Bellwork: Read the story below then write down
your reaction and decide whether you think it is
a true story or not. Explain your thinking!
• A young street vendor in Tunisia named Mohamed
Bouazizi set out to sell vegetables from a cart early in
the morning. He bought his goods on credit because he
had no money. Shortly after he began pushing his cart
through the city, a police officer told him he did not
have the correct permit and demanded a bribe. When
Bouazizi did not give her enough, she took his goods.
He immediately went to complain to the authorities at
the local government headquarters, but they refuesd
to see him. Feeling desperate and frustrated that he
could now not repay the debt of feed his family of
eight, he bought a can of gasoline and set himself on
fire in protest.
• He is now famous throughout
Tunisia and the Arab world —
a legend, in fact. But
Mohammed Bouazizi never
set out to be such a thing. His
aunt Radia Bouazizi says his
dream was to save enough
money to be able to rent or
buy a pickup truck. "Not to
cruise around in," she says,
"but for his work." Her
nephew was a vegetable
seller. "He would come home
tired after pushing the cart
around all day. All he wanted
was a pickup." Instead, he
started a revolution.
TRUE
Arab Spring
What did this look like?
Who?
• Many people who were involved in the protests were
young adults that were frustrated with the lack of jobs.
• Women who suffered under strict and restrictive laws
protested.
• They wanted to change their government and create a
democracy.
What?
• A huge protest in support of democracy for their
country.
• People were standing up to their government
that had ruled their home countries for years
with absolute power.
• They demanded political change and economic
opportunity.
Where?
• Protests started in Tunisia.
Other countries in the Middle
East started similar protests.
The first country after Tunisia
was Egypt. Then Yemen, Iran,
Bahrain, Algeria, Libya.
• Several other Middle East
Countries started protests as
well.
– Jordan, Kuwait, Israel Palestinian
territory, Lebanon, Morocco,
Oman, Syria, UAE, and Saudi
Arabia
• Interactive Map
Let’s label the major countries that were part of Arab Spring protests
Iran
Tunisia
Egypt
Algeria
Bahrain
Libya
Yemen
When?
• Protests started during the winter of 2010 and
the spring of 2011.
• Some of these protests created change.
However, others are still going on with even
more violence occurring.
What do these countries look like now?
Why?
• Employment rates
• Women’s Rights
• Oppression
– Example: Bouazizi
2011 Unemployment Chart (Ages 15 to 24)
How? …Social Media
Your Task
• In the middle of your chart you will see a
section labeled summary
• Take a few minutes to think about what we
have discussed today and look at what you
have written down.
• Write out at least five sentences summarizing
Arab Spring using your notes.
Bellwork
Where is the
absolute location
of the areas we
are talking
about? Look at
the map below
and find each
location!
YellowBlueRedBlack-
Your task today:
• Choose one of the following activities to complete. As you
have already found out, social media played a huge role in
what happened at Arab Spring. Pick one of the activities
to show what you would have seen on social media back
in 2010 and 2011.
– INSTAGRAM: draw three detailed pictures of what was going
on and put a caption on each that is at least 20 words long.
– TWITTER: create a profile and tweet at least 4 things to share
the news of what was happening.
– FACEBOOK: create a profile and three status updates of what
is happening near you.
– REPORTER: pretend you are a reporter and create a news
report that you will broadcast to the citizens.