Global economy
Meet the Morgan family
Grandad: Tom retired coal miner
Dad: Richard works for Sony as an engineer
Mum: Eleri is a nurse
Meet the Morgans
Rhys aged 16 and Sian aged 14
Both go to the local comprehensive school
Sian and Rhys
Sian and Rhys are Welsh teenagers. They both love music, shopping for new clothes, surfing the net and eating at MacDonald’s. Every year they fly abroad for their summer holiday, last year they went to India.
Sian and Rhys
Sian and Rhys are part of a global economy but they are not aware of that yet
Grandad Tom
Grandad Tom tells Rhys and Sian that Wales was one of the first countries in the world to become industrialized.
Farming
Machines meant that less people were needed to work in farming so they came to the towns and cities to work in the big new factories.
Grandad Tom
This was because the coal that was mined could be used in the factories to produce iron and steel. The iron and steel could be made into machines.
Goods
The goods they produced were sent all over the world.
Factories
A few people became very rich but life was very hard for the people who worked in the factories.
Wealth
Eventually the wealth filtered down to many people in the UK and today we take for granted the right to good health care, emergency services, food, water and shelter.
Health
Most developing countries do not have free health care and emergency services because they do not have the money to put the services in place.
Industrialized countries
Industrialized countries such as the UK need raw materials to make goods in their factories. Most of these raw materials come from developing countries. Often very little is paid for these materials.
China and India
Increasingly goods are manufactured in countries which are under going rapid development such as China and India. Often the workers receive very small wages and work very long hours. The finished goods fetch a high price.
Climate Change
Sian and Rhys have learnt that richer countries consume more manufactured goods as well as energy and are responsible for producing the most green house gasses. It is these gasses which are contributing to climate change.
Global economy
Being part of a global economy has given the Morgan family more choice.
Eleri shops at one of the large supermarkets and buys products from all over the world.
Climate Change
Rhys is concerned that climate change will have more impact on poorer countries.
Climate Change
Droughts, floods, rising sea levels and severe storms will make it difficult for people to grow crops to feed themselves or to sell for export to richer countries. People in those countries will face great hardship.
Champa
Sian has been learning about a little girl Champa who lives in Bangladesh. Her father is a farmer, he raises goats and cattle and the money he earns helps to pay for Champa to go to school.
Champa
Champa’s father owned land close to the river but heavy rains has caused the river to flood and erode his land. He cannot afford to buy more.
Champa
Flooding is happening more and more and Champa is worried that they will have to move further away from the river.
Sian and Rhys
Sian and Rhys have learnt that if everyone used natural resources and produced greenhouse gasses at the rate we do in Wales, we’d need three planets to support us.
Morgan Family
The Morgan family are concerned that because of they way they live they may be contributing to climate change and they have decided to try and do something about it.
Eleri finds out
Eleri has been busy finding out what the family can do to reduce using fossil fuels both in the home and with what they buy.
Activities
Globingo
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