Global Issues and Sustainable Development

What this page covers

The page is mostly mind maps, with a smaller set of flashcard decks, a few quizzes and some notes. Together they follow three threads: globalization and its effects, the United Nations and other organizations, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Smaller maps look at single issues such as human trafficking, zoos, energy saving and the Panama Papers, and a good number deal with the pandemic and its consequences.

Where to start

Begin with the big picture. The note Globalization – global challenges sets out economic, ecological and cultural issues and their political consequences. It was written for an English course leading to the Abitur Englisch, so it suits students working in English at that level. Then open the mind map Pros and Cons of Globalization, which sorts the risks and fears from the hopes and opportunities, such as higher CO2 emissions on one side and new jobs on the other.

Goals and organizations

Next, move to the goals. Several mind maps set out the Sustainable Development Goals one by one, including Sustainable Development Goals and GOALS AND ACTION PLAN. They cover themes such as ending poverty, ending hunger, gender equality, clean water, and decent work and economic growth. Read two of them side by side and notice what each one leaves out. The SDG Flashcards deck then turns the same ideas into short answers you can check from memory.

For organizations, try the International Organisations flashcards, which ask when the UN was formed and what its main organs are. The United Nations mind map adds the aims of the UN, a success and a failure case study, and how Singapore contributes to it and benefits from it.

Using quizzes and maps together

1. Read a mind map and say each branch aloud without looking.
2. Work through a flashcard deck on the same theme.
3. Take a quiz, such as the one on ASEAN members and connectivity, and note what you missed.
4. Go back to the map and read only the branches you got wrong.

Teachers can use a single map, such as The Locust Effect or Should animals be kept in zoos?, as a discussion starter for a lesson.

Where this fits

This unit sits in the General Knowledge and Current Affairs strand of General knowledge, trivia and entertainment. Choose one resource that matches what you are studying this week, and see how much you can recall from it.