Wide World of Trade Syllabus

Wide World of Trade

Class Syllabus

Trillium Charter School Q4 2007/8

Instructor:

Ken Gadbow

Office Hours: Fridays 12-1

Email: Ken@TrilliumCharterSchool.org

Blog: http://ken-trillium.blogspot.com/

Mobile Phone: 503-348-9849

Course Overview

The cotton in one pair of Levi’s jeans may have come from 5 different countries, been knit and died in yet another, and cut and stitched in still another. The produce in most grocery stores travels thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of miles, before it arrives, polished and on display for us consumers to spend our money on. Each day, we interact with countless objects that are created in many countries around the world before they arrive at our fingertips. This course looks at the interconnectedness of the global economy, integrating economics and geography. Students will investigate the tight links between economies all over the world, looking at essential economic concepts of scarcity, specialization, and trade.

Code of Conduct

All students are expected to know and uphold the Rights and Responsibilities of the Trillium Constitution. We will use the non-violent conflict resolution process that includes conversations, mediations, and agreements.

Framework Concentrations:

Social Science:

• Understand how people organize for the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
• Analyze causes, consequences, and solutions to global issues such as health, security, resource allocation, economic development, environmental quality, and human rights.
• Illustrate how individual behaviors and decisions connect with global systems.

Grading policies:

The narrative evaluation and final grade will focus heavily on the student’s participation in class activities and discussions.

Participation: 50%

Quizzes: 20%

In Class Reflections: 30%

Attendance and Tardiness Policy:

This course requires participation in order to be successful for the student, the group, and the class. Therefore it is imperative that the student be in class.

A person is considered on-time if ze* is in the classroom, in ze's seat ready to work when the bell rings. A person may be considered tardy if ze does not meet the above criteria or comes to class less than 5 minutes after the bell rings. Three tardies constitute one un-excused absence. A person who is tardy will still benefit in coming to class as ze will better understand what is happening in the course, and will be able to participate and contribute to the class in a meaningful way.

* Ze is a gender neutral pronoun.