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OPEC and the Energy Crisis
Lesson Plan

Overview:
In this lesson, students will learn about how world affairs far from the average American citizen can have a significant effect on them.  Using a variety of visual, kinesthetic, and brainstorm activities, students will understand the importance of oil and how dependent the US is on it.

Materials

Objective
Students will understand America’s reliance on oil producing nations of the Middle East

 

Warm Up (5 minutes)
"What are three uses of oil?"
Teacher will distribute maps of the Middle East

Direct Instruction (5 minutes)
Vocabulary

  • OPEC- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
    • In 1960, many oil-rich nations joined together to control the price and production of oil.
  • Original Members
    • Iran
    • Iraq
    • Kuwait
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Venezuela
      • Teacher will remind students that Venezuela is in South America and can’t be found on the Middle East map
  • Middle Eastern Nations that joined later
      • Qatar
      • United Arab Emirates
Teacher will inform students that they will use crayons or colored pencils to color in the Middle East nations of OPEC

Small Group Activity
Teacher will allow students to speak quietly with their neighbor as they color in their maps

Direct Instruction (2 minutes)
Teacher will ask students to locate Israel, Syria, and Egypt on their maps

Teacher will inform students that in 1973, Egypt and Syria simultaneously attacked Israel in an effort to conquer the land and force the Jews out of the Middle East

Discussion (5 minutes)

  • “Who is the US likely to side with in a war involving these three nations? Why?”
    • President Nixon showed his support of Israel by giving them $2.5 billion worth of arms
    • The OPEC nations retaliated by putting an embargo on oil shipments
  • “What is an embargo?”
  • “Where have we heard of embargos before?”
    • The Cuban Missile Crisis
  • “What would an embargo do to the price of oil?”
    • The embargo lasted less than six months, but oil levels never dropped to their pre-embargo levels

Visual Prompt (2 minutes)
Students will view the political cartoon.  Teacher will ask students to write their impressions of the cartoon on their worksheet.

Discussion (2 minutes)
Teacher will ask for the students' impressions of the cartoon

Brainstorm (2 minutes)
Teacher will ask students to think of how higher gas prices would impact the country

  • Higher heating costs
  • More expensive plastics
  • “What kinds of things are shipped in trucks?”
  • “How would higher gas prices affect the price of things shipped in trucks?”
  • “How would an increase in the prices of all these things affect the economy?”
  • Teacher will ask students to brainstorm ways to conserve energy

Visual Prompt (2 minutes)
Teacher will show images of the Chevrolet Impala. Teacher will ask students to explain what they see.

  • “Why did the Impala become less popular after 1973?”
  • “How did Chevrolet adapt to the gas crisis?”

Direct Instruction (4 minutes)
Teacher will explain to students the impact of the gas crisis in America.  Teacher will mention that gas prices skyrocketed from 25 cents a gallon to over a dollar a gallon.

  • “How much does gas cost now?”
  • “Multiply that figure by four”

Teacher will explain how most gas stations

  • Often ran out of gas
  • Closed on Sundays
  • Refused gas to non-regular customers
  • Determined when people could buy gas based on their license plate number

Kinesthetic Activity (4 minutes)
Teacher will distribute one matchbox car to different students and have them place them one by one on the floor in a straight line.

Teacher will explain that gas lines were often much longer than the one on the classroom floor.  People would spend hours in a gas station line often only to find out the station ran out of gas.

Video (2 minutes)
Teacher will show a video clip from the late seventies of people's reactions to a gas line

Closure (5 minutes)

  • “How did Americans change their lifestyle to adapt to the oil crisis?”
  • “How is America doing now in terms of energy?”
  • “Have we adapted to the shortage in energy today in similar methods as to what we did in the 1970s? Why not?”
  • “How much impact do the events in the Middle East have on the US?”
  • “What is one thing you’ve learned today?”

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