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The Costs and Benefits of Economic Growth in Developing Countries - Lesson Plan: 3 x 1 hour lessons

A series of 'off the shelf' lesson plans and resources for use in the classroom. These lessons deal with the Costs and Benefits of Economic Growth in Developing Countries and are relevant to the following specifications:

• Edexcel: Unit 5B
• OCR: Module 2886

Aim:

This is a simple lesson to set up but requires a great deal of care in guiding students to develop their thinking about the degree to which economic growth will end up benefiting a developing country.

The task is for students, either individually or in small groups (no more than three), to do some research into the costs and benefits of economic growth in developing countries. The assumption may be that economic growth is the route to improving living standards for all in such countries, without the analysis and evaluation of the factors that may determine the extent to which such growth will be of benefit.

The students are then expected to give a presentation on their research to discuss the costs and benefits of growth. Such a presentation can be assessed, with marks being awarded for the quality and depth of the research, the sophistication of the understanding demonstrated, as well as the use of appropriate data and medium for the presentation. There are further opportunities for students to demonstrate their key skills in communication and the use of appropriate presentation media.

Some guides have been given in the Activity to help prompt students' thinking on some of the issues that they will have to consider.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lessons, students should understand the following:

• The main benefits of economic growth
• The costs of economic growth
• The different factors that influence the effect of economic growth on a country - locality, political structure, infrastructure, climate, human resources, bureaucracy, etc.
• The degree to which economic growth can solve the problems of developing countries

Resources:

• PowerPoint Presentation - Economic Growth [285K] (basic version also available for quicker download [117K])
• Mind Map - Economic Growth
• Activity - The Costs and Benefits of Economic Growth in Developing Countries
• PCs for further research
• Digital projector and whiteboard

Lesson Structure:

Lesson 1:

1. The initial part of the lesson can focus on a short review of the costs and benefits of economic growth drawn from work covered during AS lessons. (10 minutes)
2. Show the Presentation to try to steer the thought processes on the issues facing developing countries regarding economic growth. An attempt should be made to try to pinpoint particular characteristics of developing countries that might influence the impact of economic growth that is different to that of developed countries - infrastructure, the bureaucratic institutions in place to collect and distribute taxes, the structure of the population and so on. (20 minutes)
3. Outline the task and the learning objectives of the task. Set students on task. (25 minutes)
4. Review main points of the lesson and outline the plans for the next lesson. (5 minutes)

Lesson 2:

1. Remind students of the plan for the lesson. (5 minutes)
2. Provide further time for students to research and prepare their presentation. (50 minutes)
3. Remind students of the order of presentations for the next lesson. (5 minutes)

Lesson 3:

Use the lesson to go through the presentations and discuss the issues raised in relation to the learning objectives.