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Found this journal article written primarily for education professionals, in which the author explores B.C and Canada's social studies curriculum in the age of globalization. In her belief the "absent curricula" is failing to create students who are well informed global citizens. The paper explores the reasons why are curricula is failing and provides suggestions as to how to address them. In addition the article does a great job of comparing our Canadian social studies curriculum to the U.S and U.K curriculum. The article goes on state that In "order to develop a better understanding of our world today, as well as foster critical thinking, students should be introduced to the histories of many nations, both past and present." In addition the paper emphasis the importance of authentic assessment, rather than testing of rote learning. The author also suggests that teachers should mark social study students based on more globalized themed projects and assignments rather than multiple choice, fact-based tests.

The Montreal Gazette Newspaper published an article on November 11, entitled, "The Need for Remembrance Day Endures." This article recognizes the importance of veterans and their memories they bring from experiencing historical events in history. Ultimately, individuals who fought in World War I, World War 2, and the Korean War, lay the foundation of Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country. The fascinating stories of veterans' lives serve as the purest form of experience as it provides invaluable insight to historical events. While there is an array of documentation of veterans' experiences, it is more meaningful and engaging to have them orally share their stores. Although many will no longer be able to share their experiences with us, it becomes essential for parents and educators to continue honouring the individuals who sacrificed their lives for our country. A poppy can serve as a simple testament of respect as well as the desire for peace. As we continue to fight the war on terrorism, the desire for power and resources raise the possibilities for greater global violence and turmoil. By paying tribute to our war veterans, it becomes essential to teach students the importance of reflection by promoting peace and community within the classroom environment.

Youth Leading Global Change is the Movement of our Time.

Serious mismatches between the learning styles of students and the teaching style of the instructor be damaging for the education of the student, as well as the confidence of the teacher. Students in mismatched teaching/learning style situations will often be inattentive, do poorly academically even if they are quite capable of learning the material and/or simply give up on the course. This article specifically addresses how the dominant learning styles of East Asian students (teacher-centred, book centred, independent) often do not match up with the global, Western, and/or extroverted teaching styles often used by teachers from the Western world. To reduce teacher-student style conflicts, this article suggests that teaching and learning styles should be matched so that students can get the most out of their classroom experience. Introducing new learning strategies to East Asian students is not discouraged by the author; he provides a list of activities that can help to alter learning behaviours but advocates that these strategies should be introduced slowly and should not take over as the dominant teaching method if the students do not learn the best this way.

Students are falling behind in Geography as the focus has been put on math and language in schools. However, it is very important for our youth to learn about the global economy and the many different cultures and relationships around the world. This particular article discusses statistics from the US, but the same generalizations can be made for Canada and its school focus.

Take a look at this research journal article, (Falling voter turnout: Is it linked to diminished civics education?) it tries to shows a statistical correlation between the decline in Canadian voter turnout and a decrease in time spent on learning/teaching social studies. The authors of the report argued that this decline young voter participation reflects a "diminishing student awareness of some of the basic knowledge that informs a functional Canadian and global citizen." The article was released by the (CCL) produces a wide variety of material to aid researchers and policy-makers working in the realm of Canadian education. Good article for advocating for an increased focus on social studies in our school and a renewed focus on educating young Canadians about our cherished democratic system.

In this journal article, Carol Arnold, a junior high school teacher shares her insights on an inquiry project she requires of her students. They investigate current natural disasters and related issues such as global warming and link them to the causal relationship between humans and their environment. This effectively allows the students to answer the questions of 'why study history' or 'why study geography' through their own research project.

Title for Discussion: "The effects of computer games on primary school students' achievements and motivation in geography learning." This article interestingly investigates the effects of the game environment on students' achievements and motivation to learn. A study conducted by a University in Turkey highlights how there is a direct correlation between student's engagement with educational games on the computer and its positive impact on the student's ability to actively engage in their studies. This three-week experiment with Grades 4 and 5 students involves their participation in an educational computer game which focuses on learning about the global continents and countries. In contrast to the traditionalistic lecture approach, this constructivist method of teaching focuses on a technological-based style of learning. Therefore, the gradual shift towards a new pedagogy is explicitly apparent as the studies conducted from student interviews illustrate their enthusiasm and engagement to learn about world geography. In particular, the student's enjoy the opportunity to utilize the "chat tool" as it allows for student interaction as well as collaboration. This alternative method for teaching serves as an important tool to support student learning and future development. The overwhelming consensus of student support further highlights how educational computer games can offer a positive learning experience as it enhances their abilities to engage and participate within a virtual realm. However, it is important to note that using technology does not replace human experience and interaction. Therefore, computer gaming is simply one effective teaching aid that can be adapted in various ways to engage students in their learning.

Recent years have seen a sharp decrease in social studies subject areas. Studies have shown that students are not properly informed or educated about our countries political system and its operations as we would hope them to be. Classroom time has been focused on literacy and numeracy. This negatively influences a student's critical thinking skills as future voters. Steve Goldberg stresses the importance of restoring social studies at the forefront of the curriculum in order to shape our students into responsible and civil citizens. This article does a great job of discussing how the discipline of social studies creates critical and informed thinkers. Social studies provide a platform for discussion concerning our country and the global world. Students are able to critically think outside the box and make sense of the world. They are taught basic skills that they can apply to their everyday lives such as, learning through a historical context and interpreting graphs and charts. Steve Goldberg states that these are numeracy and literacy skills that can be applied to the real world.

Here are a couple engaging videos that clearly illustrate how reaching the 7 billionth person on the earth will have an impact on our students. Also showing who the typical earthling looks, and lives. A great video for grade 8 geography...

Here is the other video which works well with it... The World's Most Typical Person http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/10/28/141792664/find-your-spot-among-worlds-7-billion-and-meet-the-most-typical-person