Global Issues Contemporary World Problems Human Geography Course Bundle

This tightly-woven semester course combines Human Geography, Current Events, Contemporary World Issues, and Environmental Science into a must-teach inquiry-driven, real-world, project-based experience.

With these thematic, inquiry-driven units that build on each other, ask students to decide for themselves where they fit in this complex, competitive, and connected global village. You will guide them in exploring everything from the human population growth to globalization to natural resource sustainability.

Tied with each unit are multiple projects that challenge your students’ ability to teach their classmates, reflect and empathize, and to strengthen their reading, writing, and research skills.

Download the FREE Global Issues Course Overview and Calendar to see how this complete curriculum will challenge and prepare your students to be global citizens.

Then, check out this FREE simulation lesson on eco footprints to take a glimpse into the types of activities included.

This course is the real-life intersection of social studies and science by exploring our world's most pressing problems of how we as a human race interact with our planet now and moving forward.

Additionally, the embedded projects bring focused rigor and authenticity to your daily lessons. And the personalized work students create is so inspiring. It has re-ignited a passion for teaching in me and I hope it will for you too!

Both print PDF and digital Google Slides options are included with each listing.

Craft a powerful experience with these build-on-each-other inquiry units:

• Am I in the Majority or the Minority of the World’s Population? a 5-6 week unit exploring our world’s enormous population, demographics of the world’s people, and global poverty.

• Are We Shrinking or Expanding as a World? a 5-6 week unit exploring our world’s rapid population and industrialization growth, consumption of natural resources, and an in-depth analysis of globalization.

• How Can I Best Sustain our Natural Resources? an 8-week mega unit exploring the dwindling of our natural resources, our personal water, fossil fuel, and garbage footprints, and doable sustainability strategies.

• What are the Global Priorities of the 21st Century? a 2-option, 2-3 week capstone research project where students complete either a one-pager or research essay on the global issue they find most pressing.

3 BONUS Projects Kits

• Op-Ed Essay, Letter to the Editor, and Letter to An Elected Official self-contained, everything's-included writing projects that allow your students to become agents of change with their new knowledge!

What Other Teachers Are Saying

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you are looking to save time and have your students experience a good variety of critical thinking tasks and project-based assessments, this is a great resource. I like that this incorporates exploration and introduction of tougher topics with background info and graphics before asking students to produce a product. Wonderful! - fellow TPT Seller

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent resource! I found this when I was at my wits end trying to decide what I wanted to use in my Ecology class. It is an excellent curriculum to start the discussion on world issues and how we can use education as empowerment to solve global issues. - Kelsey

"This has been my absolute favorite resource yet on TpT. This Mega Bundle has been more than enough to cover my 12-week trimester with tons of good project-based learning activities." - Shauna

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I used this in my Environmental Science class with great success. The handouts were clear with rubrics (standards included), examples, and answer keys, etc. The essays were great--students completed the pre-writing activity and the outline with great success. Thank you for the detailed lesson plans, projects and assessments. Well done!" -Tara

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excited to incorporate this into my English curriculum. I enjoy the real-world reading and application, and it hits several of my standards while giving them great non-fiction material. - Courtney

Note from my Classroom

I created this curriculum for on-level high schoolers to fulfill a Contemporary Global Issues course with the goal of tackling the larger problems we collectively are and will face in the 21st century: population growth, globalization, and climate change.

These units intentionally use a wide range of materials, from photo books to scholarly studies, from data graphs to video diaries, that will engage even your lowest readers and challenge even your most college-ready students, which was essential in my classroom.

Don't hesitate to leave a question if you have any about how this can fit into your classroom too! I am always excited to see the unique ways others are using this course.

Teaching an existing Contemporary World Problems, Human Geography, or Environmental Science course?

Try these mix-and-match stand-alone units that can easily integrate into your existing classroom:

• Population Growth: a 3-week unit exploring what the simultaneous global problem of explosive population growth as well as alarming decline
• Extreme Poverty: a 3-week unit exploring what it's really like to live on one dollar a day around the world
• Globalization: a 4-week unit exploring the exponential growth of trade, technology, and travel that has created unbelievable global economic and cultural change
• Water Supply & Pollution: a 3-week unit exploring our finite freshwater supply and the human rights, pollution, and conservation issues that need urgent solutions
• Fossil Fuels & Alternatives: a 3-week unit exploring our addiction to oil, the harsh impact it is having on our air pollution and greenhouse gas levels, and the urgent need to switch to clean renewable energy sources
• Plastic & Garbage: a 3-week unit exploring the modern invention of garbage, landfills, and single-use disposables, the effects it is having on our oceans, and how a zero-waste lifestyle can be possible
• Global Priorities Research Project: a 2-option, 2-3 week capstone research project where students complete either a one-pager or research essay on the global issue they find most pressing

This listing is for one license for regular, non-commercial classroom use by a single teacher only. Commercial use like online teaching (ex. Outschool) or sharing with other teachers (ex. shared drive, in a Facebook group, in a professional development training) is strictly prohibited.

By purchasing a license to this resource, you have access to all future updates at no cost, available under “My Purchases." Multiple and transferable licenses are available for purchase. PDF files are uneditable, other files have editing abilities, unless otherwise stated. All files are protected under federal copyright laws.

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