Curriculum Resources for the Classroom
Understanding Migration was conceived in response to numerous requests from educators and curriculum specialists concerning the presentation and discussion of issues related to human migration in the social studies classroom. What are the reasons that large groups of people have found themselves moving from place to place? What effects does this movement have? And most importantly, how can such a fluid and nebulous concept be presented in a classroom in an easy-to-follow manner with clear lesson objectives and outcomes? Regional case studies were chosen to address these, and other, essential questions. Where possible, we have used primary source documents to present the information in each case study.
A standards alignment chart for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the National Standards for Geography Education is included in the full version of the unit.
A standards alignment chart for the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the National Standards for Geography Education is included in the full version of the unit.
This unit was revised in 2011 to reflect the updated Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills approved by the Texas State Board of Education in 2010. The revised version also includes updated information, assessment activities, and incorporates changes suggested by educators based on classroom use.
Download the full unit (8 MB - not recommended for users with dialup or slow internet connections).
Note: some files may require Adobe Acrobat Reader version 8.0 or higher.
Or download specific sections:
Section 1: An Introduction to MigrationDownload a ready-to-use PowerPoint presentation that explains the causes and effects of human migration. De******ions and full explanations, along with historical examples, can be found in the notes pages.
Section 2: Understanding Migration: Classroom StrategiesTwo introductory classroom activites are included in Section 2. These activities are designed for use at middle and high school levels, although some suggestions for use at lower levels are included below.
- Student Activity 1 examines migration trends in students' own community through a series of interviews with people that the student knows. This activity can easily be modified for use at the elementary level, either by interviewing one person as a class activity, or using a story or video to collect data for the spectrum graph activity
Download this activity (381 kb)
- Student Activity 2 examines films that deal with immigrants and migration and asks students to think critically about the film and plot elements relating to migration. Since most films dealing with this topic are for more mature audiences, we suggest using this activity at the high school level. There are some films, such as the animated picture An American Tail, that could be used to do this activity with younger audiences.
Download this activity (250 kb)
Section 3 contains a series of parallel activities that explore specific real-world examples of migration. Each short unit contains a simple reading, written for a middle-level audience, a T-chart activity, and a writing prompt, which can be done as an individual class assignment, in small groups, as an entire class, or as homework.
- Case Study 1: Rural-Urban Migration in Brazil
Brazil is one of many Latin American countries that has faced a trend of rural-urban migration. People in the countryside are poor, and move to try to find a better life in Brazil's cities. But they often lack the skills to get good jobs, and are forced to live in favelas (shantytowns). This activity asks students to think about why people from rural areas would choose to stay or go to the big cities.
Download this case study. (319 kb)
- Case Study 2: The Partition of India
After colonial rule, the British left India in 1947, under the agreement that it be Partitioned-divided-along religious lines. Areas where a majority of Hindus lived were given to India; areas where mostly Muslims lived became the new country of Pakistan. After Partition millions of people found themselves on the "wrong" side of the border. The city of Calcutta and the surrounding area, whose population was 75% Hindu, were awarded to India. This case study asks students to consider whether Calcutta's Muslim residents should remain or to set out and create new lives in Pakistan.
Download this case study. (311 kb)
- Case Study 3: The Palestinian "Right of Return"
One of the most difficult issues that Israelis and Palestinians must solve in order to work out a peace agreement is the issue of the Palestinian "right of return." When the state of Israel was declared in 1947, a war broke out between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Many of the Arab residents who lived in what became Israel fled their homes. Many more fled during the Arab-Israeli war in 1967. Now, many Palestinians are asking for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel proper. This is an issue that is very emotional for people on both sides of this conflict. Students will consider the reasons for and against the Palestinian 'right of return.'
Download this case study. (319 kb)
- Case Study 4: Nicaraguan Migration during the Sandinista-Contra Years
In 1979, after over four decades of the brutal Somoza dictatorship, the FSLN (Sandinista National Liberation Front, or the Sandinistas) toppled the government. However, the country was in trouble (the economy was in ruins, food was scarce, education was weak, and medical help almost nonexistent) and the Sandinistas were soon fighting a guerrilla war launched by U.S.-backed Contras, or counterrevolutionaries. The new government faced numerous problems. This case study asks students to consider whether Nicaraguans should leave their country to seek peace and stability in other nations.
Download this case study. (324 kb)
- Case Study 5: Migration from the Former Soviet Republics to Russia
The Soviet Union consisted of fifteen "soviet socialist republics," many of which were originally independent nations that had been conquered by the Russian Empire or over the course of the 1917 revolution that established the Soviet Union. In 1989, the last Soviet census listed 128 separate ethnic groups living in the fifteen republics. At the time of the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, more than twenty-five million ethnic Russians were living in the former-Soviet republics outside of Russia. Because Russians formed the dominant group during the Soviet years and often got the best jobs and housing, after the transition Russians still living in these republics were often treated poorly. Students are asked to consider whether these ethnic Russians should try to remain in the post-Soviet republics, or whether to try to make a new life in Russia.
Download this case study. (319 kb)