Information for teachers

Material:

Download material is offered in the ACCENT material corner for this edition.

Context and application

Geography:

The texts of this magazine are designed to be integrated into classes with the topic "developing countries". Energy consumption, deforestation, landuse change, traditional behaviours and vulnerability to climate changes are key factors in the economy and ecology of these countries. They are combined in the texts of this edition with information about the population development and living impressions from day-to-day life. The texts can be used as additional material or replace another example in the school book.

Since there is often one developing country chosen, which is discussed more in detail, we offer links to comprehensive material about Kenya in the link list.

What shall the students learn?

1. The students shall get an idea of the common cooking practice in African households and the dimension of firewood use on a global scale.
2. The students shall understand the role of firewood and the stove for the social life. They shall recognize that modernisation is a problem of income, infrastructure and traditional behaviours.
3. The contribution of firewood collection to the damage to ecosystems shall be understood.
4. The students shall become aware of the relation between emissions from fires, health risks and common cooking practice in poor households.
5. They shall learn in particular to discuss the energy supply problem in developing countries with a growing population in a balanced way, considering different models and local conditions. They shall understand that technologies which are established in industrialised countries are not necessarily suitable in these regions.

What is still expected from the teacher

We do not offer sufficient material for the topic “developing countries”, but information about one key issue. Therefore, the African topography, climate zones, history and colonial times, typical economies and types of agriculture as well as problems in the infrastructure and differences between urban and rural zones should be discussed before.

Flow chart for application in classes: