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HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Ms. J. MEDORI

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL

SOCIAL STUDIED DEPARTMENT

INTRODUCTION:

Latin America is an area that has experienced much unrest since 1945. Social and political factors have led to upheaval in much of the region. Argentina suffered through military regimes and repressive governments before democracy won out at the end of the century. Guatemala survived a long civil war and is still struggling to rebuild its society. Cuba experienced a revolution that led to a communist government still in power today. And Nicaragua, like Argentina endured many trials and tribulations before becoming a democratic nation.

One social problem that has plagued Latin America is Human Rights public policies of many nations in the region. Human rights violations have existed throughout the centuries and the globe; Latin America is no exception. You research will reveal some of the challenges faced by minorities and poor people of this region.

TASK:

You will choose the path to take for this project. You may choose to study the Human Rights public policy from a number of Latin American countries. Once you choose a region that is of interest you will complete 5 public policy worksheets delineating the problem, evidence to back up the problem, causes of the policy, evaluate options to solve the problem and finally formulate a comparison. This information gathering will then assist you in writing a report. Finally a short Power Point presentation will be presented to the class on your chosen topic covering any one of the 5 public policy steps.

PROCESS:

1. Your first step in the journey is to choose a country in which to study the human rights policies of.

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2. Your next step is to read up about your chosen region. There are links listed below to help get you rolling, but you are free to use other sites, books, etc.

3. Now it’s time to complete the 5 Public Policy worksheets. The links are listed below, in the resource section are for you to access. You will also be given hard copies of each.

4. Using to information you compiled in the 5 worksheets a report of your findings will be your next assignment. It must be 150 words or more, typed, doubled spaced, 12 font.

5. Finally you are to design a Power Point presentation to present to your classmates. Choose the public policy step that you found most interesting and design a short presentation. It should be 4-8 slides and include words and pictures. The Power Point should take approximately 5 minutes to present.

Link to Worksheets:

• IDENTIFY PROBLEM
• GATHER THE EVIDENCE
• DETERMINE CAUSES
• EVALUATE THE POLICY
• DO A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

RESOURCES:

Here are some sites that will give you information on the various regions. Most are general sites that you can type in the country of your choice on the search bar and it will bring you to your specific topic.

http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/erp/1997/chart7-3.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/

http://www.latinworld.com/regions/index.html

http://www.fsmitha.com/world/guatemala.htm (Guatemala)

http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24u.html (Argentina)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile (Chile)

EVALUATION:

Your grade will be a compilation of both your report and presentation. The rubric below explains how you are to be graded.

Presentation Rubric - Evaluating Student Presentation

EXCELLENT 4	SATISFACTORY 3	MINIMAL SATISFACTORY 2	UNSATISFACTORY 1
Organization	Organization	Organization	Organization
Student presentation is logical, clear and fully engages audience interest.	Student presentation is logical, clear and somehow engages audience interest.	Student presentation is somewhat logical and clear, but does not engage audience.	Student presentation is illogical, unclear and inadequate.
Subject Knowledge Student demonstrates knowledge of subject matter and beyond.	Subject Knowledge Student demonstrates adequate knowledge of subject matter.	Subject Knowledge Student demonstrates little knowledge of subject matter.	Subject Knowledge Student does not know subject matter.
Accuracy No grammatical errors	Accuracy Very few grammatical errors	Accuracy Some grammatical errors	Accuracy Too many grammatical errors that distorts sentence sense.
Graphics At least three appropriate color and fonts	Graphics At least two appropriate color and fonts	Graphics At least one appropriate color and fonts	Graphics No color and variety in fonts

4= A 3=B 2=C 1=F

CONCLUSION:

Latin America is a diverse region with a many cultures and peoples. There are beautiful places, fascinating people and tragic stories of human suffering and inspiring tales of achievement to be found in each nation. By choosing the country and theme of interest to you I hope you thoroughly enjoy learning more about the area and sharing it with others. You have also seen the importance of studying Public Polciy and how it can create positive change

Standards:

SOCIAL STUDIES

Learning Standards

Standard 2 - World History

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

Standard 3 - Geography

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live-local, national, and global-including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth's surface.

Standard 4 - Economics

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the U.S. and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and non-market mechanisms.

Standard 5 - Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

ENGLISH STANDARDS

Standard 1:   Language for Information and Understanding

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.

Standard 2:   Language for Literary Response and Expression

Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.

Standard 3:   Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.