Session 1 - March 17

[Taylor Bub]

I agree with both you and Tara.  I also found it so surprising to see such little emphasis on education within the United States when compared to other countries.  I really love your idea of using these charts in homeroom to discuss the value and importance that we place. on education here in the United states.  To add on to your idea of having students explore the divide between the values placed on education, students could also explore the other aspects shown in the pie chart and compare them to those same values in the US.  For example, students could explore not only the differences in educational value, but also in familial values, as this is a strong theme throughout many different East Asian cultures.  Students might be interested in researching their own familial values (in terms of respect for elders, etc) and comparing them to other cultures.

[Miguel Diaz]

I was surprised to learn from this article that Japan uses a significant amount of coal. 

The article states that, “Coal burning is one of the biggest single sources of carbon dioxide emissions” in japan. Furthermore, it goes on to say that the policy of building more coal burning plants is contrary to Japan’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide omissions.

The article suggests that Japanese policymakers decided to move away from nuclear power, and towards coal, due to the Fukushima disaster. However, there appears to be significant public pressure in Japan against more coal burning power plants.

I would ask my students to do a research project in order to seek answers to the following tasks/questions:

1) Investigate the types of energy sources that are currently used in Japan to generate electricity.

2) investigate the sources of support and opposition to coal burning power plants?

3) Are Japanese policymakers actively promoting (or investing in) alternative sources of energy not involving nuclear power?

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