Is the world a fair and just place to live?

Students in Division 3 worked in teams to do a building challenge where they were tasked with building the tallest tower possible in ten minutes. Each group received an envelope containing toothpicks, string, tape, spaghetti, and mini-marshmallows to build with. This is a common ADST challenge that many of the students have done before… but what they didn’t know was that each envelope had different amounts of supplies. Some had lots of marshmallows but very little spaghetti, some had lots of spaghetti but few marshmallows, and so forth.

They had different amounts of supplies because this was actually a Social Studies exploration where students would examine the how the distribution of the world’s wealth and resources are inequitable. In this task students:

  • asked questions, analyzed ideas, and communicated findings
  • developed a plan of action to address a challenge
  • exchanged ideas and viewpoints to build a shared understanding

So here’s how it all went down…

Students started working in their groups. Then some spies started spreading out looking for ideas. People started noticing there were some groups with more materials. Students asked me if they could steal. I reiterated that the instructions stated simply “to build the tallest tower” and there were no further rules.

That’s when the stealing started.

Things were getting pretty wild as we came to the end of our time. Some structures were even getting destroyed in the process! Finally we measured the structures, but many didn’t make it through the tumultuous final few minutes.

When we gathered back together as a group, it was time to discuss and reflect. We shared our feelings and behaviours during the activity–did they give up/negotiate/trade/gloat/steal from other groups? Many students realized that they resorted to stealing and aggression instead of figuring out a way to trade. We talked about what was “fair” and “unfair,” and how this might relate to our global community and the distribution of the world’s wealth and resources. Students also connected the stealing of resources through colonialism, and how some places and communities around the world have become wealthy at the expense of others.

In the end, some students still wanted to know who “won” the challenge. Is it fair to judge a winner of a competition in which all the competitors did not have the same access to resources? –> Division 3 – what do you think? What connections did you make to global issues?