Playing the game

Take the Global Awareness Project World Tour

In order to understand the world, one must construct it. - Cesare Pavese

GAP World Tour sets can be reserved by sending an email to jnewcomb@css.edu    One set of tokens and one map is used for each 3 to 6 students.

Imagine the world as a village of 100 people. Wealth, debt, oil consumption, oil production and military spending are represented by 100 tokens, reflecting 100% of the world's resources in these areas. Poverty, clean water, and housing are represented by tokens that symbolize the percentage of people who are affected by these issues. For example, 43% of the world's people live on less  than $2 per day so 43 tokens represent their poverty. The areas hardest hit by HIV infection are marked by 4 red crosses.

The map breaks the world into 12 regions, following Worldmapper's format. Each region is a different color on the map. Students will place tokens representing population and resources in each region, building a stunning visual representation of the world we all live in.

This exercise begins with the factual level of knowledge and misperception as the students build this visual display. With the help of reflection questions, students will move beyond the level of learning facts to forming an intellectual and emotional response to this information. The main goals of the GAP are to prompt student to ask: What has caused this inequality? What perpetuates it? Do we have a moral responsibility to address it?

Keeping those goals in mind, modify this suggested format to best work with your students and subject matter. And please send us your suggestions!

• Pass out maps of the world to groups of 3 to 6 students.
• (Optional) Have them list continents and oceans.
• (Optional) Ask students to attempt to name all of the countries on the map or all the countries in a particular region.
• Pass out one set of tokens at a time.
• Have students place tokens on the maps as they believe they are distributed. Use whichever data is applicable to your class.

Distribute 100 people on the 12 regions.
Distribute 43 rings around the necks of people who live on $2 a day or less.
Distribute 82 blue chips to people who do have potable water.
Distribute 70 homes by the people who have permanent houses.
Distribute 4 red crosses by the areas hardest hit by HIV infections.
Distribute 100 green chips to represent ownership of wealth.
Distribute 100 red chips to represent public debt by region.
Distribute 100 derricks to represent oil production by region.
Distribute 100 cars to represent oil imports by the region.
Distribute 100 missiles according to military spending by region.

• Present the actual distribution from the Answer Key so students can correct their placement.
• Ask students questions to help them reflect on their perceptions of each distribution.

Token Images

   Population & Absolute Poverty                 Potable water                            Permanent Housing

               HIV infections                                         Wealth                                              Public Debt

            Carbon Emissions                                   Fuel Use                                    Military Spending

Send us Suggestions! Teachers, be a part of the development of the GAP.
Send us your feedback on how the GAP worked in your classroom, suggestions for ways to take the world tour or new data you have used with your class. Sending suggestions to this address as an attatched World document: Jnewcomb@css.edu