Skip to content

Take a quick tour of the new website with this short video – watch here

Education

Understanding Globalization Lesson Plan

Length
One 60-minute period
Grade Level
High School

Learning Objectives

Students will investigate the basics of globalization, trade, and trade-offs as they explore the people and processes that bring objects in their backpacks to life.

Class

  1. (12 Minutes) Introduction to Globalization: Introduce the session by having students watch CFR Education’s “What is Globalization?” video (3:29). Once the video ends, ask students to think through the following questions in pairs:
    • What is one thing from the video that surprised you or that you hadn’t thought about before?
    • The video says globalization touches “every part of our lives.” Do you believe this? Why or wy not? What is an example of globalization in your own life?
  2. (2 Minutes) Share-Out: Ask 3-4 students to volunteer their answers. Write key terms on the board as they emerge without formally defining them.
  3. (8 Minutes) Closer Look: Supply Chains: Next, have students watch CFR Education’s “The Globe-Trotting Journey of a Sneaker” video as a class (). Pause the video one time - right after the video describes Vietnam as the assembly point - and ask students: Why Vietnam and not the United States? What does the video say - and what does that mean for workers in both places? Allow students 60 seconds to discuss their thoughts in pairs, then resume the video.
  4. (20 Minutes) Research Activity: After concluding the video, transition students to independent or partner research. Ask students to pick one object that they brought to class (i.e., a phone, backpack, or piece of clothing) and research its supply chain using their phone, laptop, or other class device. Have students fill out the attached tracking sheet (linked below) as they research.
  5. (10 Minutes): Mapping Globalization: Draw a large blank map on the class whiteboard. As students are wrapping up their research, have them come up and add their chosen object’s journey to the map - either drawing a line or adding a sticky note for each key location: material, assembly, distribution, and final destination (the classroom). Give students a moment to look at the map, then ask students: “What do you notice? What patterns do you see?”
  6. (10 Minutes): Debrief: Use the rest of the class session for a debrief on the mapping activity. Pose any of the following questions one at a time, letting students answer voluntarily before moving on:
    • What was the most surprising thing you learned about your object’s journey? Did anything make you uncomfortable?
    • The sneaker video said that manufacturing in Vietnam keeps prices low — but workers earn less and face fewer environmental protections. Is that a fair trade? Who gets to decide?
    • The video also says 25–30% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from transporting goods around the world. Does knowing that change how you think about the things you own?
    • Globalization’s effects are described as complex - an upside for some is a downside for others. Based on what you learned today, who do you think benefits most from the current system? Who bears the costs?
    • If you were advising a government, what is one thing you’d want to change about how global supply chains work - and what would be the tradeoff of changing it?

Instructor Notes

  • As an optional extension, consider assigning another resource from CFR Education’s Globalization topic page to deepen student understandings of the supply chain picture beyond manufactured goods. A prompt for homework might be: “How does this reading add to or challenge our conversation from today’s session?”
  • For non-academic writing alternatives: instead of the tracking sheet, consider asking students to sketch an annotated map of their object’s journey by hand or record a 60-second video describing what they found.
  • To deepen the research for more advanced learners: consider asking students to find one news story from the past year about a disruption to their object’s supply chain and add it to their tracking sheet.

Materials