AII illustrations are by Q2A Media.

lntroduction

4

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7

Poverty and hunger Humanities, PhysicaI education and Language B

2

Conflict and peace

19

Language A and Visualart

3

Education for a[[

31

Technology and Humanities

4

Heatth and disease

43

Mathematics and Sciences

5

Gtobat trade and development

55

Mathematics and Humanities

6

EnvironmentaI sustainabitity

67

Language A and Sciences

What can I do?

79

MYP Glohal Issues Project Orgarrizer Introduction This is the fifth of five Project Organizers which focus on interdisciplinary learning, in this case having an overarching theme of ethics/rights/morals. The series reflects key aspects of the philosophy and approach of the IB Middle Years Programme, including: being internationally minded, demonstrating academic honesty, and developing the qualities of the IB learner profile:

lnterdisciplinary learning Most often in school you will be timetabled to study different subjects at different times. In life you will be mixing the skills and knowledge from these different subjects to understand things and solve problems. The projects in this book encourage you to use more than one subject to approach the unit questions. The first page of each unit shows the unit question and the fwo or more focus subjects.

nternationa[-minded ness Today's students need to explore a blend of the local, the national and the international.'We only have one planet and the way we act affects it and all life upon it. The chapters in this book will show the links between us and people and places all over the world. I

Academic honesty We all want others to think highly of us. Academic honesty is a set of values and skills that promote personal integrity when doing exams, assignments and homework.By following these values and skills we demonstrate that we are honest and principled.

o

lntroduction The lB learner profite The International Baccalaureate aims to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. IB learners strive to be:

Inquirers You are curious and ask important questions to inquire into the world around you. You research independently and love learning throughout life. Knoutledgeable Through your keen exploration of local and global issues you build an in-depth knowledge and understanding across all subject areas.

Thinkers You think both critically and crearively to help solve problems and make responsible decisions. Communicators You are able to understand and express yourself confidently in more than one language. You work well and enthusiastically in team situations.

Principled You demonstrate honestS a sense of fairness and respect towards those around you. You take responsibility for your own actions. Open-minded You take pride in who you are. You are respectful of others' opinions, traditions and values. You consider more than one point of view when making decisions. Caring You are considerate towards the needs of others. You are committed to making a positive difference to others and to the environments. Risk-takers You are confident and show courage in new situations. you are keen to try new things. You defend your own beliefs strongly.

o

Project Organizer

Issues

Balanced You recognize the importance of caring for yourself, balancing your physical, emotional and intellectual self (all parts of you!). Reflectiue You think carefully about how you learn through different experiences. By being able to recognize your strengths and limitations you can set goals for further learning and development.

How to use this book This book is to help inspire and structure interdisciplinary work on global themes. You will gradually populate and personalize yo:ur Project Organizer throughout the year, with the completed organizer acting as a record of your interdisciplinary work, along with the folders and other pieces of work that you build up. We hope that you enioy the units and the challenges that they present!

6

Unit question Does

it matter if cultures are lost?

Humanities Time :) Can you explain the similarities that exist berween indigenous peoples, and identify events that have shaped their lives?

Physical education Movement composition ;) Can you create a dance composition that portrays a message and includes the concepts of space, time, level, force, and flow?

language B Speaking and writing ;) Can you communicate your opinions, ideas and information about indigenous peoples and the preservation of culture and dignity?

Aboriginat Austratians using traditronaL instruments, such as the didgeridoo, to make music

Area of interaction Health and socia[ education ;) You will develop an awareness of your own rights, and those of others, in our wider society.

Approaches to learning focus Transfer

:) Making connections through knowledge, understanding and skills across subject areas.

o

e

Unique faces, unique people According to the UN:

TodaS there are more than 370 million indigenous people in some 90 countries worldwide. The United Nations describes indigenous peoples as the inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures. They have their own ways of relating to other people and to the environment. Indigenous peoples have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live. Below is a glossary of key terms for you to define in your own words. You can add to the glossary in both English and a second language of study (this is known as your Language B) as you progress through this unit.

)

Assimilation

;) Inheritors:

;)

Rights:

:) Practitioners:

:) Vulnerable:

;) Culture:

;)

:)

Indigenous:

:) Dominant

societies:

Preservation

:) Colonisation:

lndigenous peoptes around the wortd have sought recognition of their identities, their ways of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources. Yet, throughout history, these rights have been viotated. lndigenous peoples are arguabty among the most disadvantaged, poor and vulnerabte groups of peopte in the world today. The internationaI community now recognizes that speciaI measures are required to protect the rights of the world's indigenous peoples.

1 Poverty and hunger

Researeh: indigenous peoples Working in a group, take some time to find out about indigenous peoples living in various locations around the world. Identify some of their unique characteristics and current problems, and record your findings in the table below. (Nofe.'You will be focussing in detail on aboriginal Australians later on, so don't complete this activity for that group.) You will find that some indigenous peoples still live very traditionally while others have become more assimilated into the dominant society of their location. :) Native Planet is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to the preservation of indigenous cultures. Their website contains a wealth of information to support your research: http ://www.nativeplanet. org/index. shtml

;)

The United Nations'website for students has a specific section on indigenous peoples: http ://cyberschoolbus. un. org/indigenous/index. asp

lndigenous group

Location

Unique characteristics (traditions, arts, betief systems, tatents, retationship with the environment, etc.)

Current problems being faced

o

tl

Indigenous people living in a modern

world Cathy Freeman - eos I'm free Cathy Freeman was born to run. Her long, lean build, her determination - and her incredible speed - placed her amongst the world's best women sprinters. Cathy was the first indigenous or aboriginal Australian trackand-field athlete to represent her country. During her running career, Cathy was a Commonwealth Games gold medalist four times, \7orld Champion twice, and became an Olympic gold medalist in 2000. She set nine Australian open records, and continues to hold the Commonwealth 400 meters record today. In honour of her outstanding achievements, Cathy was selected to light the cauldron to open the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. From humble beginnings, Cathy Freeman overcame inequalities and racial barriers to reach her childhood dream of becoming an Olympian. Her journey was full of controversy - she created a media stir by choosing to celebrate victory laps carrying an aboriginal flag. Her actions received both praise and great criticism. The following quote summarises Cathy's attitude towards her position as an athlete, an Australian, and an aboriginal.

Cathy Freeman running in the Women's 400 meters race at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000

I just uanted to show I am proud of wbo I am and wbere I come from. I would loue to one day go out to the bush and spend time utith the elders of my cubure, and get back to my roots.

0

1 Poverty and hunger All Australians have an incredible role model in Cathy Freeman. You could say that she has achieved her outstanding results based on Western standards, whilst maintaining pride in her aboriginal roots. However, many other aboriginals are seemingly lost in Australia's rapidly changing modern society.

A disproportionate number of aboriginal Australians live near or below the poverty line, and aboriginal children are nearly three times more likely than non-aboriginal children to die before their first birthday. Two-thirds will not finish secondary school and, on averagqthey will die 10-20 years earlier than those from the wider population of Australia. Alcohol dependency, unemployment, and depression are just some of the issues that affect aboriginal Australians today. Evidence suggests that aboriginal Australians have lived on their South Pacific land for at least 40,000 years. Their culture is closely tied to the land - traditionallS they are nomadic hunters and gatherers, possessing a unique style of art and storytelling called the Dreaming. However, in the last 200 years, European colonisation has changed their wor1d.

To understand the journey into poverty of an alarming number of aboriginal Australians, it is important to identify significant events that have made radical changes to rheir lifestyle. Movies such as Australia, My life As an aboriginal and Rabbit Proof Fence give an insight into relevant historical events.

Research

1

Research the culture, traditions and talents of aboriginaI Australians. Design a graphic organiser to summarize your findings.

2

Research the history of aboriginaI Austratians. Create a timeline that inctudes significant events that have shaped the [ives of the aboriginats of today.

o

Global Issues i)

D

Billy Mills - the underdog

h 7

You have to look deeper, way below the anger, the hurt, the hate, the jealousll the self-pitg way down deeper where the dreams lie, son. Find your dream. It's the pursuit of the dream that heals you.

Billy Mills' father speaking to his son

Bitiy Mitts about

to win the Otympic

10,000 meters race at the Tokyo Ol.ympics in 1964

!7hen Billy Mills joined the starting line-up for the 10,000 meters race at the t964 Tokyo Olympics, he went almost unnoticed. An American had never won a long-distance race like this, and the favourites took the limelight. Yet, this young US athlete astounded the world by surging ahead to become the gold medallist in this gruelling event. However, Billy Mills' story did not begin and end with this race. As an Oglala Lakota Sioux, he was raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in the 1940s. Billy grew up in poverty and was orphaned at the age of LZ.He took on sports as a positive focus. Although his talent was noted, it was not always easy to be accepted into the non-indigenous American running teams. One coach even told him that he would quit like all the'Indians' had before him. By qualifying for the Olympics, Billy had the opportunity to truly prove himself - and his victory is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. Billy's success cannot only be measured by his accomplishments on the track. Since then, he has used his fame to help children who face the same poverry and rejection that he fought against throughout his own childhood. He teaches the younger generations about character, dignity and pride.

€

1 Poverty and hunger In Native American culture, if you bring pride and respect to yourself, you are asked to give back ro the people who helped you. It's called a 'giveaway'. I decided that my giveaway would be the inspiration that was given to me. I'd pass it on to another generation.

Billy Mills explaining uthat he feh u.,as his moral duty as a proud Natiue American

Today, poverty affects a higher percentage of Native Americans (First Nation Peoples) than their non-indigenous counterparts. Although a number have reached high levels of achievement in schools and businesses, too many have lost a sense of belonging, and they rely on government benefits to meet their basic needs. For example, the annual unemployment rate on the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana is 59o/".

Researeh to research other examples where indigenous peop[e have overcome great odds to achieve notable things. They cou[d be athtetes, such as Jim Thorpe (another Native American), or politicaI leaders such as Evo Morates in Botivia, or even singers, artists and activists. Take some time

o

a

How is culture lost?

'Write

an essay of approximately 800 words that answers the above question. (Remember.' Loss of culture does not necessarily mean a complete end to a culture, but may also refer to how that culture has less opportunity to thrive than it did.)

)

Shout examples by referring to indigenous groups and the similar types of experiences they have faced, and are facing today.

)

Include your opinion about why it is important to preserve culture, particularly for indigenous peoples.

)

Explain ways in which this is being promoted, and could be promoted further.

Your teacher will provide you with a set of criteria for this task. When you have completed your essay, reflect again on your learning so far. Use the visible thinking activity below to re-evaluate your understanding of the unit question Does

it matter if cultures are [ost?

Discuss your answers in a small group.

Visible thinking CONNECT

EXTEND

CHALLENGE

€

How are the ideas and information presented in your essay CONNECTED to what you atready knew?

What new ideas did you get that EXTENDED or pushed your thinking in new directions? What is stitt CHALLENGING or confusing for you to get your mind around? What questions, wonderings or puzzles do you now have?

The Amazon rainforest and its indigenous peoptes are

under threat

Our projeet plan j

Physical education - dance and movement

'Sfhen

traditional culture is lost, so is a sense of belonging, of purpose, and of roots in the past. Therefore, the preservation of traditional culture is important for all humans. In various ways, aspects of indigenous culture are now being preserved, have been revived, or have evolved. For example, the New Zealand Maori would perform a war dance, called the Haka, before going into battle. Today New Zealand - as a nation - has adopted this tradition, and the Haka is often performed before the start of major sporting events.

,A-

Across the world, some dance forms have stayed very traditional, while others have evolved - based on new influences, new music and new ideas.

A historical painting of a Maori Haka in about 1845 [top), ptus a modern-day Haka being performed by the New Zealand AtL Blacks before an international rugby match, to try to rntimidate the opposrtion and psych themselves up

a

Working as a group, and using the concepts of space, time, level, force, and flow, devetop a dance that celebrates the unique quatities of a particutar indigenous peopte. Your dance should provide a message for future generations - encouraging respect and preservation of this culture and its rights. Your dance might tetl a story or have a theme, such as 'identity'.

b

You could use a piece of music from your chosen indigenous group, or select your own music as the basis for your dance. You coutd atso

combine traditionaI movements with modern movements.

c

Before performing your dance, provide your audience with a summary of the key components to look for that symbolize your message and the retevance of particular movements.

Your teacher will provide you with a set of criteria for this task.

D

Building a better future The'Make Indigenozs Poverty History' project, created by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission of the National Council of Churches in Australia, aims to ensure that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) do not overlook the poverty suffered by indigenous peoples around the world, especially in Australia. The creation of 'poverty poles' is just one aspect of the project. Groups of people from all races are encouraged to come together to create'poverty poles'. Using their writing or illustrations, they demonstrate their personal commitment to improving the Iives of indigenous peoples living in poverty. The poles are then displayed in public spaces to help promote the message. Your task is to create a'poverty po[e', inyourLanguage B, for an indigenous people suffering from poverty. You could choose a people from a country that speaks your Language B, or a people that you have developed an interest in after completing the research table on page 9.

List the factors that contribute to the poverty - for exampler loss of land and intolerance from others. You might have to research the specific situation of your chosen indigenous people in more detail. Then, turn the words and phrases around, to become positive factors helping them to become valued and capable citizens in their own countries and also preserving their traditional culture. For example, 'loss of land' could become'land rights', and'intolerance by others' could be'respect from others'. These positive statements, utritten in your Language B, can then be used to decorate your poverty pole. Also add your own ideas and opinions about reducing indigenous poverty.

Think of a place in your school where the poles can be displayed. Also encourage others to add to your collection of poles.

@

An aboriginal Austratian adding her

thoughts to a poverty pote

Project evaluation What I enjoyed about this unit, and why

What aspect I didn't enjoy, and why

What l/our team did reatty wett

What l/our team did [ess welt

What I would do differently next time

Which dance I tiked best and why

o

The indigenous future On 13 February 2008, Kevin Rudd (the Australian Prime Minister) gaye a landmark speech in Parliament apologizing to the stolen generations of aboriginal Australians. He apologised for the actions of past leaders and governments, which had violated the rights of aboriginal Australians. His speech looked to the future - a nation that values equality for all Australians. The goal has been set to close the gap of indigenous disadvantage within a generation. Kevin Rudd's speech can be found online: http://www.youtube.com/watch ]v=B

1je

Kevin Rudd (teft) after giving his

apotogy speech to aboriginaI Australians

WeDpc6 8

Noel Pearson is an aboriginal Australian lawyer and activist, with strong ideas about the future for aboriginal people.

'It is about the ability to walk in two worlds,'writes Pearson.'To prosper, aboriginal Australians will have to be integrated into the national and global economies. But we also want to remain distinctly aboriginal and to retain our connection with ancestral lands.'

Cathy Freeman at the launch of the'Close the Gap'campaign to promote equality for at[ Austratians

Education is a key way to equip peopte with the abitity to choose the way in which they want to [ive, but shoutd that education be based solely on the expectations of the dominant society? What shoutd high schootfor indigenous Austratian students be tike?

lf you coutd name eight features that shoutd be incorporated into a school program catering for indigenous students, what woutd they be? List the features and explain their purpose.

Every year,9 August is \il7orld Indigenous Peoples' Day, 'What will you be doing this year to make a difference?

€

Unit question Who does corruption hurt the most?

Language A Content (receptive and productive) :) Can you analyze the effects of the author's choices on an audience?

:)

Can you compare and contrast an antagonist from a work of literature with a real historical figure?

Visual art Knowledge and understanding ;) Can you communicate a critical understanding of the use of symbols in the context of your own artwork?

Application :) Can you develop an idea, theme or personal interpretation to a point of. realization - expressing and communicating your artistic intentions? Reflection and evaluation :) Can you reflect critically on your own artistic development and processes? Personal engagement Can you demonstrate curiosity, self-motivation, initiative and a willingness to take informed risks?

)

Area of interaction

President Mobutu Sese Seko

of Zaire (formatty catled The Congo, and nowadays caLted the Democratic Repubtic of the Congo, or DRC)

Health and social education ;) We all have our own set of values through which we view the people and society around us. In this unit you will react to ethical issues linked to corruption.

Approaches to learning focus Communication :) Informing others; expressing yourself with clarity, so that the implied meanings in your work can be interpreted readily by the viewer.

@

It is 1960. Imagine that the person on the right, Patrice Lumumba, is you. Your Central African country, The Congo (nowadays called the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC), has just gained its independence from Belgium. It is thought to have one of the greatest concentrations of valuable metals and minerals on Earth. You have been elected as Prime Minister on a platform of spending the wealth generated from the mines (like the one below) to develop your country.

Bnalnstonm The Congo in 1960 was an

underdevetoped, tropicat, African country. As Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, decide what you shoutd

Some of the most valuable metals and minerals to be found in the DRC are listed in the table. Investigate each one and list its commercial and industrial uses, in order to appreciate just how much potential the country has. Metats/minerats

Uses (commerciaI and industria[)

Copper Coltan Diamonds Gotd Lead

lrn

You atso have one rare anima[ of great interest

tourists. Find out what it is

@

to

spend the revenue from your mineraI reserves on. Justify your choices.

2 Conflict

and peace

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

SUDAN

;-"

CAMEROON

&:

REPUBLIC

GABON

CONGO

TANZANIA

Lake ?=.

r

\

Copper

o Coltan e Diamonds

a a o

a

ANGOLA

Gold

Metats in the tin group (especratty tin and tead)

0

200

400 km ZAMBIA

0

204

400 mi

lllnr.

R,efleetion 1

What do you notice about the tocation of most of the valuable mineral deposits in

the

2

DRC?

What reasons can you think of to exptain why this might tead to probtems?

@

D

a few months of his election as Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba was deposed and thrown into prison by Mobutu Sese Seko, the man he had chosen to lead the army. Mobutu is the man pictured on page L9.

\flithin

Patrice Lumumba had made some poor decisions, but many of the powerful players inside and outside his country were not interested in its development, as you will discover during the following research task.

R,esearch Find out what happened next ) What happened to Patrice Lumumba? ) How did Mobutu take over the country? :) Mobutu ruted the country for 32 years.

) )

How did he stop a democratic opposition devetoping? Mobutu stote over 5 bittion do[[ars from the nation - roughty equivatent to the country's nationatdebt at the time. What dubious record does he hotd for doing this? Why, despite its vast mineralresources, does the DRC remain a desperatety poor

country?

1

@

According to the cartoon, which groups/types of peopte are adding to the suffering in the DRC?

How did it att go wrong?

;)

i) :) :)

) i)

2

What was wrong with Mobutu's style of [eadership? How did foreign powers, particutarty the USA, Betgium (the former cotoniaIpower) and France intervene in the DRC? What was their attitude to Mobutu's dictatorship? Who once described Mobutu as a'voice of good sense and goodwi[['? How did foreign mining companies contribute to the country's probtems? How did Congotese regionaIteaders contribute to the country's problems?

How is the United Nations portrayed in the cartoon?

2 Conftict and peace

What has corruption got to do with the Millennium Development Goals? a Go to a search engine and type in: List of countries W Human Deuelopment Index (HDI). Save the statistics you obtain.

b

Then type in: Corntption Perceptions Index (CH). Again, save the statistics you obtain.

c

Place the fwo sets of statistics together, compare them carefully and answer questions 1 and 2.

d

Keep your answers to questions L and 2, plus the raw statistics, for the exercises below and on page 30.

The next question to consider is: Are any similarities and corelation a coincidence, or does comtption actually h amp er deu elopment?

Corrrrptiorl . noun . Tra,nsparency International deflnes corruption as'the abuse of entrust€d power for private gain'. International non-governmental organ i oations (NGiOs), such as Ila,nspareucy International and Global Integrity, seek to measure

corruption.

1

What is the degree of corretation between underdevelopment and corruption?

2

Are there any

The effeets of eorruption These are impossible to measure directly. However, corruption can damage the environment, the social fabric, the economS and the political system of a country. It is partly about money, but also about the amount of faith that people have in their country's institutions.

The more open a society is, the more likely it is that any corruption will be apparent and can be addressed by concerned citizens in that society.

Looking for answers In any society, there are people who steal and/or are violent - that is why we have laws, police, and prisons. However, to understand how corruption can be so widespread, go to a search engine and type in: Minimutn uage by country. Compare the Minimum Wages Index with the statistics you found out earlier about the Human Development Index and the Corruption Perceptions Index. rD7hat do you notice?

countries that stand out as anomalies? Which are they?

@

Organizer 5

An ethieal dilemma lf we continue with the DRC as an example, the minimum wage there is just over US$1 a day. lmagine that you are a customs officia[, or a potice officer, or a cterk in a government office, and that you earn double the minimum wage: US$z a day. However:

:)

your wages rarety keep up with the high levetof inflation in the country

;)

you are not always paid punctuatty

))

every week you have to pay for food for your famity, to maintain your home, and for schootsuppties - as a bare minimum.

Someone then offers you a year's wages to attow a shipment of ittegatty mined diamonds through your jurisdiction. What do you do? Discuss this ethicat ditemma with your ctass.

What are the costs and Gonsequenees of corruption? The following exercise explores the scale of the problem caused by corruption.

a

Choose one of the corrupt leaders and their countries from the first table opposite.

b Think about how the money stolen by your chosen leader for their own benefit could have been used to help develop their country instead.'What types of qualified professionals would you seek to recruit and train in order to transform and improve the following areas?

:) Healthcare ;) Education :) Infrastructure

c Now go to the website: http://www.worldsalaries.org/ and research information about the salaries of these professionals in your chosen country. The five professional job categories that you are going to use for this exercise are: auxiliary nurse, professional nurse, general physician (doctor), engineer, and teacher. If figures are not available on the website for the yearly salaries in your chosen country, your teacher will help you to choose a comparable country from those available on the website.

d

@

Assuming that your chosen leader had not stolen that amount of money (and assuming that suitably qualified professionals were available) select better ways in which

2 Conftict and peace the money stolen by him over his entire period in power could have been spent, and complete the second table below. For example, Suharto was in power for 31 years, so you have to pay salaries for every year of his rule. (Alternatively, you could decide to drill wells to provide safe drinking water for US$9,000 each, if your chosen country needs them. You will have to find this out by doing some research.) Top Ten

Leader's name and country

Period in power

Amount of money stoten (US$)

position 1

Mohamed Suharto, lndonesia

1967-1998

$15-3s bittion

2

Ferdinand Marcos, The Phitippines

L972-1986

$5-10 bittion

3

Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire (now the

1965-1997

$5 bittion

4

SaniAbacha, Nigeria

1993-1998

$2-5 bittion

5

Stobodan Milosevic, Serbia/Yugostavia

1989-2000

$1 bittion

6

Jean-Ctaude Duvalier, Haiti

1971-1986

$300-800 mittion

7

Atberto Fujimori, Peru

1990-2000

$600 mittion

I

Pavto Lazarenko, Ukraine

1996-1997

5174-200 mittion

9

Arnotdo Alemiin, Nicaragua

1997-2002

$100 mittion

Joseph Estrada, The Phitippines

1998-2001

$78-80 mittion

10

DRC)

The wortd's Top Ten corrupt leaders in the last 40-50 years

- as measured

by

the amount of

money they stole (according to Transparency lnternationat)

Resource or

employee

per cost

Satary year, or

of we[[

Number of years leader ltn power

Number of emptoyees hired or wetls dug

TotaI costs

Auxitiary nurse Professionat nurse GeneraI physician Tota[ money spent

Engineer

(must equatthe money stolen) =

Teacher A clean water wetl

us$9,000

N/A

Justify your expenditure choices in terms of the devetopment benefits for your chosen country.

@

Does

life imitate art?

In this exercise, you will compare the antagonist (anti-hero) in a work of literature you have studied with one of the world's most corrupt leaders, Mobutu. Firstly open a search engine and type in: biograplry of Mobutu. Read through a range of his biographies and research the following in detail: +) His private life, personal habits, and

personality. :) His method of operating politically and style of leadership. :> Notable quotations by Mobutu and about Mobutu. :> The successes and failures of his government. ;) The collapse of his government.

After you have researched Mobutu, compare him to a leading antagonist in a work of literature - either Lord of the Flies, or Animal Farm, or a work assigned by your teacher.'lThichever literary work is used, the response should be based on the unit question - in the form of a literary essay:

'Who

did [the antagonist] in [name the workl and Mobutu hurt the most? Wlry do you tbink tbis was so? Hou.t does their bebauior fit utitb your own rnoral ualues? You will be expected to follow a formal essay structure and use quotations to support the points you make. Your teacher will provide the rubrics that will be used to assess this work.

W,

C Lord of the Flies C Wittiam Gotding's 1954 novel is attegorica[,

tr

in that he is making observations about G the wider world as wetl as the boys on the G istand. Your reading shoutd focus on the

G character of Jack and explore how he

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corrupts the boys' society. Consider: :) what Ratph, Piggy and Jack represent symboticatty how Jack subverts the systems the other boys estabtish how Jack is driven by his own needs, some of which he himself is unaware of :) Jack's ideas about status and how he creates toyatty to himsetf ;) Jack's use of the concept of 'the Beast' and the reaction of the other boys to this ;) Jack atthe end ofthe nove[

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what Ra[ph's continuing resistance represents.

Compare Jack to Mobutu. What are the simitarities and differences in the way they rute over their societies?

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ln 1945, George Orwetl pubtished this fabte that uses animats to tet[ its story. ln traditiona[ readings, we see a farm from the point of view of the animals on it, or the faitings of human societies: absotute monarchy (in Farmer Jones),

Nazism (in Farmer Frederick), Capitatism (in Farmer Pitkington), and Communism (through Napoteon and the pigs). However, the perspective that you witt consider is Animal Farm as a warning about the consequences

of corruption.

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Keep a journat of incidents of Napoleon's (or the pigs') corruption and its consequences. Comment on the reactions of the other animats to the behavior of the pigs Explore how the pigs use [anguage and propaganda to maniputate the other animats. Consider different interpretations of the ending of the fabte in the context of a reading that focuses on corruption.

Compare Napoleon to Mobutu. What consequences do both suffer for their actions? What is Orwet[ imptying about the way ordinary citizens shoutd behave in retation to their [eaders?

t

A work of literature assigned to you by .{r your teacher t-

l

Focus on the foltowing questions:

O :)

o

F :) ,F

1

What is the personality of the antagonist? What drives and motivates them? What are the consequences of the antagonist's actions on those around them?

:)

What is the message of the work?

Compare the antagonist to Mobutu. What are the similarities and differences in the way they affect those around them/those with less power than them?

Trrrning your thoughts into a visual statement For your final project, you will be working on what is known as artistic synthesis. In this exercise, you will turn your thoughts about corruption into a piece of art that symbolically represents your moral point of view about this issue.

Symbolism. noun . The use of an object (or in this exercise, people too) to represent a,rr idea.

Take these universal laboratory symbols, for exa,rrple. Elach one

represents a,n important concept. Find out what they mean.

The unit question asked: Who does corruption hurt the most? You need to use your piece of artistic synthesis and your chosen medium to clearly communicate your thoughts about this issue. Things that you could use for your starting point include:

.) internationally known

symbols (like the laboratory

symbols above) well-known buildings or places :) famous people .) geographical outlines ;) currencies :> well-known objects or animals .> or something else of your ou)n choosing, or a mix of the aboue.

)

Once you have chosen your object(s)/person/people, you need to alter or distort itlhimlherlthem to show your views about the consequences of corruption. You could also add a slogan, if you like, or represent ordinary people in some way.

Sketch out and plan your ideas before beginning formal work. Your teacher will provide the rubrics that will be used to assess this work.

The DRC today Although Mobutu fell from power in 1997,war still afflicts the eastern DRC. However, there is some cause for optimism, with the return of democracy to the rest of the country. What the DRC now needs most of all is for the international community to care more about it.

t

Projeet evaluation what did the word corruption mean to me before starting this unit?

Have my perceptions changed? Why/why not?

Do I see examples of corruption around me? Where?

How can this probtem be lessened?

Which person's art did I tike best and why?

@

]

Consider the links between peace and conflict, corruption, your own moral and ethical values, and the human desire to seek out a better and happier life.

1

a

b c 2

c

Discuss the foltowing three issues as a ctass and try to reach a consensus about them: ls there a high corretation between conftict, instabitity and unhappiness on the one hand and peace, stabitity and contentment on the other? Does more money bring a person more happiness? Do people have the right to seek for happiness?

Now go to the website for the World Database of Happiness:

http://www1.eur.n [/fsw/ ha ppiness/ a Where is your country ranked in terms of average happiness? Why do you think this is? b Which country comes top? Why do you think this is?

Where does the Democratic Repubtic of the Congo (DRC) come in this index? Why do you think

this is?

3

Look back at your eartier data on the Human Devetopment lndex and the Corruption Perceptions lndex. Compare this data to average happiness. a How much of a correlation do you see between levets of devetopment and average happiness? b How much of a corretation do you see between levets of corruption and average happiness? c How do you interpret these figures?

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i, I London (teft) or Costa Rica - where woutd you rather [ive?

Unit question Why should girls go to school?

Technology lnvestigate

;)

Can you evaluate the importance of female education, outline a design brief and collect relevant information for a website on the subject?

Plan t) Can you generate several webpage designs and select one based on the design spec? :) Can you make a detailed plan for your website's creation that makes effective use of time and resources?

Create

:)

Can you follow your plan and justify any changes to as you create your website?

it

Evaluate

:)

Can you evaluate the impact of your website and explain how it could be improved?

Humanities

A new school for girts in JaLatabad,

Afghanistan, buitt

after the toppLing of the Tatiban regime there, which didn't atlow the education of girts

Knowledge

:)

Can you support your understanding of the issue of cultural barriers to human rights, with facts and examples, in a blog?

Concepts (gtobat awareness) :) Can you explore the issue of female education, and recognize the responsibiliry of all nations to ensure equality?

Area of interaction Health and social education :) You will develop an understanding of the interplay between social factors and an individual's rights and well-being.

Approaches to learning focus Communication ;) Informing others, including presentation skills using a variety of media.

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'They want us to be stupid things' During the Taliban's five-year rule from 1996 to 200L, no girl in Afghanistan was permitted to attend school. On L2 November 2008, however, Shamsia Husseini was on her way to do just that, at the Mirwais Mena School for Girls in - of all places - Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban. As she walked with her sister Latefa, she spotted three motorcycles carrying masked passengers circling around the only road leading to the school. One of the riders jumped off and asked her whether she was going to school. The man then proceeded to spray Shamsia's face with battery acid. As she lay screaming in the street, he reached for Latefa and also managed to spray her, as well as two other girls, before escaping into

traffic. In all, 11 girls and 4 teachers were sprayed, although none as seriously as Shamsia. 'S7hen captured, the attackers confessed that they were working for anti-government agents on a sliding pay scale US$2,500 for killing a teacher; US$3,700 for burning a school; US$1,200 for spraying acid on schoolgirls. Shamsia eventually returned to school, although the incident has damaged her eyes so badly that she will never read agarn. Still, she told an interviewer:'My parents told me to keep coming to school, even if I am killed. The people who did this to me don't want women to be educated. They want us to be stupid things'.

ffi

Shamsia Husseini

-

- bravely back at

schootfive months after the serious acid attacks on her and ten other girls, plus four teachers, at her girls' school in Kandahar, Afghanistan

3 fducation for atl According to UNICER a rights-based approach to education can address deeply rooted inequalities in some societies, which condemn millions of girls to a life without quality education - and, therefore, to a life of missed opportunities. That will be the focus of this unit.

Ihile researching the issue of female education, you are likely to come across the sentiment on the right - that solutions to the world's biggest problems must start with the education of women. Before attempting to answer the urut questlon

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Woman is the real teacher and guide of man - the potent moulder of human destiny. The fate of nations is in her hand. It depends on her whether peace and truth shall guide to prosperous reforml or reckless revolution stamp, with its bloody characters, the annals of the next generation.

you need to discover why some of them don't.

If you type the question'I[hy don't all girls go to school?' into your search engine, one of the first hits will be a modified version of a Snakes and Ladders game from UNICEF that you can download and play.All you need is a

Barbara Farquhar, utriting in 1857.

couple of people, a single die, and place markers.

After you have played the game a few dmes, fill in the table below with some of the difficulties and proposed solutions relating to female education mentioned in the game. Ignore the other three columns at this stage (you'll deal with them on page 34). Difficutties preventing a gir[ attending schooI

Ranking

Compass

point

Possibte solutions to the probtem

Compass

point

@

i)

Visible thinking Compass points Look back at your partiatty compteted tabte on page 33 and, for a minimum of four of the difficutties or sotutions, appty one of the fottowing compass points

N = Need to know What etse do you need to know or find out about this difficutty or sotution? What additionat information woutd hetp you to evatuate it?

E = Excited What excites you about this difficutty or sotution? What's the upside?

W = Worrisome What do you find worrisome? What's the downside?

S = Stance or Suggestion

for

moving forward

What is your current stance or opinion about this issue? How might you move forward in your evatuation of it?

Use the space below to provide futtresponses to the compass points you tabetted. You may want to compare these with a partner, or a smatter group, to see what you have in common or what you feel differentty about. N: Need

to know

S: Stance/Suggestion

E:Excited

W:Worrisome

to rank the difficutties preventing a girtgoing to schoot. Which one or two do you think present the Finatty, revisit the tabte on page 33 one last time. Try

greatest chatlenges?

3 Education for at[ tF

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Case study: Maasai

I

girls

The Maasai are a semi-nomadic ethnic group, who are indigenous to Kenya and northern Tanzania. Despite the efforts of both governments to modernize Maasai sociery the old traditions are difficult to change. Among the results of this is one of the lowest female school enrolment rates in Africa - despite Kenya's recent commitment to free education for all children.

Visit the website http://www. maasaigirlseducation.org/ and have a look around - eventually navigating to the subsection entitled'Economic, Cultural & Physical Barriers', in the'Barriers To Education'section. Focus on the issues surrounding early marriage and the dowry system.

1

2

How does the Maasai dowry system affect the tiketihood of femate education?

famity's cattte

Although their situations are very different, read on the following website about how a community in Turkey - with similarly poor levels of female enrolment at school - is addressing the issue of culturaVreligious traditions : http://www. unicef. org/ girlseducation/Iurkey_3 0 5 5 B. html

3 Where do the pressures for early marriage originate in Maasai society? Exptain them briefty.

A Maasai girt mitking her

What ideas does the Turkish exampte give you about how the Maasai situation could be approached?

Global Issues i)

b

When worlds eollide The argument that girls are unable to attend school for cultural and/or religious reasons is a pervasive one, and not easily overcome. Many traditions are so firmly entrenched because, for generations, they've ensured the protection and survival of the members of the group that subscribe to them. The clash berween basic human rights and traditional beliefs is not limited to education. Honour killings, bride burning, child labour, mutilation, human trafficking and slavery are all practised in various parts of the world under the auspices of cultural or religious traditions.

In its Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the UN laid down the rights that everyone should be able to enjoy. They include the right to education, free marriage, free speech, and participating in cultural activities - to name just a few. Later on, in your Project Ptan, you are going to create website dedicated to promoting fema[e education. Meanwhite, you are going to begin by writing a btog that witt be featured on your website. Btogs a[tow authors to express their opinions about an issue, and can attract readers or'traffic'to a website.

a

ln your btog, express your opinion about the following issue:

What should we do when a person's right to practise their culture interferes with another person's basic human rights? You might tike to read through some of the top btogs on the lnternet, as a reference guide, by searching the

foltowing website: http://technorati.com/btogs/ top100 lf your school has a btog network, you coutd have your btog posted. See if it generates any feedback! Your teacher wi[[ provide you with the rubric used to assess your btog.

p

3 Education for atl

Act like a uroman Gender stereotypes can conspire against girls in their attempts to attend school - and indeed to succeed in the wider world. The problem is almost certainly systemic. How else could we explain why women perform 66"/" of the world's work and produce 50%o of the food, but earn only t0"/" of the income and own 1,o/o of the property? How else can women hold a mere l8%" of the seats in the world's parliaments, comprise two-thirds of the world's illiterate population, and make up the majoriry of the 1.5 billion people globally who are living in extreme poverry?

Stereot5rpe . nour r An often unjustifled, but commonly held, set of beliefs about t5lpes of individuals, or srpeciflc groups.

You might be surprised how many gender stereofypes you yourself possess - and even more surprised at their origins. Complete the following exercise as a class, or in smaller supervised groups.

a

Take two [arge pieces of chart paper and draw a large box on each one (teaving some space around the edges). Give each box the titte'Act [ike a man' or'Act [ike a woman'.

b

Now, in your group, fit[ in the boxes with the

characteristics/behaviours that best define what to'Act [ike d ...', €.g.tough, sensitive.

you think it is

c

Down the outside of each box, tist the sources where these gender characteristics were learned where do the messages come from? lnstead of just saying, for exampte, 'TV', try to think of specific examples.

d

Underneath each box, list att of the names or putdowns that are given to people who don't fit the accepted characteristics in the boxes (your teacher witt decide how far to go with this exercise).

e

Discuss to what extent the words tisted underneath the two boxes serve to reinforce the characteristics/behaviours, or stereotypes, identified inside them.

Cottecting firewood - women's work?

€

5

Vhile you have been reading about this

issue, you have

probably come across a number of benefits arising from female education. These benefits are often referred to as 'ripple effects' - as illustrated in the diagram below, which shows the positive effects of female education on a nation's healthcare system. For instance, the children of mothers who have received just 4 years of schooling have 40"/" more chance of surviving past the age of 5 than those of uneducated mothers.

Research Now research and complete three similar ripple-effect sequences on the diagram below, for things like improvements to agriculture, GDP, employment, and literacy rates - as well as reductions in fertility rates, HIV infections, and extreme poverty. Each set of ripples will begin with female education as its foundation. There are many places where you could look for this information. For instance, you might try some of the organizations and websites dedicated to this cause, including: UNICEF, UNGEI, and CAMFED.

The surest way to keep a people down is to educate the men and neglect the women. If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family. Dr. J.E. Kwegyir Aggrey

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Our project plan Now you are going to use the design cycle (see page 40) to create a website which highlights the importance of female education. Your website should answer the main unit question:

--

shoutd girls go to school?

You have already learned about reasons why some girls miss out on an education, and also the many benefits which arise from educating women. However, sometimes when analyzing a particular issue in depth, we can lose sight of more fundamental questions, like:'I7hy do girls need a reason to go to school? Shouldn't they go iust because tbqt utant to?'This is the point expressed below by an interviewer speaking to a peasant farmer in Nepal about his daughter's education. be

why she should I spent time talking with Kamala's father about prospects' or contributing marriage educated. H. do.ri't iaik abourbeffer the benefits for He talki ro rhe family income, or getting skilts. '-bouilikes her school and says.'She Kamala.,You know, she enioy, ,.hool,' h9 brigfiter' And she is bright" I spending time *i;h ffirrd.. Slr.t g.tting

talking"aboul.advancement or development' t'.f*ing friend.s' learning to read Instead, n.', nrpiv";# had been cbnfined to the house and writ.. g..r'rril tr. t r,ows that sf,e ,;a i'tii"g care of the younger children'

don,t recall

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cooking,.t.".i"g

Your teacher will provide you with the rubrics used to assess this Technology project. However, while the website itself is important, it is the process of actually developing it that will be assessed. Review the steps and requiremenrs of the design cycle on the next page - investigating the problem, planning the solution, creating a product, and evaluating both the product and your use of the design cycle.

@

Global Issues |)

o

In your final year of the MYP, you have probably completed a number of Technology projects and been exposed to the design cycle on the right several times.

Technology projects are notoriously open-ended - giving you the freedom to create your own criteria for success, and encouraging you to live up to those expectations. UnfortunatelS some of us struggle without a little bit of guidance.

Develop the design brief ldentify the problem

Formulate a design specification

Design a product/ solution

Evaluate the use of the design cycle

Plan a product/ solution

Evaluate the prod solution

'When

Create the product/ solution Follow the plan

appropriate techniques and equ

you're thinking about your design, it might help to appreciate what other people look for in a'successful'website. You could check out some locaUregionaVnational contests for website design, and find out what criteria the judges use when they assess the entries. This might help you with your own design specification, and also help you to design a'test' for determining the success of your product. Among the things that judges might look

for are:

;) creatiuityloriginality - the design conveys personality is creative, is suited to the theme, and displays meaningful information. The user says 'This site is interesting'. .> connn,tnication - each page has a distinct purpose and the content is organized, useful, relevant, and easy to find. The tone of the language is appropriate to the audience and the headings are clear. The user never wonders '\Vhat is this site about?'.

@

t) organizationlnauigation - the pages aren't cluttered (use of negative space), the order is logical, the layout is consistent, and the navigation system is reliable. The user never wonders ''Where am I?'. :> uisual presentationldesign - the font, layout, colours, and patterns are consistent, and have a distinct visual theme that is appealing. The imagery adds value to the message (and is properly referenced to avoid copyright infringement). The user says'This site looks great!'.

'Project evaluation What I enjoyed about this unit, and why

What aspect I didn't enjoy, and why

What I did reatty wett

What I did [ess well

What I would do differently next time

Which website and blog lthought was the most effective and why

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The following excerpt is from Stones into Scbools by Greg Mortenson, the executive director of an NGO that builds schools - mostly for girls - in central Asia (in this case in one of the remotest areas of Afghanistan).

The stonewalled school had been constructed in the shape of a circle ...'Waiting in the courtyard were 220 eager students ... clad in traditional crimson tribal dresses, with woollen stockings wrapped around their legs. One of the students, a wispy third-grader named Aisha, displayed the knock-kneed gait that is a by-product of rickets - an ailment common to the Wakhan. The entrance to the school's compound was guarded by a pair of ... gates, and one by one, the children gingerly stepped through. Some were clad in rubber boots, others wore sandals, and several were in their bare feet. ... I couldn't help but notice that the gray, lunarlooking dust now bore the imprints of a mosaic of footprints, and I was reminded ... of the moment when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon. One small step for a brave young girl, I thought, as the knock-kneed Aisha tottered into the courtyard - one giant leap for this community.

You can learn more about Greg's NGO (Central Asia Institute), or others dedicated to female education, by visiting their websites. Many schools have social justice clubs, and this might be a topic that you could introduce at one of their meetings. Perhaps your project website could be linked to your school's, so that other students and parents can see your work and learn about this issue.

@

lf\-

Schootchitdren from the remote Wakhan corridor region

Afghanistan

of

Unit question How can you tive with a fatal disease?

--f,r-aF.

Mathematics lnvestigating patterns (probabitity) ;) Can you create a model of probabiliry to determine the spread of HIV under different conditions? Reflection in mathematics :) Can you explain the significance of your findings and comment on their accuracy?

Sciences One world

:)

Can you explore the ethical, economic and social issues surrounding the treatment of people living with HIV?

Communication in science :) Can you create a multimedia presentation that communicates your perspective about the issue of living with HIV?

Area of interaction Heatth and social education ;) You will develop an appreciation of some of the difficulties of living with HIV, and how lack of treatment can affect us all.

A patient at a hospice run by the Maryknott HIV/AIDS Seedting of Hope Project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, receives antiretroviraI medication from a doctor (as

we[[as medication Like this, the Project atso provides patients with counsetting, financiaI support and generaI heatthcare assistance)

Approaches to learning focus Thinking ;) Creating novel solutions, including the combination of critical and creative strategies, considering a problem from multiple perspectives.

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Starting points :

Kaposi's Sarcoma is a relatively rare and benign form of skin cancer, usually restricted to the elderly. However, in March 1981, doctors in New York became puzzled by the occurrence of a particularly aggressive strain in eight seemingly healthy young men. In April

five people in Los Angeles contracted a rare form of pneumonia - called PCP - usually found in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. One of the drug technicians handling the cases noted the observation on the right. 1.98'1.,

In June 1981, the US Centre for Disease Control published a report raising concern about the cases and what they called 'opportunistic infections'. In the following months, a picture began to emerge about a disease that was destroying people's immune systems and allowing these rare and usually treatable conditions to kill them. This report is referred to as the beginning of a general awareness about AIDS, but at the time almost nothing was known about what caused the disease or how it was transmitted.

Visible thinking Question-starts

1

g

Brainstorm a list of ten questions about HIV/AIDS. Use the questionstarts below to hetp you think of interesting questions:

:) Why...? :) How would it be different if ...? ;) What are the reasons ...? :) Suppose that...? ;) What if ...? :) What is the purpose of ...? :) What if we knew...? :) What would change if ...?

2

Review the brainstormed tist and hightight the questions that seem most interesting. Then select one or more of the hightighted questions to discuss with a partner for a few minutes.

3

Reftect on what new ideas you have gained about HIV/AIDS that you didn't have before.

4 Who are the

Heatth and disease

PLHM

The UNAIDS organization esrimares that2 million people died of AIDS in 2008, and more than 25 million have died since the disease was first described.

I[hat

sometimes gets lost in the statistics is the number of people who continue to become infected with HIV (the virus which leads to AIDS) - 2.7 million in 2008. The 'World Health Organization calls them PLHTV - people living with HIV - but the 35 million people in this group don't fit a single profile. They come from all corners of the globe, regardless of gender, age, racq and sexual

orientation. They share not only the burden of carrying the virus, but also the hope, need and right to maximize the length and quality of the'living'part of PLHIV. That struggle will be the focus of this unit.

Preconceptions In the early days of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, people made judgements about those carrying the virus - believing that a person's lifestyle was responsible. Answer the questions below and then check the correct responses on page 45. '!7hich of the correct answers surprised you?'SThich of your responses were the results of preconceptions?

1

What percentage of HIV transmission worldwide is through heterosexuaI intercourse?

a b c 2

250/o 7Oo/o

What is the wortdwide ratio of men infected with HIV to women infected a

3:L

b

2:l

c

1:L

What percentage of the 9.5 mittion people in developing countries who require [ife-saving medication for HIV/ AIDS are receiving it?

a b c

50o/o

with HIV?

3

4

5

70o/o 4Oo/o LOo/o

Which region has had the highest rates of new infections since 200L? Sub-Saharan Africa Russia/EasternEurope Southeast Asia

a b c

What percentage of HIV infections worldwide are sexua[[y transmitted?

a b c

90o/o 70o/o 50o/o

@

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An army without generals HIV is unique in the cells it targets - CD4+ T lymphocytes - otherwise known as Helper T cells. If your body's immune system was an army, Helper T cells would be its generals. They perform a host of important jobs and co-ordinate the body's defences. The duties of a Helper T cell

:) )

) ;)

Liaise with white btood cetts (scouts) to identify invading pathogens. Stimulate B ce[[s to produce antibodies - specia[ proteins that attach to invaders to make them more visibte and to impair their function. Supervise the creation of a line of 'assassin'cetls, trained to target and attack the new enemy - so-ca[led Kitter T cetls. Attract the attention of macrophages to dispose of the invaders.

1

After reading the above job description'of Helper T ce[ts, exptain why the opportunistic infections mentioned on page 44 are common in AIDS patients

2

Find out about other typicat opportunistic infections in AIDS patients. List them here with symptoms where possible.

A Hetper T cettbeing targeted HIV (the green growths on the

surface of the cetl.)

Answers to preconceptions questions: 1c, 2c, 3a,4b, 5b

4

Heatth and disease

HIV destroys Helper T cells by hijacking their machinery turning them into virtual assembly lines for the production of new viruses. These become so numerous that they burst the cell, killing it as they enter the bloodstream searching for new victims. It's been suggested that many Helper T's under attack resort to a kind of cell suicide called dpoptosis.

3

Why do you suppose to such an extreme?

4

What kind of impact would this'suicide'strategy uttimately have on the immune system?

that Hetper T cetls woutd resort

Anatomy of an invasion Below are a cast of 'characters' and events involved in the infection of Helper T cells by the HIV virus. Do some research about HIV infection and outline the significance of each of the components/events listed. HIV virus:

Binding protein on virus capsute

HIV partic[e

HIV antigens remain on

CD4 receptor

surface of infected ce[[

I CD4

,"."r,a$

White cett (T-tymphocyte)

Binding protein

A Fusion of virus

/

to membrane

I

Virus core enters

[ymphocyte

Endocytosis

2

Binding leads to fusion of capsule with cell membrane

o

o

Slow poison and 'foreverness' Most viruses are exceedingly simple, consisting of a small piece of genetic material - the template for making multiple copies of itself - and a protein coat, which allows it to infect cells. HIV is a retrovirus, which means that it carries a single-stranded piece of genetic material (RNA), instead of the DNA found in cells. The virus brings with it a very special enzymq called reverse transcriptase, which is capable of forging a double-stranded piece of DNA out of the viral RNA. Scientists have puzzled over why these viruses have this'extra' step. In order to learn more about this topic, you could'ask an expert'. There is perhaps no-one more qualified to explain how retroviruses work than Dr. Robert Gallo, the man who discovered HIV and its link with AIDS.'Watch the first two segments of the interview'HIV Virology' at http ://www.videoj ug.com./interviedhiv-virology-2 and answer the following questions.

1

Summarize Dr. Gatto's exptanation of the tink between retroviruses and the permanence of HIV infection.

2

What kinds of prob[ems does Dr. Gatlo attribute to what he catls'the foreverness' of the virus?

Understanding the biology of retroviruses has allowed scientists to develop a series of drugs - known as antiretrovirals - that are capable of suppressing HIV and greatly enhancing the quality of life of people living with the virus. These drugs have proved to be very successful, but they aren't without their problems. Complete some research about the following issues, which you will use later on in your Project Plan:

:) ;)

Resistance Cost Side-effects

r) ;) Availability

@

(a patient's right to treatment)

The cocktait of antiretroviraI drugs used to help controlHlV

4 There are many viruses more infectious than HIV. Ebola, for instance, can kill a person in days and lead to fataliry rates of close to 1.00"/". However, HIV/AIDS has killed more people in the last five hours than Ebola has in more than 30 years. Clearly there is more to a pandemic than how easy it is to catch the virus. One factor that might impact on the spread of a virus is the mode by which it's transmitted. It's been suggested that if the method of transmission is known, prevention should be fairly straightforward.

Heatth and disease

Pandemic. noun . An epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world.

Vertical transmission (from mother to chitd) - in utero

R,eseareh

-

Research how each of the transmission methods in the diagram could be prevented.

Unprotected sexual intercourse

with an infected partner

during delivery

breastmilk

lnjection drug use (rare: infected btood/btood products)

HIV INFECTION

Read the fo[towing stories and, for each one, outtine how those featured managed to become infected, whether or not the prevention methods you tisted above woutd have hetped them, and how their rights have been affected.

1

- watch the trailer at http: / /www.bloodofyingzhou.com/ or research the probtem of unsafe btood donation in Henan and Anhui Btood of Yingzhou

provinces in China.

2

Women and HIV - read the section entitled 'Why is it so difficult for women to protect themsetves from HIV infection?' at http://www.avert. orglwomen-hiv-aids. htm

Global fssues

?)

D

Modelling contagion Trying to determine how f.ar and wide a virus will spread is the work of epidemiologists - scientists who study epidemics and outbreaks. In trying to quantify the spread of diseases, they calculate something called the basic reproduction ratio (R) - which is a reflection of the average number of people whom an infected person is likely to infect. Anything below an R-value of 1, and the virus is likely to die out on its own. Anything above L, however, has the potential to become a pandemic. In the following exercise, you will assume the role of an epidemiologist asked by the government for a forecast about how widely HIV is likely to spread. Initial research has revealed that, in your country, people with HIV go on to infect either one or two others. You can simulate or model the spread by using probability - in this case a coin toss. Assume that there is a single infected person - called Patient Zero. Flip a coin. If heads comes up, the infected person has infected one new person; if tails, the person goes on to infect two people. For each newly infected person, repeat the coin toss and keep track of how many people become infected - it could look something like the diagram on the right. Continue the exercise for seven generations. Graph your results with'Number of infected people' on the y-axis and'Generation' on the x-axis.

1

How many infected people do you have at the end?

2

Repeat the simutation severattimes. Do you think that the virus witt go on spreading, or witt it die out of its own accord? Exptain your answer.

Heads

TaiLs

Head

Taits

Heads

A simutation of the spread of the virus, using coin tosses. ln this exampte, a coin was flipped and Patient Zero infected two people - two infections in the first generation. One of the new infectees went on to infect two people whiLe the other infected one - three infections in the third generation, and so on.

4 A more sophisticated model Assume that the government wants to reduce infection rates through an education campaign, or by providing anti-viral drugs. You could now improve your model by having the number of people infected by a sick person decided by the throw of a die or the spin of a wheel - giving you more

lf you create a spinner, you'Ltneed !nfect 0 people 1 person

II rI I I

1

2

1

1

1

2 2

to fraction off your circle into a number of appropriateLy sized pieces of pie. You could use a

/

protractor or some geometry software [ike Geometer's Sketchpad to work these out. Make sure you show atl your work.

track of your new infections and of graphing them. Will the branch diagram notation you used opposite still work? Experiment with the model until you can show a'contained' virus - meaning the number of new infections eventually decreases. Include the reasoning behind the choices you make and show all your work.

outcomesa0-meaning 0

I

lnfect

possibilities.

You could choose how many people are infected from each throw/spin (0,1, or 2), by assigning an outcome to the number on the face of the die/each segment of pie. For instance, if you decide that the campaign is successful, you might assign more of the

Heatth and disease

that 0 new people are infected. Similarly, there might be fewer people infecting multiple partners, meaning fewer

Your teacher will provide you with the rubric used to assess this activity.

rolls/segments represent 2 new infections.

You will need to create a method of keeping

3

Consider the importance of your findings with regards to the HtV epidemic.

4

The simutations with the coin/die/ spinner are simpte modets of the spread of the infection. Are they reatistic/accurate? How could you improve them?

The basic reproduction ratio (R) represents the average number of new peopte whom a person infects. How coutd you catcutate this for each of your models?

What relationship is there between and the containment of a virus, if any?

R

So far in this unit we have looked at the scientific aspects of the HIV virus. However, in many ways, what is happening at a microscopic level inside the body, is occurring on a larger scale in society - HIV/AIDS attacks and weakens the very support systems that are meant to protect us. These

include the erosion of the familS the failure of governments and healthcare systems, and discrimination by employers and members of the community. Do some research into these areas to give HIV/AIDS a human dimension. Then create a multimedia presentation that addresses the unit question:

How can you live with a fatal disease?

A lot of the information contained in this unit could be included in your presentation. You must use scientific language correctly when explaining the issue, and help the audience to appreciate the uniqueness of the HIV virus. You must balance this with a consideration of how we can best support people living with HIV/AIDS, which could include ethical, political, moral and economic perspectives. This should not only include instances of our failings but, hopefully, some of the positive steps that are being taken.

Your teacher might decide to place you in small groups, since this topic and the research pool is so vast. The multimedia presentation could include text, stills, graphs/charts, video/audio clips, animations, graphics - and could be accompanied by a commentary. As with any researched product, full in-text referencing and a bibliography should be included.

@

'"'-'11

Project evaluation What I enjoyed about this unit, and why

What aspect I didn't enjoy, and why

What l/our team did reatty wett

What l/our team did tess wett

What I woutd do differentty next time

which multimedia presentation I thought was most informative and why

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There are countless organizations dedicated to AIDS relief, and the Stephen Lewis Foundation is no exception. \7hat sets it apafi,however, is the way in which its mandate is focused squarely on Africa - and more specifically on the women and children suffering from the effects of HIV/ AIDS. Furthermore, the majority of the Foundation's efforts are aimed at the grassroots level. In their own words: 'We cdn and do commit ourselues to helping those grass-roots groups wbo try so hard, with so little, to ease the anguish of the dying motbers and to create a hopeful future for tbe children tbey leaue behind'.

In Africa, a disproportionate number of people living with HIV/AIDS are women more than 6t%. Of course, when a woman dies, she leaves behind her children. UNICEF estimates that there are almost 16 million AIDS orphans in Africa - children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. The care of these children often falls to grandmothers or, in what are known as 'child-headed households', the oldest child sometimes as young as L2 - is forced to look after her siblings.

1

@

-

What did you think of the two pubtic service announcements? Exptain your reactions.

--J_

An AIDS patient and her carer in hospital. rn Togo,

West Africa

Have a look at the Stephen Lewis Foundation website, and be sure to watch the very powerful public service announcements which can be found there, or on YouTube. There are two in particular which have drawn criticism from some for their frankness - and praise from others for their effectiveness: 'Diagnosis' http://www. stephenlewisfoundation. org/diagnosis.mpg

'Doll' http ://www. stephenlewisfoundation. org/doll.mpg

2

Woutd you support this kind of grassroots approach, or do you fee[ that

your time, energy and resources would be better spent in some other way? Justify your response.

Unit question How is their problem my problem?

Mathematics Knowtedge and understanding

/ Reflection

in

mathematics :) Can you use appropriate mathematical concepts and skills to solve debt and trade issues in real-life contexts, and also consider the importance of your findings?

Humanities Skills (analyticaI and decision-making) ) Can you analyze and interpret information, formulate clear, valid and sound arguments, and draw conclusions based on your analysis? Concepts (time and systems) ) Can you see time as a continuum of past events - through the study of issues, events, systems, societies?

:)

Can you understand the complex and dynamic nature of systems, and the equilibrium within the trade-market system?

Area of interaction Human ingenuity :> Through the concepts of foreign debt, trade and development, you will understand the human capacity to influence, transform and improve (or worsen) the quality of life of others.

Approaches to learning focus Thinking :) Creating novel solutions to the debt situation in developing countries, including combining critical and creative strategies and considering the problem from multiple perspectives.

A protester at the

1998 GB summit in Birmingham (in the UK) makes her feetings known to delegates from the world's eight richest nations. At this GB summit, 70 000 protestors formed a human chain around the venue to demand debt cancettation for the wortd's poorest nations

@

I

Visible thinking Think-pair-share Watch the music video'Hote in the Bucket', directed by Anthony Minghetta for the Drop the Debt campaign (search for'drop the debt hole in the bucket'on YouTube).

Take a few minutes'thinking time to write down what reatty struck you about the video, and then summarize its message in one sentence. Now pair up with another student and share your thoughts and sentence. Revise your summary if needed - and possibty share it with the rest of the ctass.

Compound interest

The human and sociatcosts of internationat debt

- how debt aeeumula,tes

The formula you need to use is:

In order to understand how the debt burden explained in the video occurs, you must understand how debt accumulates. The example below

will help you.

You have bought something for US$1,,000 and paid for it using a credit card. Complete the table below to calculate how much money you will owe in each different time frame, if the interest is 1,6% per year and compounded every month.

e = p(l+#)'t A is the fina[ amount owed, P is the principal amount borrowed, r is the fixed interest rate as a decimal, t is the number of years and n is the number of times the interest is compounded per year.

Time frame

L month

6 months 1 year

5 years 1.0

years

Total amount owed (A)

lnterest (A -

P)

total amount owed, what percentage is interest?

Of the

5 Gtobattrade

and devetopment

A mueh larger scale - the debt of a eountry Now imagine that the original amount borrowed was not US$L,000 but US$750 million - the sort of loan that a developing country might borrow from a developed country, or an international organization like The'World Bank or IMF (see below). Assuming a 16"/" interest rate - compounded annually calculate how long it would take for the amount owed to grow to the levels indicated in the table.

Use the formula betow (in

which t represents the number of years):

.t _ log(A)-1og(P)

-

IoE(ilD-

Time taken for

the amount owed to ... ...

Your catculations

double quadrupte

... increase by

ten times

1

Explain how the Nigerian scenario on the right is possibte when interest is compounded.

All that we

2

Why does charging compound interest cause the

borrower a probtem? How is this fair?

had borrowed up to 1985 was around US$5 billion, but so far we have paid back about US$16 billion - and yet we are being told that we still owe abour US$28 billion. President Obasanio Nigeria, speaking in 2000

Researeh Research the fottowing internationaI organizations and the part they ptay in the business of internationa[ loans and debts: The Wortd Bank, the InternationatMonetary Fund (lMF), the Paris and London Ctubs (What are the Clubs, who is invotved, and what do they do?)

of

Global Issues i)

a

How did the debt crisis begin? In theory in order for a country to improve its overall economy and the living standards of its people, it must increase the productivity of its industries and agriculture and specialize in products that it can produce efficiently. It can then trade its surplus products for goods that it can't produce easily or cheaply. Therefore, from the 1960s onwards, developing countries were encouraged to borrow from developed countries or international organizations in order to modernize their economies, which led to increasing specialization in both industry and agriculture. However, adverse global economic conditions, which led to higher interest rates - and some unethical use of the borrowed money by corrupt governments just pushed many developing countries further and further into debt, with many forced to rely on international aid, as illustrated by the cartoon.

What t5pes of external market forces make a country vulnera,ble? Unfortunately, the more reliant a country is on one export, the more economically vulnerable it is. If something happens to lower the demand for that product, or its price drops because of changes to supply and demand, the entire economy might be drastically affected. This is now the case in many developing countries, which often rely on the sale of raw materials like iron ore, or cash crops like coffee, as a result of the changes to their economies described above. The supply and demand for a product can be graphed as a linear system - with the x-axis representing quantity and the y-axis representing price. The point of intersection of these two lines indicates when the market is in equilibrium (when the amount supplied equals the amount demanded).

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CHAR tTy

Ato

5 Gtobattrade

and development

Here is a basic example to help you: The suppty function of a random product can be represented as the fottowing equation (in which p represents price and g represents

1

What does the slope represent in the context of quantity and price? Witt it atways be positive?

2

What does the stope represent in the context of quantity and price? Witt it always be negative?

quantity):

P=39-5 The demand function of the same random product can be represented as the equation:

P=-zcl+45

3

Graph and [abe[ these two functions (as Suppty and Demand) on the same set of axes, and determine the equitibrium point (where the suppty of a product is equatto its demand).

a b

The equitibrium quantity is: The equitibrium price is:

Obstacles to development - trade

barriers IUTatch

the movie -'The luckiest nut in the world' from the Media that Matters Film Festival: http ://www.mediathatmattersfest. org/fi lms/the_luckie st_nut_in_the_world/

Class diseussion As you watch the movie, make brief notes and answer the following questions:

;> What obstacles did Senegal (and developing countries in general) face when trying to improve their export and trade position?

:) How much of what happened to Senegal was within their control?

)

IThy is the peanut the'luckiest nur in the world'? Discuss what makes trade practices ethical or unethical. Also discuss in what ways developed countries might have a moral responsibility to support/protect developing countries with little market power. How could they do this?'SThere has this actually happened in our world?

@

o

Supply and dema,nd for the groundnut - a graphical suurmary

The situation described in the movie about Senegal has happened in many other developing countries that depend on a single primary resource. suppV

o

) E' c) o L

PE

u0

The gtobat

groundnut market in the earty to mid 1960s

so

nd

o

.g L

o-

Qr Quantity of groundnuts

SuppV and demand in action - groundnut mountains in Senegatin 2005 - groundnut anyone?

Circle the correct answers below.

1

The gtobat demand for groundnuts decreased in the tate 1960s. Draw in the new demand line on the graph above (parattetto the original demand [ine), and tabet the new equitibrium point.

a b c

2

groundnuts The price of groundnuts The quantity of

increased increased

decreased

Exptain what impact this change in gtoba[ demand woutd have on Senegat's groundnut industry - and also its overa[[ economy?

lncreasing competition saw the worldwide supply of groundnuts increase from the mid 1970s. Draw in the new suppty tine (parattetto the origina[ suppty [ine), and again tabetthe new equitibrium point (the intersection with the new demand tine).

a b c

groundnuts The price of groundnuts The quantity of

increased increased

decreased decreased

Exptain what impact this change in gtobat suppty wou[d have on Senegat's groundnut industry - and also its overat[ economy?

Today, Senegal is one of the 50 poorest countries in the world.

@

decreased

.,,,,:,:;,

. 5 Gtobat trade and devetopment

If we cancel the debt, what else could be done with that money? It's so hard for developing countries to improve their economies and increase the living standards of their citizens when they have to spend so much of their national incomes servicing their debt repayments - while at the same time struggling against the unfair balance of power in global trade. Some campaigners (for example, Bono and Nelson Mandela) have argued in favour of cancelling the debt of the world's poorest countries completely. Your teacher will divide the class into five groups, each one responsible for researching one of the following subject areas:

:) Debt

and women

;> Debt and climate change

; )

Debt and education Debt and healthcare

;) Debt

and public services Cancetting internationaI debts

enabtes deve[oping countries

Your task

a

Your group has

to invest the money saved

to research and summarize

in

schools, tike this one in Malawi

..

the impact of debt - and of debt canceltation - on your given subject area.

b

You must inctude statistics to support your arguments, and discuss at least one success story of a country that has had its debt reduced/cancetled.

c

Start by tooking in the debt crisis section of the Jubilee Debt Campaign website: www.ju

bi

[eedebtca mpa ign.org. uk

d

Cottate your group's information into a 1-2 page summary, taid out tike a newspaper or magazine article. This can be produced using Word or Pubtisher.

e

Once approved by your teacher, you shoutd give a copy of your newspaper/ magazine article to everyone in the ctass Your teacher might also ask each group to accompany their articte with a brief

presentation.

iL or hospitals, Uganda

Like

this one in

@

D

Are we on the right traek? ln 1,996,The \7orld Bank and the IMF started the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. In 2006,they introduced the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative

(MDRI).

1

What are the basic principtes of the HIPC and the MDRI initiatives?

2

How many countries are included?

3

How is the decision made about which countries wi[[ have their debts cancet[ed?

Go to the http://www.worldbank.org/debt website and read articles in the'Debt relief' and'Debt sustainability' sections, and www, imf.org and search for'HIPC MDRI factsheets'.

4

Which debts are covered?

5

How effective have these initiatives been in reducing the debts of poor countries? Give specific statistics to support your answer (in the 'Debt retief' section, ctick on HIPC lnitiative and then [ook at the HIPC at-a-gtance guide).

fimeline - reeord of a eountry

a

Go to the interactive map on The I7orld Bank website (http://geo.worldbank.org) and select one of the lowincome countries. (Your teacher might allocate the countries, to ensure that everyone is researching a different one).

b

Select the country on the interactive map, or in the drop down menu, and click on the'Country Page' button. Summarize and record all of the significant events to do

with development in that country, including the country overview and history, news and events.

c

Finally create a basic timeline from the 1960s to the present duy - highlighting significant turning points to do with the country's debt and economy. The timeline could be created by hand, or by using Timeliner (or similar software).

5 Gtobattrade and devetopment

What is a sustainable amount of debt?

d

Now go to the'Country Data Profile' section of your timeline country (in the 'Data & Statistics' section of the 'Country Page' button).

e

Find out what their current debt position is (external debt stocks).

f

Find their current Gross National Income (GNI) on the same database.

g

Divide their current debt position by the GNI and multiply by 100 to calculate the current debt ratio.

h

The current debt ratio shows what proportion debt takes up of a country's income. Is this level of debt sustainable, or do you think it will hinder the development of this country? Explain your answer.

How mueh debt should developing countries repay? Incliviclually, you rrcccl to think about ancl clcciclc to what extcrlt the clcbt o[ .lcvcloping cotrrrtrics shoLrlcl be canccllecl ancl uncler whut conclitions. I)o sonrc furthcr reserrrch aboLrt clebt crrncellrrtior-r rrncl thc conclitions surroLr nclir-rs loans (if recluirecl) to hclp you to crertte 11n inforr-nccl opinion. Oncc cveryonc has cleciclecl alrout this issr-re, yoLr shoulc'l conrpletc the tollowing e lass rrctiviri'.

Four-corners activity Ethicat decision-making - witl loan conditions help or hinder development? Your teacher witt tabet each of the four a Go to the corner you agree with. corners in your ctassroom:

)

:) Debt cancellation Debt cancetlation

- no conditions 100% - with

:)

ln your corner groups (there may be multiple), discuss and summarize your point of view.

c

Your teacher witl nominate a person to speak on the group's behatf and

100%

conditions

;)

b

Debt cancellation - not L00o/o - developing countries need to pay back a portion of their debt - no conditions Debt cance[tation - not LOlo/o - developing countries need to pay back a portion of their debt - with conditions

explain their position.

d

After listening to each of the groups, perhaps you will alter your position a tittte ...

@

t

Visible thinking Generate, sort, connect and elaborate A concept map shows the retationships between ideas and concepts. ln pairs, you are going to create a concept map to inctude att of the key terms below.

Development

Exports

Public services

Debt cancetlation

Debt

Market forces

The environment

HIPC

Developing

GNI

The IMF

MDRI

Poverty

The World Bank

Healthcare

Millennium Development

You are also allowed to add up to five extra topics of your

Goals

own.

countries Developed

countries Trade

a

Education

Firstty, write down att of the key terms on sticky notes, so that they can be moved around easity on your paper- Make sure you understand the meaning of each

sentence to explain how the ideas are connected.

d

Etaborate on any of the ideas/thoughts you have written so far, by adding new ideas (up to five) which expand, extend, or add to your initiatideas.

e

Once you are both happy with your concept map, you shoutd each create your own good copy. This can be done by

one.

b

c

Start moving the sticky notes around and group them together where there is a togicatrelationship. Place key ideas near the center and more tangential ideas towards the outside of the page. Connect your ideas by drawing arrows (one or both ways) between ideas that have something in common. Add a short

Now use all relevant information from any of the activities that you have completed in this unit to write a position paper answering the unit question: How is their problem my probtem? Explain your ideas about the degree of debt cancellation that you feel is needed, and what percentage of debt developing countries must repay. Your overall thesis must decide how the problems facing

@

hand, or using any concept-mapping software (such as lnspiration), if it's avaitabte.

developing countries are your problems too, and justify why. Be sure to include the steps that must take place to help developing countries to improve their living standards. You must

include statistical information to support your ideas. The timeline, concept map and position paper will be handed in for assessment. Your teacher will provide you with the rubrics.

Project evaluation What I enjoyed about this unit, and why

What aspect I didn't enjoy, and why

What ldid reatty wett

What I did less welt

What I woutd do differentty next time

How we[[ my partner and lworked together on the concept map

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Moving on 1

What do you think Tony Btair meant by debt retief being a moral issue?

Debt relief is not just a moral issue, but in the self-interest of the industrialized world. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister speaking in L999

2

How is it in the interests of both developed and

developing countries to work toward debt cancetlation?

Country

GNI

France USA

Should we make sacrifices for others?

-

If we don't expect developing countries to pay all - or arLy of their debts, who should absorb this debt burden instead? Go back to The World Bank's data profile statistics and select'low-income countries' as a group.

\7hat is their current'Total External Debt'? The table on the right lists the G8 countries. Research their total combined GNI (using The I7orld Bank database) and complete the table. '!7hat

proportion of the G8's total GNI does the debt of

UK Russia

Germany Japan

ltaty Canada TOTAL

low-income countries represent?

Get involved ... Ii you iecl strongll' Based on your answer, do you think that the most developed countries should be able to absorb the debt burden of the least developed countries? Explain why or why not.

rrbor-rt clcbt carrcclIation.

get involvecl br' nrorli l'yirrg v( )u r [)osil i,rr pilpe r rrclclrcssing rhe ur-rit cluestion into rr lettcr to sentl to \'orlr

govcmnlcnr repre senrtt tirre

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!

b.

Environmental sustainability

6

Unit question How do we determine an acceptable risk?

Subjeet focus and objeetives language A Content (receptive and productive) ;) Can you examine a range of works with dystopian views of the future, and compare the authors' use of a genetic engineering theme?

l) Can you compose a short story which explores a utopian view of the future, based on genetic engineering?

Sciences One world

;)

Can you discuss the benefits and limitations of genetic engineering and how the issue interacts with social, economic, environmental, and ethical factors?

Communication in science :) Can you communicate your understanding of the science and issues surrounding genetic engineering in an essay, using appropriate sources of information and referencing?

Area of interaction Human ingenuity :) You will consider whether the current perceived benefits of genetically modified plants and animals ourweigh the future - as yet unknown consequences.

-

Approaches to learning focus Communication (informing others) ;) Creating a short story to show your understanding of genetic engineering.

genetic modification a good thing or not? This unit witthetp you to ls

decide

Starting points u

The description and photo below are of a creature trom Greek mythology known as Chimera, a monster that terrorrzed the countryside of Lycia (on the south coast of modern-day Turkey). Chimera is mentioned by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod as one:

who breathed raging fi're, a

crecfiure fearful, great, tryiftfooted. and stronS, who had three 'heads, one of glare-eYed lion' anotier of a goat, and another -of o ,rrPim.ln her forePart she a tructs ct lion; in lter hinderPart d.ragon; and in her middle Part' o gZat,' breath ing f"'t!- o f'.?:f"l

biatt of blazing fire' Her' did

Pegasus and noble BelleroPhon

slay.

The word chimera has a more common and modern use in biotechnology, where it describes an organism - often a plant - that consists of at least two genetically different kinds of tissues. Others have taken the analogy further and describe the product of dny genetic modification - where genes are transferred from one organism to another - as a chimera.

Genetically modified organisms hold the promise of increasing the supply and quality of food products, and the reduction of both the cost and environmental degradation associated with their production.'With great promise, though, comes a host of concerns - in particular the ethical, health and ecological issues surrounding our altering of the fabric of life.

In this unit we will consider the many types and mechanisms of genetic engineering, while exploring some of the intended benefits and potential risks we face - especially those that could impact on environmental sustainability.

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1

6 EnvironmentaI sustainabitity The servant with the scissors Because of the fact that the DNA code is uniuersal written with the same four chemical bases in every species scientists are able to'cut and paste' selected pieces from one

-

-

organism to another. The molecular'scissors' that allow this splicing of genes were discovered by a microbiologist named'Werner Arber, who was investigating why only certain bacteria became infected by viruses, while others seemed immune. He proved that specialized chemicals called'restriction enzymes' were capable of chopping foreign/viral DNA into pieces and preventing infection. The story below was told by Arber's 10-year-old daughter, Sylvia, when her father received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery.

The tale of the king and his sentants Irhen I come to the laboratory of my father, I usually

see

on the tablei. Th.t. plates contain colonies is very of bacier ia ..'.In"each bacterium there is a king' He skinny. ihe king-has many servants "' My father i;;g, catti.the king, DNA, and the servants, enzymes pair of My father has discovered a servant who serves as a this servant can scissors. If a foreign king invades a bacterium, anY harm to cut him in small fragments, but he does not do the his own king. Clever PeoPle use the servant with scissors to find out the secrets of the kings.

;;

p1;[, lyi,g

b;

Do some research into restriction enzymes and summarize why they are so important to the process

genetic engineering.

"'

of

Search tips Searching for restriction enzymes could [ead you to sources with wide-ranging levels of difficutty, from middte schootto pubtications in scientific journals. You coutd try broadening your scope to 'biotech', or qualifying your search with words [ike 'basics' or'for beginners'.

@

Global Issues :)

o

Ilojan horses and golden bullets The terrible-looking growth on the stem of the plant in the photo is a tumor called a crown gall (a kind of plant cancer).'What's interesting about this disease is that it's caused by a tiny microbe, called Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Aher entering the plant through a cut or wound, this microbe uses tiny circular pieces of DNA, called plasmids, as a kind of Trojan horse - sneaking the genes that produce tumors into the plant's DNA and forcing it to produce the gall as a home for them to live and breed in. Believe it or not, the discovery of this bacterium has proved to be a huge advantage for agricultural biotechnology. It has allowed scientists to modify a host of important crops, including: legumes like soybeans, vegetables such as tomatoes, beverages like coffee, and oil-producing seeds including canola.

A

gr ob a cte ri um tu mef a ci e n s

Do some research into A. tumefaciens and answer the fottowing questions:

@

1

What is a Ti-ptasmid?

2

How do geneticists avoid giving ptants tumors/ gatls when using A. tumefaciens?

3

What are some of the genes that scientists have been inserting into plants using this method?

4

How are restriction enzymes used in this process?

6 EnvironmentaI sustainabitity One of the main limitations of A. tumefaciezs is that it can't be used to modify monocots - alarge group of plants that includes some very important crops, like wheat, rice, and corn. To solve this problem, scientists have developed a novel method of transferring DNA, called a gene gun. Tiny gold particles are coated with the desired genes and are 'fired' into the plant tissue. For reasons that are not yet fully understood, some of the cells take up the genes and incorporate them into their own DNA.

5

Do some research into gene guns and comptete the story of how scientists go from coated golden buttets to geneticatty modified ptants.

---

Hi' A gene gun

Scientists are now able to use viruses to ferry genes from one organism to another - re-engineering them to deliver the desired payload to a cell instead of the virulent genes that would normally infect it.

6

Do some research into viral vectors and describe some of the potentiaI disadvantages when using viruses to transfer genes.

Global Issues i)

D

'Frankenfood' or panacea? Below is a list of some of the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) currently being grown, or being proposed. Your teacher will divide the class into small groups to conduct some research and prepare a brief presentation. You could use the jigsaw method described below, or another method decided by your teacher. Research the answers to the following questions for each

GMO:

L \7hat was the perceived need for the modification? 2 \fhat organism did the transferred gene come from 3 4

and how was it transferred? 'What are the benefits (real or potential) of the GMO, including issues of environmental sustainability? \7hat are the drawbacks/risks (real or potential) of the GMO, including issues of environmental sustainability?

GeneticattY modifi ed organisms ) Nutritionat vatue - e'g' Gotden Rice

;) Pest resistance - Bt corn or Bt cotton ;) Virus resistance - tobacco' papaya

:)

Herbicide resistance RounduP ReadY SoYbeans

;)

Fungus resistance

;)

potatoes Faster growth/ProductivitY

-

aspens, eggPtants

;) Controtling

ripening

- coffee' grapes'

tomatoes

)

@

other GMO aPProvedbY Your. teZch e r (plants / cro ps p r ef e r r e d)

AnY

A fieLd

of herbicide-resistant

Roundup Ready Soybeans

Jr'gsaw

6 EnvironmentaI

sustainabi tity

Visions of the future Dystopian futures are often explored in books and movies. The works on the list below were chosen because they feature a troubled eventuality - based, at least in part, on the consequences of some form of genetic manipulation.

Dystopla .

nourx o A society

characterized by human misery, sgualor, oppression, a,nd disease.

Novels Tbe Giuer by Lois Lowry (1.993) Braue Neut'World by Aldous Huxley (1932) lurassic Parkby Michael Crichton (L990)

Movies Blade Runner (1,982) Gattaca (L997)

Moon (2009)

I

Read or view a minimum of two of the works from the list above (or others approved/provided by your teacher), and answer the following questions in detail.

a b

How is the vision of the future, as expressed by the authors/filmmakers in the works you chose, dystopian? How was it supposed to be utopian? How was genetic engineering responsible for this

Utopia.

noun o Any visionary system of political or socia,l perfection; an ideal state or place - the opposite of dystopia.

dystopia?

2

c

Ultimately, what did each work have to say about the sustainability of the technology? At what point did the technology go too far?

d

Compare how the authors/filmmakers handled their views of the future as a dystopia in the works.

Think about what utopia might look like. Create a short story or write a scene for a play or movie that features aspects of a society that is greatly benefiting from GMOs. You should draw on the works rhat you have just studied to guide you stylistically. Note that none of them are overt in their portrayal of genetic engineering instead, technology is an undertone to an entertaining story.

Your teacher will provide you with the rubrics used to assess both pieces of work.

@

Global Issues i)

b

Pressure points One of the reasons why there are such strong and varied opinions about GMOs is that many of the stakeholders involved - politicians, scientists, farmers, agribusiness giants, and consumers - are under the influence of very different kinds of pressures.

List in the table some pressures that the different stakeholders might face as influences on their thoughts about GMOs. Stakeholder

*t

'

\: '*=* fi

.JMA. $3URri a

o

,

Pressure

Farmer

- How much does the food cost? People want to be heatthy - How safe is the food? What People have budgets

Consumer

is its

nutritionaI va[ue? Potitician Agribusiness (seed producer)

Scientist

o

1

Do any of the stakeholders share common pressures? What are they?

2

Based on the list you have generated, do you think there is any way in which att parties witt ever be abte to agree about the future of GMOs? Explain why or why not.

3

White researching this issue, you have probabty come across the deep divide between continents/ countries regarding GMOs. Nowhere is this difference more pronounced than in the divide between Europeans and North Americans. Why do you suppose they have such witd[y differing opinions about the safety and risk associated with GMOs?

t

6 EnvironmentaI sustainabitity is safe if its risks are iudged to be acceptable,' risk being'A medsure of probability and seuerity of aduerse effects'.

A thing

The above definition is at the heart of the unit question:

How do we determine an acceptabte risk? and the debate that surrounds the use of GMOs. Before you decide which side of the GMO issue you are on, it might help if you gather a bit more background information about some of the current thinking regarding the pros and cons of genetically modified organisms. The table provides a summary of some of the major arguments involved, and may help to guide your investigation. Pros of GMOs

Cons of GMOs

Crop yields are increased

Fewer pesticides are needed.

Short-range studies are favorable regarding the

safety of GMOs. SoiI erosion is reduced (no-titt agricutture)

GMOs may hetp humans

GMOs coutd hetp

to adapt to ctimate change

to fight gtobatfood shortages.

GM crops reptace native species (toss

of

biodiversity).

Pest-resistant crops might harm non-pest species, such as butterflies. Long-range studies are limited, so [ong-term safety is unknown. There is a risk of cross-contamination or gene

migration between GM and non-GM crops. Transferred genes might cause attergic reactions. The technotogy is expensive. How can farmers in developing countries pay for the new seeds?

If it quacks like a duck ... 'Substantial equivalence'is a term developed by the OECD, which says that a'novel food' (like a GMO), should be considered to be as safe as a conventional food if it shows the same composition and characteristics as the conventional food. Some use the expression'If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck'to illustrate the meaning of the principle. For instance, if a variety of genetically modified corn is considered to be similar enough to unmodified corn, it is considered safe and does not have to undergo the extensive testing to which a truly novel product would be subjected.

@

Our project plan Use your responses to the earlier activities, together with the information below about ethics, to write a'One world' essay based on the unit question:

as

it pertains to new technologies like genetic engineering.

Like any good piece of writing in science, you must try to strike a balance between scientific information, your own opinion on the matter, and a balanced presentation of the issues. You should make an effort to focus at least part of your discussion on the ethics surrounding the issue. Your teacher will provide you with the rubric to assess your essay.

Modern ethics can be separated into two main schools of thought. The first, called consequentiali.sm, is encapsulated by the phrase'the ends justify the means'. Simply put, when trying to determine if an act is morally right or wrong, the consequence or outcome of the action should be given the greatest consideration. The second school of thought, called deontology (from the Greek word deon, meaning dury or obligation), can best be summarized with the old adage 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Basicall5 when trying to decide if an act is morally right or wrong, the intention behind the action is given the greatest consideration - even if the consequences aren't favorable. 'S7hen

considering the ethical dimensions of the GMO issue, you should first decide which ethical school of thought you support. Do the good intentions of GMOs justify the potential harms they could cause, or do these same potential harms merit depriving the world of a promising technology?

Ethics.nounoThat bra,nch of philosophy

dealing with values relating to human couduct - with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

\

Projeet evaluation What I enjoyed about this unit, and why

What aspect I didn't enjoy, and why

What l/our group did reatly wett

What l/our group did [ess wetl

How wett we worked together as a team in the jigsaw activity

What I woutd do differentty next time

o

Moving on &

Glean seeds and patented genes In February 2007rMoe Parr, an Indiana farmer,was taken to court by the agribusiness giant Monsanto for the crime of taking some of the seeds from his crop - and the crops of his neighbors

-

and replanting them.

This process, known as cleaning seeds, is an age-old practice in which farmers save a portion of the seeds from the previous year's crop to replant in the spring. However, as part of the deal for purchasing Roundup Ready Soybeans, farmers must agree never to save or clean and replant those seeds, because - according to Monsanto - this is a violation of US patent law.

:) You can see Moe Parr's story in the film'Food Inc.' (Chapter 7 - From the Seed to the Supermarket), or you could watch a related clip from Greenpeace on the sub j ect at: http ://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/ activism-non-profit/w atchlv 1.8 0 8 8 1 29BhKkwSk5

:)

Read about Monsanto's version of events - describing why they brought a lawsuit against Moe Parr - at: http ://www.monsanto.com/foodinc/seed-saving. asp

1

What reason does Monsanto give for preventing farmers from saving or cleaning seeds?

2

lf GMOs are going to spread to deve[oping countries, as expected, explain what kind of impact this seed-cleaning ban might have on smat[ or subsistence farmers.

@

3

Moe Parr on his farm in lndiana

How do you fee[ about putting patents on living organisms - or at least on their genes? Explain your answer.

\r

'What can I do? Let's take a moment to perform a little experiment in evolutionary biology.Lay out a simple graph with time on the x-axis (stretching from now until the end of your lifetime) and subiect on the y-axis (moving from yourself to your family and so on up to the entire human race). If every thought you ever had appeared as a black dot on this graph, what would the graph look like?

I7ithout question the thickest, darkest cloud of dots would be centred around yourself and the next hour or so of your existence. It's an evolutionary by-product that has preserved us since humans took their first steps onto the savannahs of Africa. A safeguard lest we partake in too much'idle' thinking and become lunch for a predator or ger bested by an adversary.

The numbers of thoughts you have about big questions like what state the human race will be in at the end of your lifetime - are few and far berween. The reality is that your brain could happily spend your entire life thinking of nothing but you and what's going to happen in the next ten minutes. The problem with this adaptation is that it operates under the assumption that what is happening right now is far more dangerous than anything down the road, and that your survival is far more important than anyone else's.

Overpopulation, climate change, raging conflicts, deadly pandemics, and resource shortages have given us frightening glimpses of a time when that road could end, and a place where our fates are inextricably tangled with those of all other humans on the planet.

Global Issues ))

a

'We

have done our best in this series, along with your teachers, to encourage you to collect as many of 'the facts' from as wide a variety of sources as possible, so that you can make up your own mind about the Millennium Development Goals.

UnfortunatelS the facts can't provide answers to the most fundamental and urgent questions that we face.'U7hy are there still places where girls don't go to school? Why are their brothers hungry? IThy are their mothers too sick to care for them?'U7hy can't their fathers find a fair price for the hard work the family does? Why do ute hurt each other? Why don't we share? Why should I care? \7hi1e great efforts have been made to achieve every one of the Millennium Development Goals, the unfortunate reality is that not a single one of them is likely to be met by every country by 201,5. That means there is a lot of work still to do - and much of it, unfortunately will be left to your generation. So, the next time one of those

little black dots shows up on

the outskirts of your thoughts - and you wonder what the world will look like in the future - make sure you stop and ask yourself 'What can I do?' At that moment, let's hope that you'll heed the words of Mohandas K. Gandhi and'be the change you want to see in the world'. Let's hope you'll listen to Barack Obama's warning that'change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time'. And let's hope you'll act on the quiet wisdom of Anne Frank, that'nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world'.

@

B

ltl!DDLE YEARS PROG"RA[ltlE

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