Simulations
Simulations are a great way to engage anybody, regardless of age. There are some things where coming up with a real-life project can be difficult. This is where a simulation can come in handy. If you can't actually run the government, then simulate it. If you can't actually look for a job, apartment, etc in preparation for real life, then simulate it. Instead of lecturing about the treaty process, taking notes and then writing a test about it, simulate it. You can pretty much simulate anything you put your mind to.
The internet is a great place to find simulation ideas that if not exactly what you are looking for, at least provide a good starting point. Creating and running an effective simulation is a balancing act. Some of the things you need to consider: |
Balancing Act
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If you make it too easy to supervise and participate in, it will get boring fast. If you make it too complicated, everyone, including you, will get frustrated and quit. The best idea is to start easy with lots of opportunities to "power-up". As the participants get the hang of the basic rules, start adding some more components. Keep adding new things as long as they and you can handle it. Think of it as levels in a video game. Level one is easy for a reason but any game worth it's salt has multiple levels and multiple challenges. You don't have to have the more difficult levels figured out in the beginning. Just pay attention to your simulation as you are playing it and things will come to you. I have been conducting the Global Government Simulation that I have included below for the entire length of my 20+ year career and it has changed and evolved pretty much every year.
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Open-ended
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Try to avoid simulations where the outcome is a foregone conclusion. That's called a play or a drama. A simulation might be based on actual events but the whole point of a simulation and the usual objective of the participants is to see what they would do in those circumstances so as to gain a better understanding of what happened. When I do my treaty simulation, I don't give scripts or expectations to the different participants. I give them the circumstances and what they have and don't have and away we go. The negogiations over the years have gone all over the map including one young man who proudly stood up and stated that he would rather die standing than live on his knees. Just like in the real world, every action in a simulation has a consequence.
I will be adding to this page in the coming weeks and months. I have included some simulations below: |
Global Government Simulation
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This Global Government Simulation is kind of like Risk, Sim City and other simulation video games all combined into one. I first created it in 1994 with my group of grade 8 students to give them an opportunity to experience many of the concepts in the Social Studies curriculum and to challenge them to really think about what is going on in our world. There are a few different versions of the simulation rules as a result of different teachers taking the original simulation rules and creating their own variations. I have included a number of different files below that you can use to run the simulation for you and your class. These files and versions of the simulation were created by myself and Brad Watts as we have played the simulation with our different groups of students as we have conducted the simulation with our students.
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SIMPLE RULES
A simpler version of the Global Government Simulation rules. This is a good place to start for teachers and students who have never run or played the simulation. It is very easy to transition from these basic rules to add the elements of the full version bit by bit. |
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FULL RULES VERSION 1
Here is one version of the full rules of the simulation. This version has everything you need to run the simulation including the rules that you give to the students, the accounting sheets, a sample of the accounting sheets filled out properly, government positions, travel visas, starting units that each country begins with, and a basic accounting sheet. |
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FULL RULES VERSION 2
This is another version of the rules with some different things from a different teacher who took the game and modified it. The rules are in Publisher and there is a PDF format for those without Publisher. |
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CARDS FOR VERSION 2
Here are the playing pieces that you will need to play version 2 |
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EXPENSE SHEET FOR VERSION 2
This is the financial reporting sheet for the version 2 of the simulation. |
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PUBLIC SUPPORT OPTION
You can add this option to any version of the simulation to take your class to the next level of game play if you think that they can handle it. You can introduce it at the start, or later on in the game to add another layer of complexity and realism. |
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MONEY
Here are the templates for the money used in the game. It works best if you copy each denomination onto different colored paper. |
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WAR - BATTLESHIP VERSION
Here is the playing sheet for the battleship version of going to war. It is more complicated than simply using the dice rolling version but it involves math and has students having to do more actual work when they go to war. |
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WAR REPORT
A reporting form for each country to fill out that was involved in any war that takes place. |
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NUCLEAR LAUNCH FORM
Here is a form that you can require your students to fill out for them to launch their nuclear weapons. |
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GLOBAL SIM MEAL
Here is a meal activity that you can do with your class to give them an experience that gives them a little taste of the realities of the world inequities. |
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ALIEN TREATY ACTIVITY
This is an excellent way to end the entire simulation to give them an experience that reflects the realities of the situation that First Nations found themselves in during the formation and signing of the treaties. The ideal time to do this activity is when interest is still high in participating in the simulation but you get the feeling that engagement could be decreasing. |
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TREATY BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Some information that helps students understand the treaty process. Hand it out when you are doing the Alien Treaty Activity. |
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ASSESSMENT REFLECTION PAGES
Some pages that can be used for students to take notes and make reflections as part of their assessment on what they have learned during the simulation. Best used after each 'year' of the game. |
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BACKGROUND RESEARCH
To help your students to be more prepared before playing, you can require that your students complete this research in their country teams prior to starting the simulation. |
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OIL SPILL PROBLEM
An example of how the simulation can spread into other curriculum areas. This is an example from science. Students have to research and solve an oil spill problem in the simulation for their country and in real life as a science experiment. |
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Game Play Examples from Chris Clark
Here are some examples of the types of problems and issues that were given to the countries that they needed to solve along with some of the things the students did to solve the problems and how problems got worse if they didn't solve them. These pages were printed out each yearly cycle and handed to the student teams as the news was read out to the class. |
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Game Play Example from Brad Watts
Here are some examples of the types of problems and issues that were given to the countries including a spreadsheet of all the different years and a final report for students to be able to make some comparisons between countries and their performance. |
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Alien Invasion Videos
Send me an email at [email protected] requesting a link and I will send you a link to the cloud drive folder that contains the videos. Due to some copyright issues, I can't upload them to this site.
Send me an email at [email protected] requesting a link and I will send you a link to the cloud drive folder that contains the videos. Due to some copyright issues, I can't upload them to this site.
Global Government Simulation Examples Video
This video is from several different simulations showing the setup and sample simulations to give you an idea of what the simulation looks like in action. |
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