Issues with The World Discussion

Directions: 

1. Tell the students that the world they will study in history class is different from the world of today, but there are uses of understanding how the past affects the present and guides the future. After the brief small lecture, ask students to write down a list of 1-3 issues with the world. Also, ask students to write down a list of 1-3 issues with the United States. 
   1. Students can do this in small groups. If students are working in groups, have one representative come up to a whiteboard and write down their list. If students are working separately, have a student collect the lists and keep track on the white board while the discussion is being led. 
2. Compare this list to an online list or one that is made by the teacher.
   1. World Issues
      1. Wikipedia’s Global Issues
      2. List of Global Problems from 80,000 hours
      3. United Nations: Global Issues Overview 
      4. Business Insider: 10 Most Critical Problems in the World
   2. United States Issues
      1. Issues in America List from I Side With
      2. Top 15 Issues That Have Americans Worried
      3. New York Times: Historic Look at America’s Issues
3. Ask students if they think anyone in the room could fix the issues that were mentioned in either list.Finish the discussion telling students that it does not matter what they think of the class, but the world has many issues that they could change. The skills learned from studying history will better enable students to tackle these problems.http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/top-15-issues-americans-worried/story?id=29758744