Alexandria Freeman
General Topic: Germany
Date: 3-14-11
Unit Duration: Four weeks (each lesson takes about a week to complete.)
Grade Level: Late 6th grade, 7th grade.
Rationale:
Students need to learn about Germany because it affects them historically,
geographically, and economically. Germany played a large part in the World Wars, especially
World War II. The effects of this war are still felt globally today. Germany is geographically
centered in Western Europe. It is a trade hub for European countries and we receive many
imports from Germany as well. Germany also plays a role in world issues today that directly
affect our country. Germany has a lot to offer and students will take a month to learn all about
the great impact Germany has and continues to have on the United States. My lessons will
reinforce Germany’s geography, its economical standing and trade, the holocaust, and world
issues which will be used to debate.
Subtopics:
Germany’s Regions and Geography
Germany’s Economics and Trade
A Holocaust Survivor and Prejudice
Germany’s Policies and the World
Week 4, Lesson #4. Germany’s Policies and the World
GLCE:
7 – C4.3.1 Explain how governments address national issues and form policies,
P3.1 Identifying and Analyzing Issues, Decision Making, Persuasive Communication About a
Public Issue, and Citizen Involvement
7 – P3.1.1 Clearly state an issue as a question or public policy, trace the origins of an
issue, analyze and synthesize various perspectives, and generate and evaluate alternative
resolutions. Deeply examine policy issues in group discussions and debates to make reasoned
and informed decisions. Write persuasive/argumentative essays expressing and justifying
decisions on public policy issues. Plan and conduct activities intended to advance views on
matters of public policy, report the results, and evaluate effectiveness.
7 – P4.2.2 Engage in activities intended to contribute to solving a national or international
problem studied.
Prior Knowledge:
Students should be familiar with various forms of government. They should be familiar
with Hitler and his practices. The students should be aware of what compromising is, how to
research on the internet, and different energy forms. They should also be aware of the role of a
good citizen from previous years.
Objectives: Students will…
analyze information to assist them in creating an argument.
show willingness to be involved in public decision making in the future by listing ways they can
take part in policy making.
debate a topic using their prior knowledge and evidence to support their argument.
research a controversial global issue.
develop and orally present a persuasive argument.
describe ways to inform others about public policy.
Main Points:
For one activity, information will be provided that will greatly impact the arguments. Students
will also research information on a topic to help them develop an argument.
Students can take part in public policy making by emailing a senator, participating in a rally,
going to open meetings, ect.
Using teacher created handouts as well as researched evidence, students will take sides, create
arguments, and debate them in class.
The global issues to research are Germany’s low population problem and immigrants,
renewable energy technology and its price, and nuclear power use.
Using evidence, a persuasive argument will be developed and presented to the class.
We can inform others by telling them, doing service projects, writing our local newspaper,
participating in rallies, ect.
Activity 1: Staging a debate
1. Stage a debate in the classroom on the following controversial topic: A committee
voted to host the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany. They voted on this topic in
1931, before Hitler gained power in Germany. Based on your knowledge, do you
think they should have later changed the location of the games?
2. Ask students to decide yes or no and, based on their answers, split them up into two
teams. Tell them they will be debating and will need to back up their answers with
knowledge or facts.
3. Have the students do their first run through based on their prior knowledge of WWII
and the Holocaust. Use the timeline from the previous lesson as well as other
knowledge gathered from previous years.
4. Give students their first article of evidence: the “Revisiting the Most Controversial
Olympics” article. Ask students to talk in their group and shift their argument to use
this piece of evidence to support their claim. Reconvene and have them provide
their sides of the story now.
5. Finally, give them the supplemental information sheet. Tell them this is what Hitler
did with the Olympic games. Ask them to once again incorporate this into their
argument. Remind them to focus on the idea that they are arguing whether or not
the location should have been changed, not whether what Hitler did was right or
wrong.
6. Once the debate is how, have students vote. Should the location have been changed
before the games or was it right for the committee to have left it?
7. Discuss as a class why the initial argument was different from the end argument.
What were the turning points? How did they incorporate the evidence into their
article?
Activity 2: Debating German policies
1. Student will divide up into groups based on their interest in the following policies.
Each group will choose one of the following controversial issues Germany faces
today.
2. They will, together, answer the questions and come up with their own solution
(policy) to the problem. Explain that, many times, this is how a government creates
or changes a policy. Using the internet to research information is encouraged, but
may not be necessary. The groups will present their persuasive argument and facts
to the classroom in the form of “Instead of doing this (what the government already
does,) we should do this.” The class will then vote: do they want to continue with
the government’s idea or will they decide to try the group’s solution?
Controversial Issue #1: Explain to the students that Germany faces a very large problem.
They do not have enough people in their country. Unlike China who has so many people, they
must restrict the birth rate by allowing families to have one child, Germany does not have
enough people. Certain companies cannot do their jobs properly because they need more
workers; teachers are being laid off because there are not enough students to teach. At the rate
Germany is going now, they will have significantly less people in 20 years. They have
encouraged immigration, but many immigrant workers send the money back to their country of
origin to their families. Germany wants to keep the money they are paying their workers in
Germany. Why is it important for them to increase their population? Can the government do
anything to encourage population growth? What do you think are some of the citizen
concerns?
Controversial Issue #2: German is one of the leading countries in renewable energy
technology. They get their energy through wind turbines, solar panels, water, and landfill gases.
This year, Germany is raising the price for families to use these renewable energy sources by
77%. That means a family that paid 7 Euro per month last year will need to pay 12 Euro per
month this year for their energy. This is due to more people wanting to partake in renewable
energy, which caused the rising cost for more solar energy equipment. Should families have to
pay to receive renewable energy? Is this fair for families who do not use solar energy? Why?
What is another way to provide families who do not have renewable energy with energy?
Controversial Issue #3: As we know, Germany is one of the world leaders in engineering
as well as renewable energy. Many German engineers take part in building nuclear power
plants as well as using that power in their homes. Germany has always been controversial when
it comes to nuclear energy. Most of Germany does not want to use it because it is not safe.
However, the German government says they need the nuclear energy because they cannot do
without its power. After the tsunami in Japan and the nuclear leaks, many Germans are even
more determined to get rid of their nuclear power and rely on other sources of energy.
However, the government says it is necessary to keep the nuclear energy and has extended
their power plants to run for twelve more years instead of shutting down. Is this fair to the
citizens? Why should the government continue to use power? Why should they stop? Is there a
solution that compromises and makes everyone happy?
Closing Activity: What about me?
Students have done in depth discussions now and have participated in a guided debate
as well as an independent debate on past and current political issues. Discuss with the students
the challenges of doing so. Is it important for us as citizens to have a say in the debate? How
can we as citizens of a country better our country by giving our input on policies? What if no
one ever said how they felt or let the government know?
Ask student to each write a page on the topic they found most interesting in this lesson.
They should address what happened, why, what they can do as citizens to help or give advice,
and how they can inform others about this topic. The answers will vary on what topic the
student chooses, but their solution should be logical. They could mention that they as citizens
can help by writing to a local representative, a newspaper, or joining a rally.
Materials:
Revisiting the Most Controversial Olympics of All article (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
articles/2008/06/30/photo_essay_revisiting_the_most_controversial_olympics_of_all)
Sheet of German Controversial Subjects by Alex Freeman
Supplemental Document on 1936 Olympics by Alex Freeman (information taken from
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/1936_berlin_olympics.htm)
Assessment of Objectives:
Objective
analyze information to assist them in creating an
argument.
show willingness to be involved in public decision
making in the future by listing ways they can
take part in policy making.
debate a topic using their prior knowledge and
evidence to support their argument.
research a controversial global issue.
develop and orally present a persuasive argument.
describe ways to inform others about public policy.
Assessment
Students are given resources in activity 1 as well as
encouraged to research information on their
global topic in activity 2.
We discuss in the activities how arguing and
making policies affects us as citizens. In the closing
assessment, I ask students to list different ways
they can be involved.
Students take sides and, with the information they
are given as well as their prior knowledge on the
topic, construct a persuasive argument, and
debate with the opposing argument.
Students will research an issue that they select
from the list. This research is imperative to a
successful, well organized argument that they will
present to me.
Students will present a persuasive argument they
have researched to me and the class. They can be
graded individually, as a group, or both depending
on the strength and organization of their
argument.
While learning about public policy, students will
see how it affects them as citizens. They will later
talk about what would happen if citizens were not
interested in policy and left it all up to the
government without any input. In the closing
activity, they are asked to come up with different
ways they can inform other citizens.
Controversial Issues Sheet
Controversial Issue #1: Explain to the students that Germany faces a very large problem. They
do not have enough people in their country. Unlike China who has so many people they restrict
the birth rate by limiting their familiar to have one child, Germany does not have enough
people. Certain companies cannot do their jobs properly because they need more workers;
teachers are being laid off because there are not enough students to teach. At the rate
Germany is going now, they will have significantly less people in 20 years. They have
encouraged immigration, but many immigrant workers send the money back to their country of
origin to their families. Germany wants to keep the money they are paying their workers in
Germany. Why is it important for them to increase their population? Can the government do
anything to encourage population growth? What do you think are some of the citizen
concerns?
Controversial Issue #2: German is one of the leading countries in renewable energy
technology. They get their energy through wind turbines, solar panels, water, and landfill gases.
This year, Germany is raising the price for families to use these renewable energy sources by
77%. That means a family that paid 7 Euro per month last year will need to pay 12 Euro per
month this year for their energy. This is due to more people wanting to partake in renewable
energy, which caused the rising cost for more solar energy equipment. Should families have to
pay to receive renewable energy? Is this fair for families who do not use solar energy? Why?
What is another way to provide families who do not have renewable energy with energy?
Controversial Issue #3: As we know, Germany is one of the world leaders in engineering
as well as renewable energy. Many German engineers take part in building nuclear power
plants as well as using that power in their homes. Germany has always been controversial when
it comes to nuclear energy. Most of Germany does not want to use it because it is not safe.
However, the German government says they need the nuclear energy because they cannot do
without its power. After the tsunami in Japan and the nuclear leaks, many Germans are even
more determined to get rid of their nuclear power and rely on other sources of energy.
However, the government says it is necessary to keep the nuclear energy and has extended
their power plants to run for twelve more years instead of shutting down. Is this fair to the
citizens? Why should the government continue to use power? Why should they stop? Is there a
solution that compromises and makes everyone happy?
Supplemental Document for 1936 Olympics
The Nazi Germany team had been allowed to train fulltime thus pushing to the limit the
idea of amateur competition. Germany's athletic superstar of the time was Lutz Lang - a
brilliant long jumper who easily fitted into the image of blond hair, blue eyed
Aryan racial superiority. By far the most famous athlete in the world was Jesse Owens
of America - an African American and therefore, under Nazi ideology, inferior to the
athletes in the German team.
The vast Olympic stadium was completed on time and held 100,000 spectators. 150
other new Olympic buildings were completed on time for the event. The anti-Semitic
posters that had littered Germany before the games had disappeared. Signs that stated
"Jews not welcome here" were not longer visible - anything was done to ensure that the
Games went smoothly and caused no upset.
In fact, the upset was caused in the stadium itself. The 'racially inferior' Owens won four
gold medals; in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4 x 100m relay. During the Games he
broke 11 Olympic records and defeated Lutz Lang in a very close long jump final. Lang
was the first to congratulate Owens when the long jump final was over. There were 10
African American members of the American athletics team. Between them they won 7
gold medals, 3 silvers and 3 bronze - more than any national team won in track and field
at the Games, except America itself. Hitler refused to place the gold medal around
Owen's neck.
Items Used and Consulted by Lesson
Lesson 1
BloggingforMichigan. (2008, September 1.) Pure Michigan “snow days.” Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuwKCX9X8NI&NR=1
Classroom globe and/or large world map
Immigration papers of German family
Kluckhohn, F. (December 11, 1941). U.S. now at war with Germany and Italy; Japanese checked
in all land fighting; 3 of their ships such, 2D battleships hit. The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/
onthisday/big/1211.html#article
Lesson 1 Quiz by Alex Freeman
Map of New York in German
Picture of German soldier
Rageman. (2009, November 17). Pure Michigan commercial feat. Steve Yzerman & Tom Izzo.
Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4TvNX_eVas
Several sticky boards
YankTV (2009, September 2). Pure Michigan commercial hd. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KduJrlKDps&NR=1
Maps:
Blank Germany (http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/attachment.php?attachmentid=
9628&stc=1&d=1137422192)
East/West Germany (http://www.banknotes.com/ddrmap.gif)
Europe 1800 (http://www.euratlas.net/history/europe/1800/1800_Northwest.jpg)
German Confederation 1815 (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wggerman/map/images/
germanconf1815.jpg)
German Empire 1871 (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wggerman/map/images/
germanempire1871.jpg)
German Expansion 1933-43 (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/
Nazi_Germany.svg/773px-Nazi_Germany.svg.png)
Germany’s Railways (http://www.raileurope.com/europe-travel-guide/germany/map.html)
Germany now (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/europe/germany/map_of_germany.jpg)
Lesson 2
Black Forest Cuckoo Clock Picture (http://www.cuckookingdom.com/prod_img/_
1221578230.jpg)
BMW Picture (http://www.latestcarpictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Latest-BMWCar-2012.jpg)
German Cities and Rivers and Railroad Crossings map by Alex Freeman
Germany’s Imports and Exports lesson 2 quiz by Alex Freeman
Hops Picture (http://lukemcreynolds.com/files/wallpaper/Hopfendolde-mit-hopfengarten.jpg)
IPod Picture (http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/userimages/2008/01/pink-nanopress.jpg)
Klings Watch Picture (http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/9028/klings1lh7.jpg)
Making a Car document by Alex Freeman
Michigan Blueberries Picture (http://www.giftbasketsfrommichigan.com/blog/wpcontent/themes/thesis_17/custom/rotator/Michigan-Blueberries.jpg)
Making Cars directions sheet by Alex Freeman
Siemens Laptop Picture (http://www.laptoppicker.com/archives/siemens-acuson-p50laptop.jpg)
Transporting a Car document by Alex Freeman
U.S. or Germany? Worksheet by Alex Freeman
Lesson 3
Bread and other props
Galler, E. Survivor stories: Eva Galler. Retrieved from http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/
data.show.php?di=record&da=survivors&ke=6.
Large paper to construct timeline as the students share their summaries
Masking Tape
Picture of E.G. Documentation (http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/data.show.php?di=
record&da=photos&ke=46)
Podcast (holocaust.umd.umich.edu/curriculum.html)
Picture of E.G. (http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/photos/galler_portrait+large.jpg)
Picture of E.G. (http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/photos/galler_age_14+large.jpg)
Scissors
Lesson 4
Lang, M., & Mutschler, U. (2010, October 15). When the self emerges: 72% Increase in EEG
renewable energy reallocation charges for 2011 [Web log comment]. Retrieved from
http://www.germanenergyblog.de/?p=4249. (2011, February 26).
Merkel, A. (2011, March 14). Nuclear backlash forces Merkel to rethink energy policy.
Retrieved from http://www.dw-.de/dw/article/0,,14909851,00.html. (2011, March 14).
Sheet of German Controversial Subjects by Alex Freeman
Supplemental Document on 1936 Olympics by Alex Freeman
Trueman, B. The 1936 Berlin Olympics. Retrieved from http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/
1936_berlin_olympics.htm. (2011, February 19).
Name:
Date:
Germany Test
1. The regions of Germany include all except:
a. Bavaria
b. The Black Forest
c. The Danube Valley d. The Rhine Valley
2. Germany split into the Eastern and Western regions because
a. they are two different countries.
b. b. there is a river there.
c. one was Russian and the other German.
d. there was a political split.
3. Germany’s well known products include (circle all that apply)
a. Cars
b. Hops
c. Technological Equipment
d. Blueberries
4. When starting a company, the first thing we need to ask is
a. What needs to be produced?
b. How much should what we produce weigh?
c. Who will work in our company?
d. How will we transport our product?
5. If you were to describe a Jewish ghetto, you would probably use the words (circle all
that apply)
a. Dirty
b. Organized
c. Starving
d. Separate
6. Eva Galler jumped from a ________ on her way to a death camp.
a. Boat
b. Bridge
c. Roof
d. Train
7. During the 1936 Olympics, Hitler
a. Only allowed people of the “Aryan Race” to participate.
b. Rounded up all the Gypsies and put them into concentration camps.
c. Took down several Anti-Jewish posters and signs.
d. All of the above.
8. We can use ___ to back up our persuasive arguments.
A. Support. B. evidence. C. the opposing argument.
9. Germany is a world leader in
a. Energy technology.
b. Fruit technology.
c. Animal technology.
d. Person Technology.
10. Germans and Americans
a. Produce the same products, but don’t use the same.
b. Produce different products, and don’t use the same.
c. Produce the same products and use the same products.
d. Produce different products and use the same products.
D. what we write.
11. The cattle cars that carried Jews to and from the death camps were large and square
with open windows and clean drinking water. False.
12. One of Germany’s main problems is a high population. False.
13. Germany is an important country to learn about because many Germans immigrate to
America, they have a large part in world history, and they produce a lot of the products
we use. True.
14. A few things that effect a product’s selling are the people who buy the product. True.
15. If our quarterly profit is low, we need to panic because our company might fail. False.
16. Why is it important for citizens to be involved in public policy making?
If citizens were not involved and did not take action, no one would know what they wanted
or what policies needed to be made.
17. Describe two ways that you as a citizen can let others know about public policies.
Writing our senator a letter. Telling our friends and families. Participating in rallies. Writing to
a local newspaper. Starting a cause on Facebook.
18. When living in the ghettos, there was very little food. Describe how many of the Jewish
families got food. Many of the families sent the children out to steal food. When the
ghetto was out of food, they snuck outside the walls. It was very dangerous.