Material World

In our Global Citizenship Study we are looking at many books by Peter Menzel, such as Hungry Planet, and today, Material World.  In this book, instead of people from different countries putting their food out, they put their family possessions out in front of their homes.  We observed that some people had a lot of possessions and some people didn’t have much at all.  We recorded on a sheet of paper what we noticed about each country and what we wondered.  

Here are some of the things we noticed:

• The TV seemed very important in the picture of Mexico
• In South Africa they had two beds for seven people
• In Cuba the houses are in bad shape
• In Mali they have lots of pots
• In Thailand they had mosquito nets over their beds
• In Kuwait there are lots of couches and cars
• In Japan they had 32 pairs of shoes for four people
• In South Africa they wrote that their most valued possession was their family
• In Mongolia they only have one room to sleep and eat in
• In USA they had a lot of stuff for pleasure and in other countries they had only stuff they needed
• In Iceland it seemed like musical instruments were important (only place that had them)
• In Mexico one of the kids was holding either a fake or real pistol

Here are some things we wondered:

• In Mongolia how do they walk around at night without any electricity?
• Why do the people in Bhutan have so many children?
• Where do the people in Mali sleep (what do they sleep on?)
• In Mongolia I wonder what their houses are made of, they look like giant pick up sticks?
• What happens when it rains in Mongolia?
• In Mongolia their most prized possession was a TV, but they live in a tent.  How do they get their power?
• How did they make their house?
• In Samoa what are their animals used for?
• In Cuba what do people sleep on?
• In Mali what are all the wooden tools for?
• In Mongolia do they ever feel cramped?  They have a lot furniture, but not a lot of space.

Big Questions:

• Do most people want more stuff, or are they fine with what they have?
• I wonder why a lot of the families are religious?
• I wonder what percentage of the people live in poverty?
• Why does America and Japan have so much stuff compared to other countries?
• I wonder how people in different countries share their beds when they don’t have enough for each person?
• How are the countries related in terms of material?
• Why are some countries more wealthy than others?
• What country has the least amount of possessions?
• How much does each countries possessions cost them?