Empowering Global Citizens

The teacher then introduces the concept of poverty to the students, and
they discuss the following questions:

1. How is “poverty” defined? How is it measured?
2. What are the one— and two—dollar—a—day benchmarks for poverty?
3. What does “absolute poverty” mean?

Using portions of the following lesson plan from the Council for
Economic Education, students learn about Lorenz curves and about
how Gini coefficients are calculated: http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/
index.php?lid=8858Ctype=educaton

Advanced students and the teacher may read the following for background
information: http://web.w0rldbank.org/WESITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/
EXTPOVERTY/EXTPA/O,, contentMDK:2023899l ~menuPK:492138~
pagePK:148956~piPK2216618 ~theSitePK:430367,00.html.

Students then collect data on poverty rates and inequality in Latin America,
and, based on their analyses, they write an op—ed on the decline of poverty
and inequality in the region. Students may choose to pick a country or a
group of countries within the region. In particular, students should focus on
the differences in the averages of the trends.

Alternatively, time permitting, students may also examine some of the de—
mographic household surveys (DI-IS) used in Latin American countries to
examine how poverty is measured using various different indicators.

Resource

° http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLACREGTOPPOVANA/
Resources/840442—1291 127079993/Inequality__Reduction.pdf

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