Global Interdependence and International Trade

At our very last TIRP session at RFK High School, we decided to conclude with an exercise called “Going After Mr. Goodbar”. This exercise talks about global interdependence and international trade. Before the last session on October 29, 2012, there was some preparation needed for the game. Following the guide instructions, we had to make a total of 32 bags of ‘resources’. We spent approximately 10 minutes to explain the instructions to the students and wrote a guide of what the students needed in order to trade in for a chocolate bar. We substitute the poker chip with an orange piece of paper, and peanuts with mini pretzels.

For the first round, we allowed them to trade for approximately 5-7 minutes. Everyone got out of their chairs and started to trade with people who had more resources as them. Some students claimed, “he stole my bag!” and some students lingered around the table getting ready for the round to end so that they could trade in for a candy bar. At the end of the first round, we introduced a harvest season where we gave the students with a poker chip more chocolate kisses and pretzels. Surprisingly no one complained that it was unfair, etc. For about 5 minutes or so, we did this harvest and allowed for the ones with enough resources to trade with us, the directors.

Then we had a second round of trading. This time, all the students were really engaging, because they got more comfortable with the rules of the game and wanted to get a candy bar. This round, we gave them about 3-5 minutes of trading. At the conclusion of the second round of trading, we had students sit back at their seats. This time, there were more people who wanted to trade in the candy bar for money, because they were short on money. Because my teammates and I reminded them that they could trade in a poker chip for $500, more students did so as well. This time, instead of a harvest season, we surprised the students had a drought season, where