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AnonymousAdding to the conversation from today's discussion of household expenses, students could compare household expenditures in a country in SE Asia and a city in the United States. http://www.bls.gov/ro9/cexlosa.pdf
AnonymousI love this section. I always teach my students geography and people who live in different part of the world. I am a visual learners so hearing and seeing about Japan, Korea, and China is very interesting. The Yellow River visual and more realistic than the pictures I use in my classroom Will this PP be available for teachers?
AnonymousIn all truth, I knew Japan was small but I had no idea that 66% of the land mass was mountains and trees. As Mr. Dube was giving a detail explanation about population comparison, I was shocked to find how much larger Japans population was in comparison to Los Angles. The part I didn't understand is why Japan is not utilizing some of the other land space they have so that they're not as crowded. This is something I am sure my students would be interested in studying.
AnonymousI read the articles on China’s conflicts with water. The presentation with the Yellow River gave me more of a perspective on what I read. This would be wonderful in teaching my students about External and Internal Conflicts.
AnonymousThe information about the Chinese population was very interesting. My students don't know about the One Child Policy. When I tell them about it they're so shocked. I then like to introduce the Among the Hidden novels. This is a series of books that deals with a two-child policy in a futuristic America.
AnonymousI really liked how you gave a lot of background information about the population and demographics of the countries in comparison to the US. It is interesting to see how different the cultures are and how the belief systems differ as well. I would like to see more ways that I can specifically use this information in my classroom as well as more collaborative time. I was hoping for the chance to look at the information in relation to my specific subjects and see where I can share that information with my classes.
clay dubeHi Monica,
Please expand your discussion of the water issues mentioned. What is China doing to address its general shortage and its acute shortages in some places? How might this affect ordinary people? Water control has long been an important preoccupation of Chinese governments and elites. Here's an article about water control in the Qing dynasties. It was written by a student.
Each year, China marks the contribution of early water control at the Sichuan province Dujiangyan: http://www.cctv.com/lm/176/71/88862.html.
AnonymousLoved the maps! I really hope the map overlays of the US and china and the US and japan will be available to us. I think that would really get the kids thinking about similiarities and differences and could spark some interesting discussion.
On another note, if the population increase in China was not necessary to control, is the aging population issue really anything to be worried about?
clay dubeGreat question about aging. Yes - this will pose challenges, primarily because there's a difference in worrying about children never to be born (because of social / economic trends already at work reducing family size) and worrying about caring for people who are already here (and who have rising expectations on living standards). China will have 300 million over age 65 by 2030. Because of the family planning program, most families consist of a single child who will need to care for two parents and four grandparents:
kid
mother father
maternal grandmother maternal grandfather paternal grandmother paternal grandfather
China's government recently enacted legislation making kids responsible for grandparents. They were already legally responsible for parents.
On the other hand, some also worry about the distortions in boy/girl births. They worry that the surplus of men in China and Japan could lead governments to control them by expanding armies. Once armies are large and available, these scholars worry, governments will send them to war. I'm less fearful of this scenario.
One of my friends, who teaches at Stanford, thinks that polyandry might be a possible solution to this problem.
AnonymousI started reading the water article. Do they know what they're doing? I think it's horrid that they're relocating people. This would be a great classroom discussion about the type of government that does something like that.
AnonymousIt seems the laws making children responsible for their parents and grandparents has a definite Confucianism bent to it.
AnonymousI also teach Language Arts and I'm always trying to find relevant topics for my students to write about. The whole section on the rivers would make excellent writing topics. For example, students could research and write about how the water from the four rivers are used, or, how the sediment is removed from the water. They could also compare the way we use our water systems to the ways they are used in Asian countries.
AnonymousAfter this afternoon's session and reading the water article.. my thought is it all comes down to location. Fighting over borders to determine water sources.. getting moved to make way for new dams... moving to new lacations that evidently everyone knows is not going to work in terms of farrming.. Location determines resources.
To add to tbastian's comment While the relocation might be neccessary so the locals won't get flooded out by the new dams... why isn't the government insuring that the move is at least lateral ..... versus such a down grade???? Sounds like a discussion on ethical questions and evaluations of behaviors. Why aren't more efforts placed on cleaning the rivers... Is this Daoism at work.. no consequenses??? Just do what you want/ need to do. And what is up with all teh eplaced leaders being charged with corruption.. Were they really corrupt.. or is this the way to get a deposed opponent out of the way? Why aren't there more c hecks and balances to deter the corruption in the first place?? Just asking....
AnonymousAs an only child myself I understand the concerns of caring for parents alone. It's hard as my parents age to not have someone to talk to about their care and future. I also remember hearing about how hard it was after the earthquake in China where so many families lost their only child. My students are always shocked about the single child laws in China, and want to know more about the culture after hearing that.
AnonymousI also thought the reference to the conflict over names for bodies of water on the map was interesting. I taught English in South Korea for a summer several years ago. One of the fellow teachers was American with a Japanese father and Korean mother. The Korean families threatened to pull all of their children out of the program if she was allowed to teach because of their strong anti-Japanese sentiment. I had never seen such racism first hand before. It motivated me to learn more about the history of Japanese-Korean interactions, and I was shocked to learn about the extent of the Japanese aggression on the peninsula.