TITLE:         The Importance of Imports

AUTHOR:     Steve Shake; Teaching Geography
            Jefferson Junior High, Caldwell, ID

GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT:       7 through 9
          Social Studies -  Geography & World Trade

OVERVIEW:  Most students are not aware of their important
role as consumers of imported products in our economy.
Students need to be more aware of how world trade is a big
part of their material lives.  These activities are designed
to show the students that imported products literally
"touch" the lifestyles and everyday activities of America's
youth.

PURPOSE:  These activities strive to promote active student
involvement and sound logical analysis of information to
create a genuine interest and a more concrete understanding
of what imported products are, where they come from, how
they move from import nations to U.S. stores, and why we, as
Americans, buy so many imported goods.

OBJECTIVES:
The student will be able to:
1.   Complete a home research assignment to identify and
     list many of the imported products they possess and use
     each day.
2.   Identify and locate on a world map several nations that
     supply students with imported products they wear to
     school each week.
3.   Organize and categorize collected information to
     identify nations that have specialized and nations that
     have diversified in the number of products they import
     to consumers in the U.S.
4.   Recognize possible methods of movement and
     transportation involved in moving products from the
     import nation to the U.S. consumer.
5.   Formulate generalizations about why U.S. consumers buy
     so many imported items when the same items are often
     available to them on domestic markets.
6.   Describe, through the use of examples, how nations are
     becoming more and more inter-dependent upon one another
     for certain goods and services.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS:
A classroom set of atlases, a classroom set of markable
world maps or reasonable facsimile thereof, an erasable pen
for each student, and a blackboard for the reproduction of
thoughts, ideas, and terms of the assignment.

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:
Introductive note:  Preface this lesson with short
explanations of the following terms:
1.  imports - Products or services made outside the U.S.
    and sold to the consumers within the U.S.
2.  exports - Products or services made in the U.S. and
    sold to the consumers of other nations.
3.  Interdependence - the dependence of one nation on
    another nation for one or more products or services.

Activity One - "The World in Your Closet"
The intent of this activity is to create awareness in the
students as to the personal effects imported products have
on each of their lifestyles.  This is a great overnight
homework assignment that my kids enjoy out of curiosity and
ease of completion.
1.   Using articles of their own clothing and footwear, each
     student will make a list of all the nations of the
     world found in their closet and dresser at home.  Write
     the names of the nations on a sheet of paper.
2.   After the name of each nation on the sheet, record the
     type of clothing or footwear that came from that nation
     - (shirt, pants, shoes, etc.)
3.   Each student must complete this assignment overnight
     and return it to class the next day.

Activity Two - "Wear in the World?"
The following are great geography review vehicles, offered
in painless fashion.  Remind the students that their lists
are lists of imports and ask them if they found a few
surprises in their closet?  The kids can hardly wait to
share their findings with others - encourage them to do so!
1.   Each student is given an atlas and desk-top size world
     map that is markable and erasable.  With a marker pen
     you provide, each student must locate and identify all
     the nations on their research list.  Use the atlas to
     locate and the pen and world map to identify.  As
     students are doing this ask if anyone found nations
     they did not know of, nations that were abbreviated, or
     any other strange things you might help them with.
2.   Looking at the marked world map and their atlases, each
     student will make a chart that categorizes  each of the
     nations by the continent they occupy.  Make 6 columns
     on a sheet of paper and list each nation under the
     correct continent heading.  What continent has the most
     import nations listed?  Which one has the least?  Which
     continent has no nations listed
3.   Using the homework research list, categorize the
     nations according to what clothing and/or footwear they
     produced.  Place the names of the nations in columns
     labeled;  A.  shirt & tops, B.  pants, shorts & skirts,
     C.  footwear, D.  dresses, suits & formal wear, E.
     sweatsuits & sweaters, F.  coats & jackets.  This
     activity should be followed with a discussion, with
     examples, to explain that some countries specialize in
     the types of products they produce, while other nations
     are more diversified and produce a great number of
     different products. Ask the students to identify
     nations on their lists that they feel are specialized
     nations and nations they feel are diversified and have
     them explain their logic.

Activity Three - "How in the World"
This activity is fun to do in groups or rows.  Four students
to a group and one recorder to take notes for each group.
1.   Using the information in the atlas and their world map,
     each group will try to brainstorm all the possible
     methods of movement or transportation that may have
     been involved in  transporting an imported item from
     the nation of its origin to the closet it now occupies.
     List step by step its travels, include foreign and U.S.
     port cities and specific places it may have passed
     through.  Recorder keeps a list of the steps.  Groups
     will compare and share lists, or steps, on the board.

Activity Four - "Why in the World?"
This activity is an activity of discussion and analysis of
the previous activities.  Encourage speculation and
brainstorming by all students.  This is a good one for
groups because of more security in numbers.  Great!
1.   Offer to the class this question - If these clothes and
     footwear items are also made in the U.S., why do we
     Americans buy so many imported products?  Brainstorm
     for logical reasons and list the ideas of each group on
     the board and have each group describe their statement
     by using everyday examples.
2.   Offer the class this question - How can your group
     explain this statement - "One nation's imports are
     another nation's exports."  This time have the groups
     brainstorm among themselves and have each recorder
     write out a short explanation to offer to the whole
     class and compare the findings on the board.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:
1.   Encourage all students to participate, articulate,
     speculate, formulate and explain their ideas, thoughts
     and answers.
2.   Encourage the total sharing of data and information
     found during research.
3.   Design a map quiz that checks the retention of some new
     nations discovered by the class during Activities One
     and Two.
4.   Design a short answer essay assignment to review and
     reinforce what imports are, how they get to be in our
     possession, why we buy so many of them, and how we can
     use examples to explain world trade interdependence
     between the nations of the earth.