Warm-up
- What are some of the greatest problems facing our planet today?
- Who do you think is most responsible for these problems?
- Can the earth be made a safe, happy place for people?
Practice
The Situation
- Imagine the earth is facing a crisis that will doom all mankind to become extinct. A secret meeting is held by the highest levels of world government, and it is decided that a small group of humans must escape the planet and begin a new life on a distant planet.
- The planet has been discovered, the spaceship is built, and all that’s left is to find a leader to take humanity to the next stage. After many nights of serious discussion, it’s clear that the only person who can do the job is your group!
Now it is up to you and your group to figure out how to make sure the human race continues to grow and thrive.
With your group, you must decide three things.
- Who will you bring? Think about the skills, needs, and temperaments of the people you are bringing. How many will you bring? Will they be young? Old? Experienced? How about ethnicity/gender/ or religion? Should they represent one group? or all human cultures?
- What will you bring? Your spaceship has limited space, so you need to make some tough choices about what to bring. Will you focus on people and hope that the new world has enough easy resources for them to exploit? Or, will you bring enough seeds, food, and tools to help you get started, even though it will limit the amount of people?
- What rules will you create to live by? Will you operate like the military with strict commands and hierarchy? Or will you be more open and democratic? How will you solve arguments and disagreements? What will you do if people break the rules?
Really take the time to think through these questions and make sure you have a well-thought out answer to each of them.
Once you have answered these three questions, your group must present to the class their answers and why you have chosen the way you did.