INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), growing inflation and tighter monetary policy in the United States and abroad, along with unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East, have led to a broad-based trade slowdown in 2023. Poptential™, a family of free social studies course packages, explores the historical significance of global trade in its World History curriculum, equipping high school educators with media-rich content to help students gain a deeper understanding of the importance of free trade.
“High school students rely on robust global trade for many of the products they use every day, so it’s important for them to understand how free trade impacts our economy,” said Julie Smitherman, a former social studies teacher and director of content at Certell, Inc., the nonprofit behind Poptential. “Poptential’s global trade lessons help teachers engage students in discussions about how events, such as economic swings, geopolitical upheaval, and the Covid-19 pandemic, have disrupted the flow of trade, and the importance of trade in the effort to eradicate poverty and enhance the economies of countries big and small.”
Poptential course packages boost student engagement by using a variety of pop culture media to illustrate concepts, including those taken from sitcoms, movies, animations, cartoons, late-night shows, and other sources. Lessons on the history of global trade in Poptential World History Volumes 1 & 2 e-books, include:…Read More