Back to School Around the World

It's always interesting to compare education around the world, from how students get to school to what they eat at school.  Originally from this article, here are a few photos from the first day of school from around the world.

Children play at school in Toribio, department of Cauca, Colombia, on Aug. 29. Colombia began its first day of peace with the country’s largest insurgency after a ceasefire went into effect, ending 52 years of warfare. (Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images)

Fourteen out of fifteen sets of twins, from the Inverclyde area, pose for a photograph in Clyde Square in Greenock, Scotland, ahead of their first day at school, Aug. 15. Pictured are, back row left to right, Emma and Grace McEleny, Fraser and Nathan McGrath, Jackson and Elizabeth Reid, Brooke and Skye Smith, and Andrew and Thomas Stewart. Middle row left to right, Charlotte and Morgan Goyal, Orlagh and Niamh Keen, Charlie and Olivia Lyne and Olivia and Rhogen McCurry. Front row left to right, Craig and Stuart Arthur, Caragh and Sophie Doig, Jude and Luca Donnachie, Jessica and Lauren Egan and Max and Nyah Glover. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Pupils at the “Tamra HaEmek” elementary school wait for the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, on the first day of the school year, in the Arab Israeli town of Tamra, Israel Sept. 1. (Baz Ratner/Reuters)

Ukrainian children from cadet’s lyceum attend the first day of school, which marks the traditional start of the academic year in Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 1. September 1st is The Day of Knowledge marking the beginning of every school year in Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey/EPA)

Students wish themselves good luck during a ceremony marking the first day back to class at Lycee National school in the Petion-Ville suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sept. 5. Half of Lycee’s students didn’t return to school. Those students’ parents complained they can’t afford the tuition, uniforms or school supplies. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press)

Palestinian schoolgirls sit in front of a mural on the first day of a new school year, at a United Nations-run school in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Aug. 28. The mural reads, “Freedom of movement is my right.” (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Children attend the Kurulen Primary school in Vuwani, Limpopo, after it opened its doors for the fist time in three months on Aug. 4, with only a few students pitching up for the first day of school. Kurulen Primary school, was one of the 25 schools that was set alight during the recent violent protests. (Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images)

Refugee schoolchildren attend a lesson on the first day of the new school year at one of the UNRWA schools at a Palestinian refugee camp al Wehdat, in Amman, Jordan, Sept 1. (Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on these images.

• How do the images of these schools compare to the first day of your school day?
• Select one of the images and explain current events happening in that country right now. How might those current events affect education?
• Select one of the images and research about school in that country. When is the school year? How many years of education is typical in that country?
• Select 3 photos and describe the outfits you see students wear. Do they have uniforms? If not, does it look like the clothes they are wearing are part of a dress code?

Comparing Cost of Living Around the World

In the last blog post we looked at how people lived in different parts of the world. Now we are going to look at more details about the Cost of Living around the world. This helps explain how far a dollar will go in different cities in the world. 

Numbeo is a website where you can look at different data from around the world. 

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and complete 1 of the following tasks based on this website.

• Pick 3 different countries and create a chart comparing the 
• McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal)
• Cinema, International Release, 1 Seat
• 1 Pair of Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)
• Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)
• Based on this information - explain which country you'd like to live in or visit. Explain why you chose that country. 
• Pick 5 different countries and create a chart comparing one particular data point 
• Put them in order from most expensive to least expensive
• Based on this information - explain which country you'd like to live in or visit. Explain why you chose that country. 
• Use the Cost of Living Comparison  to compare Pittsburgh to another city in the world. Take a screenshot of the comparison (similar to the one above) and write a paragraph comparing/contrasting the information on the two different cities. 
• Pick a different topic in the horizontal navigation of Numbeo (like Crime, Quality of Life or Travel) and explore that topic. Explain in a paragraph and screen shots what you learned. 

Dollar Street - Compare how people live around the world

Dollar Street is an interactive website that lets you compare how different families live around the world. 

First, take the "quick tour" so you can understand how the site works. Then, explore the site. 

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 1-2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on this website.

• Compare two families. What is their monthly income? Describe their home, their favorite possessions, etc. Then compare those two families to your own. 
• Similar to what you see in this blog post, take screen shots of 3 different comparable aspects (pets, water outlets, next big thing they plan to buy, etc.) then include photos/descriptions of your own for these topics.
• Explain in a paragraph what you have learned about how people live around the world.
• Pick one country/family and write a paragraph describing how they live. Where are they from? What is their income? Describe 5 different searchable aspects of their lives. 
• Pick one searchable aspect (pets, water outlets, next big thing they plan to buy, etc.) and explain 10 different photos of that particular aspect. Include the country and the income for each explanation.

We are not the majority

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer at least 2 of the following questions in complete sentences based on the video.

• List 5 facts that you learned from this video.
• Compare how you live with how other people live in the world. What do you have that others don't?
• How has the video explain diversity in the world?
• How might you look at the world (or your life) differently now? Explain

Are you a citizen of the world?

Many countries require that people who want to become citizens of their country take an exam. (Click here to take a sample US citizenship test.) Are you smart enough to be able to live in many different countries?

Click here to take different Citizenship tests from around the world.

Create a new blog post in your Spanish Blog Portfolio, title it the same as this blog post, and answer 2-3 of the following questions in complete sentences based on the test.

• What was your score? 
• What did you learn?
• What should all citizens of a country know about the history and government?
• Do you think it's fair for countries to make potential citizens take a test?  Explain your answer.
• What do you think is a fair score to pass a citizenship test? Explain your answer.