Citizenship at key stage 3    (Year 7-9)

• In small groups, pupils discuss a range of questions with a local-through-global dimension, eg Were my clothes/shoes made using child labour? How are people in less economically developed countries involved in supplying the food I eat? How does tourism contribute to the economies of countries in different stages of economic development?
• Using feedback from the discussions, ask the class how the various points of view put forward on the issues could be researched in more detail.
• Ask the class to establish a list of research questions and approaches.

• Ask pupils to read a summary of the minutes of a school governors' or local council meeting, or a summary of a public enquiry into a local issue. Alternatively, invite a representative from the local council's Environmental Department to come and be interviewed about an issue on which members of the local community disagreed, and which was then resolved through a meeting.
• Ask pupils to summarise the different points of view they read/heard about, and say how these were represented at the meeting.
• In small groups, pupils could summarise the findings of the meeting they studied, and explain how the issue was resolved.

• Divide the class into four groups. Each group represents a different set of people affected by the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest: the Brazilian government, poor migrant farmers, tribal people and environmentalists.
• Ask each group to research 'their' viewpoint using specific websites. Some pupils could conduct a search to find other relevant sites. Each group should work together to prepare a 10-minute presentation, which they will later make to the rest of the class, using ICT, in a mock public meeting. They could also create any of the following: promotional leaflets using desktop-publishing packages, a classroom display, a questionnaire for other pupils in the school, a video presentation or report promoting their viewpoint. Each group should allocate tasks among its members, and work together to coordinate their efforts throughout this preparation stage.

• Set up the classroom as a public meeting room, with four distinct areas for the groups. Each group should sit in their own area, in front of the display they created in the previous activity. Pupils could dress up in character.
• Each group then makes a 10-minute presentation to the rest of the class, using ICT. They should pass round copies of their flyers, and make reference to their display. Ideally, all the pupils in the group should address the class.
• After the presentations, hold a class debate on the motion 'Is the Amazon rainforest being developed or destroyed?'. Pupils should remain in character while taking part in the debate.
• Ask the class to vote on the motion. Again, pupils should vote in character.
• Ask pupils to produce a piece of extended writing summarising the views presented in the meeting, concluding with their own views on the subject.

• Ask pupils to use the internet, eg the websites of environmental groups, to investigate a range of sustainable development projects. Small groups of pupils should study different projects, and report their findings to the class.
• Ask pupils to summarise what these projects are attempting to achieve.
• Pupils could discuss why the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is a global issue, and how people in the UK are involved (an example of interdependence).
• Pupils could join in an online debate with other schools about issues related to deforestation. Alternatively, the class could set up their own environmental group, developing their own website or online newsletter.
• Focus on how contact between two regions of a country may lead to changes in population totals, eg migration. Emphasise inequalities between north-east and south-east Brazil, eg in terms of lifestyle, health, wealth.

• Pupils decide how to respond to what they have learnt, agreeing ways in which they can take action in their school, home and local community.
• Ask pupils to plan activities to share what they have learnt with different audiences locally, nationally and globally, eg write articles for the school/local newspaper or environmental magazines/websites; prepare a display for the school/local council buildings; develop a school policy on environmentally sustainable practices, which could be discussed with governors and members of the local community; write letters making recommendations to their MP, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the European Parliament or the UN.