Standard 4: Demonstrate an understanding of contemporary issues in world affairs, and evaluate the role and impact of U.S. foreign policy.

This is the final lesson, which is a culminating activity, and will focus on a combination of parts from the unit series. This lesson will assist students in determining the two main themes of A Long Walk to Water by analyzing important symbols and events related to the United States’ involvement in international conflicts.

This resource uses a book that is on the Florida Department of Education's reading list. This book is not provided with this resource.

Type: Lesson Plan

The lesson will present students with the artwork by artists Maya Lin and Fredrick Hart. Within this lesson, students will be given background information about the Cold War and Vietnam War including the reason for our involvement and the political and social ramifications that came about from the war. We will discuss the importance that the visual imagery through television had on public opinion. Students will then look at Maya Lin’s “Vietnam Veterans Memorial” initially. Once finished, we will discuss the political and public reasons for the installation of “Three Soldiers,” which is a more traditional, realistic statue. Students will compare and contrast the two, and eventually focus on the intention and ramifications of a public monument based on aesthetics, conceptualization and public opinion in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze international organizations using proportional reasoning to construct circle graphs while examining the purpose of international organizations and the United States’ participation in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze the change in the World Trade Organization’s membership using ratios to find the percent change while examining the purpose of the World Trade Organization and the United States’ role as a member in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will analyze regional membership of the United Nations to represent the part to a whole relationship as a fraction. Students will rewrite rational numbers in equivalent forms while examining the purpose of the United Nations and the United States’ role as a member in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will brainstorm and illustration various human impacts on marine ecosystems and who is responsible for protecting these systems, in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students learn about, summarize, and discuss US regulation and international policy as it relates to cruise ship waste dumping in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

Students will utilize historical trade flow data (import and export) to interpret, create, and draw conclusions about foreign policy, specifically the World Trade Organization. Students will write a claim using the data to make suggestions regarding foreign trade import and export in this integrated lesson plan.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will be introduced to international conflicts, examples of international conflicts in which the United States has been involved, and the various ways governments can respond to international conflicts. Students will break into small groups to research background information on the international conflict they have been assigned and to analyze primary sources related to their conflict. Students may present their findings at this point as part of a shorter lesson or can utilize different class periods to conduct deeper research. If the latter, students will produce a visual aid (presentation slide(s), poster, video, etc.) they will use to teach the class about their assigned conflict.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will identify major international organizations in which government plays a role, and discuss both advantages and disadvantages of U.S. membership in them.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will explain the relationship between U.S. foreign and U.S. domestic policies.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will learn about different international organizations in which the United States plays a role. Students will use different methods of media and communication to investigate benefits and drawbacks of international participation and persuade their classmates about impacts on the United States gained from participation in these international organizations.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will fill out a note guide and apply their new knowledge about domestic and foreign policies by sorting news stories and current events into categories of domestic and foreign topics.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will identify and explain different international conflicts the United States has been involved in. Students will complete a timeline summarizing the conflicts and learning about American involvement. Students will compare U.S. exit from two conflicts of their choice.

Type: Lesson Plan

In this lesson plan, students will learn about the United States’ and its citizens’ participation in international organizations while completing guided notes that accompany a teacher-presented slideshow. Students will then apply what they know by researching an additional international organization.

Type: Lesson Plan

Learn about 5 international conflicts involving the United States from 1961 to the present, including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Iraq War in this interactive tutorial. For each, you'll learn how the conflict began and how the U.S. responded.

Click HERE to open the companion tutorial, "International Conflicts: 1914 to 1975."

Type: Original Student Tutorial

In this interactive tutorial, learn about 4 international conflicts in which the United States was involved between 1914 and 1975: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. For each conflict, you'll learn how and why the U.S. became involved and what the outcome was.

Click HERE to open the companion tutorial, "International Conflicts: 1961 to Present."

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn about the United States' foreign and domestic policy in this interactive tutorial. You'll also take an "international flight" to see how the U.S. conducts foreign policy abroad with the help of the State Department.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Learn about the international organizations with which the United States government and its citizens are involved. In this interactive tutorial, you'll learn about intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the United Nations.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

This Grade 7 Civics Family Guide provides some ideas and activities to support civics education when at home, out and about, and in the community. The activities provided align to the civics learning benchmarks within Standard 4 at this grade level.

Type: Teaching Idea

This teaching resource provides the tools to help students analyze the use of rhetorical devices in the historical American speech by Judge Learned Hand, “The Spirit of Liberty.” Delivered in 1944 during the height of WWII, Judge Hand delivers a powerful message about the true essence of liberty through his use of two rhetorical devices—anaphora and rhetorical questions. Students will analyze his use of these rhetorical devices to better understand their meaning and significance.

Type: Text Resource

Former U.S Senator and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martínez shares his journey to freedom in the United States. Mr. Martínez was part of Operation Pedro Pan in which unaccompanied Cuban children were sent to the United States to escape the newly formed communist regime of Fidel Castro. Before leaving Cuba, he spent time with his father who shared life lessons with his son. Mr. Martínez distinctly remembers the pilot announcing that they were in America. After moving around the state of Florida in settlement camps, Mr. Martínez was placed in foster care. After four years he and his family were reunited. Mr. Martínez helped his father become a veterinarian in the U.S and as a family they were highly active in the community. His family’s spirit of activism was the foundation of Mr. Martínez’s career as a public servant. He graduated from Florida State University Law School in 1973 and began his political career. He was appointed the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2001 and became a United States Senator in 2005.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Alejandro Brice and his family immigrated from Cuba at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. His father was jailed as a counter-revolutionary sympathizer and upon release, the family fled the country. Dr. Brice shares his memories of his “freedom wings”, the culture shock of growing up in Ohio as immigrants, learning English in elementary school, watching his family start over, and becoming a U.S. Citizen. Dr. Brice is a college professor specializing in the education of immigrant children and English language learners.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation

Ivonne Blank immigrated to the United States in 1961 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest exodus on unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Ms. Blank talks about how difficult it was waiting for her parents and living in an orphanage in Denver, CO. Her parents later left the island by boat, were rescued by the Coast Guard, and resettled in the United States. After the family was reunited, they were able to rebuild their lives with support from their community. Ms. Blank went on to become a lifelong educator and U.S. citizen.

Type: Video/Audio/Animation