Lesson plans EU - Europe today
Lesson plans listed here all link to
curriculum requirements. The first set, all tried and tested by
other teachers, is taken from the BBC's Newsround website, which
gives them an appealing topical content. These lessons all
encourage debate about the EU and its purpose.
European Constitution
Students look at the meaning of the EU constitution, find out
a brief history of the EU, and look at the difficulties of
establishing a shared set of rules.
EU
constitution
European Capital of Culture
2008
Liverpool has been named the European Capital of Culture for
2008. Students design and make a poster to show why their local
area should be considered for the award.
Capital of
culture
The Euro
Students learn all about the euro through a quiz format. There
are links to more in-depth information.
The Euro
quiz
The Eurovision Song Contest
Children look at Europe's complex identity and are asked to
devise an evening of entertainment, with the audience drawn from
across Europe.
The
Eurovision song contest
Myths and facts
This lesson plan teaches or recaps basic information about the
EU, and dispels media myths about 'bendy bananas'.
The EU - what
do you know?
Voting systems
Compares the first past the post system of voting with
proportional representation.
Citizens of Europe
Working with partner schools abroad through online forums and
email, students discuss youth issues on a local, national and
European scale. Through their own 'Europe 21' project and
conference, they exchange ideas and prepare a Manifesto that
addresses the relevance of European Citizenship to students now and
when they reach 21 years old.
School linking
An excellent scheme of work that takes you through the whole
process of choosing, finding and contacting partner schools.
Includes discussions about children's existing connections with
overseas countries, use of a wall display and photos to assess
options, and how to reach a consensus. This is a complete set
of six lessons, which are best used together.
KS3
Citizenship: School Linking
A new
flag for EuropeIn 2002 Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas designed a new flag for
the EU as part of a project on Brussels – the design, which
was part of an art project, had no official status and
was not intended to replace the existing one. Students learn about
the importance of symbolism and get to design their own flag. Could
your pupils improve on the flag shown to the right?
Symbolism
and design for Europe
A trip to
Strasbourg?
Several times a year, the
Euroscola programme brings together a group of about 500 16-18 year
old secondary school students from the twenty-five European Union
countries in Strasbourg for a day of meetings to learn about the
European Parliament and discuss topical European issues.
Coming from different cultures and countries, and speaking a
variety of languages, the students divide into multilingual working
parties of about 100 members. Each working party chooses a
spokesperson to present the conclusions of its discussions to all
500 participants at the end of the afternoon.
By using their languages to communicate with other
participants, students come to see foreign languages not as a
barrier but rather as a way of understanding the problems, opinions
and expectations of young people from other European
countries.
For further details of the programme or to express an interest
in participating please contact
Pamela Powers in the UK Office
of the European Parliament.
Lesson plans - EU democracy
For more traditional lesson plans covering the structure,
purpose and operation of the EU institutions.
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