Meeting 3: Making a Difference

For Meeting 3 we will do the following:

1. Warm up: Watch the video from last week
   
2. Follow up Discussion: Please talk about the meaning of this statement: (30 Minutes)
   
• If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. - Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop
a. What do you think is the true meaning of this statement? Please reword it in English.

- You are very small in the world but you have a big impact so you can change the world in a good way and bad way.

- In this world I have a small existence but I can bring a great change.

- Example: If you are small but we try to not throw out garbage every day in our field for our environment.

- We can do many things but we don't notice what we can do.

- We all have the power to change the world, so I might have a little power but when we get together the power is very big. So we should cooperate with eachother.

b. Can you provide some examples in which individuals can become mosquitoes in relation to Global Issues?

- Using my own bag (for shopping)

- Pakistani school teacher used to teach poor students in the park. Provided children with books and writing supplies even though he was not wealthy. The students he taught would teach other students. So, his education spread. He has started a community of educators who have made a difference.

- Famous theory in China: "The Influence of the Butterfly" It says that if one butterfly in America flaps its wings, there will be a big storm in China. Another example, our lifestyles have influenced the green house effect. So if we do not eat meat it can help the environment.

- In Japan we have a lot of TV and computer and we use them during our free time. We use a lot of energy, so we think that we have to have more time for family. We can reduce electricity that way.

- Using public transportation to decrease CO2.
After discussing　the quotes, I would like to discuss how you think if the world were 100 people and this activity are related.

Other examples: The Mercy Centre

The above quotes were excerpted from Sampredo, R. & Hillyard, S. (2004). Global Issues. Oxford University Press, p. 41

Japanese Group	Dutch Group
Describe how you think the Dutch students feel about the Japanese student's behavior.	Describe how you think the Japanese students feel about the dutch students' behavior.
Identify the reason why the two sides are conflicting.	Identify the reason why the two sides are conflicting.
Give advice to the Japanese side about how to get along better with the Dutch side.	Give advice to the Dutch side about how to get along better with the Japanese side.

Meeting 2: Looking at our World

Goal: Before we start looking at other countries, other cultures and Global Issues, let's look at the earth as a whole to get an image of the kind of planet we live in.

1. Try the geography challenge for your region again. Were you able to identify more countries this time?
2. Fill in the information on this sheet by yourself. As a group, discuss what you think the answers might be. Lastly, watch the movie If the world were 100 people and compare your answers to the real ones. (To view the movie on the internet, you might have to download the Adobe Flash Player Plug-in) . Did the results of the movie meet your expectations? Please explain.　（Ｗｒｉｔｅ　ｔｈｉｓ　as a comment in the blog. Next time we will discuss it in MMCE)

Next Meeting: Can we make a difference? and getting along with different cultures.

Meeting 1: Welcome to MMCE (April 15, 2009)

Welcome to MMCE.
I apologize but because of moving offices and other major events my planning of this year's MMCE has not progressed as I had hoped. Today, I will talk about our goals, but at the moment I do not have a plan on how we will reach them. I think that this year will be a little bit of an adventure and I am looking forward to beginning it with you.

Here is the plan for today's meeting:
1) Introduce MMCE and our goals
2) Make CLGs (Based on global issue of interest)
3) Do the world geography challenge in groups. Regions will be chosen based on the countries that we will study.

1. Uighur, China (Global Issue to be studied: Diseases)2. France (Global Issue to be studied: Rich & Poor)3. Russia (Global Issue to be studied: Global Warming)4. Egypt (?) (Global Issue to be studied: Children) 5. Philippines (Global Issue to be studied: Weapons and War) (?)

For next time

1. Introduce yourself by writing a comment on this post. When introducing yourself, please do not use your real name. I would like you to think of a handle name instead. You can write anything you want but I would like you to include the following: A) The group you belong to; B)The number of countries you were able to identify on the quiz.
2. Please practice your world geography knowledge at the following site. Next week, we will see if you are able to identify more countries!