Inequality and Foreign Aid

Activity/ResourcesDescription Time
Create TeamsBreak the class into four teams
(if some teams have more people
that works well)		 2 min
Straws, tape,
blue-tac, paper,
etc		Provide a bag of resources (straws,
etc) to each team. Each bag should be
unequal in the amount of resources
it contains		1 min
Explain the taskTell the teams they are to use their
bag of supplies to build the best,
biggest structure they can.
Don’t be too specific. Allow the teams
to be as creative as possible.		15 min
Monitor progressAs you supervise and assist here are
some common questions (and
possible answers):
-Q: Why do they have more?
-A: We’ll discuss that when we
finish.
-Q: Can I ask them for help?
-A: If you want to.
-Q: Can we share/borrow
resources?
-A: There’s nothing stopping you.
Evaluate the
structures		After about 15 min stop and
evaluate the team structures. You
can provide your own thoughts or
verdicts.
Then ask some questions to generate
group discussion and see what
lessons they learned:
– What is the significance of a big
team with a lot of resources?
– What challenges did you face?
– Did you ask for help?
– Did other teams provide or
withhold help?
– When that happened what were
your thoughts or feelings?
– Did anyone have extra materials?
– If so, did you give them away or
loan them to another team?
– Did smaller teams face any
particular challenges?
– Was it hard to get ideas?		5 min
Reflection (in
writing)		Put the following questions on the
whiteboard. Now is their chance to
individually reflect and provide their
own answers.

– How could you compare a team
with a lot of resources to a country?

– Describe the challenges you faced
in your team (for example: not
having enough of a certain material
to make what you wanted,
struggling to get ideas, needing to
ask another team for resources,
etc).

– Is it fair that some teams had more
resources or more people?

– What are some ways wealth
countries could help less wealth
countries (aside from giving them
more money)?

10 min