Lesson Plan #4
Who are the Afghans?
LESSON LENGTH: Two class periods
GRADE LEVEL: Middle School or High School
SUBJECT AREA: Political Science, International Relations, Current Affairs
OBJECTIVES: Student will
- Understand why a multi-ethnic government is an optimum solution by learning about Afghanistan's political groups and factions
MATERIALS:
- Computers with internet access
- Informational literature such as books, magazine or newspaper articles.
PROCEDURE:
1. Discuss with the class the ethnic composition of Afghanistan, mentioning the four primary groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks and Tajiks.
2. Divide the class into groups of four. Assign each group to study one of the ethnic groups. They should address who the groups are, where in Afghanistan can they be found, what their history is and whether they have beliefs or tradition unique to their ethnicity.
3. Have students work together to prepare 10-minute presentation on their assigned groups. They should taken into account the differences and similarities across the ethnicities.
EVALUATION:
Evaluate students based on:
- Thoroughness: did they address the important issues?
- Organization: Was the presentation clear, coherent and easy to follow?
- The use and discussion of research materials: Did they use a wide variety of sources and cite them in the presentation?
