Materials

• Photographs, slides, or video depicting contrasting levels of economic development in various countries
• Index cards listing contrasting indicators of levels of economic development, e.g., high population growth, low population growth; high literacy rate, low literacy rate; etc.

Instructional Activities

1. Review content from the previous session.
   
   
2. Display the differences between developed and developing nations:
   • Access to natural resources
   • Access to capital resources (investment in technology and infrastructure)
   • Numbers and skills of human resources
   • Levels of economic development
   • Standards of living and quality of life, including healthcare
   • Relationships between economic development and quality of life
   • Distribution of wealth
   • Provide selected photographs depicting the different levels of economic development of various countries, for example, a photograph of a modern home in the United States with a high level of technology versus a home in rural India; a photograph of cars traveling on an interstate highway versus bicycles or horses traveling down a small rural road. Explain that the level of economic development varies from country to country for a combination of the reasons shown above.
   
   
3. Explain that a country’s level of economic development is measured by the following indicators:
   • Urban/rural ratio
   • Labor force characteristics (primary, secondary, tertiary sectors)
   • GDP per capita
   • Educational achievement
   
   
4. Explain that the standard of living and quality of life of a country is measured by:
   • Population growth rate (natural increase)
   • Population age distribution
   • Literacy rate
   • Life expectancy
   • Infant mortality
   • Percentage of urban population
   • Gender parity
   
   
5. Display cards with economic indicators such as high population growth, low population growth, high literacy rate, low literacy rate, etc. Instruct students to identify whether the indicator is common to developed or developing countries.
   
   
6. Instruct students to develop a chart to record economic indicators of selected countries. The chart should contain a column for each of the indicators listed in steps 3 and 4 above and a row for each country specified by the teacher. Provide computer access or almanacs for students to complete the chart.
   
   
7. Have the students complete the chart for homework, or assign a teacher-selected reading, worksheet, or other reinforcement activity, using available teacher resources.