• The word “language” comes from the Latin word for “tongue • The word “language” comes from the Latin word for “tongue.” About 7,000 languages are spoken in the world today. • Language is a central part of who we are and where we come from. What languages are spoken in your community? • What language has the most speakers? Does this surprise you? What language would you like to learn most and why? 2

• Feel like going abroad. You’re not alone • Feel like going abroad? You’re not alone. In 2009, international travelers made about 880 million trips. • Why are so many top tourist destinations in Europe? Why do you think the U.S. was the 2nd most popular tourist spot in 2009? • Which country on the graph would you most—and least— like to visit, and why?

• Facebook was started in 2004 as a social network for students at Harvard University. It now has more than 500 million users worldwide—and has made its founders billionaires. • Why do you think the U.S. has so many Facebook users? Why is China—which has the world’s largest population— not on the Top-10 list? • Why do you think Facebook has become so popular? What are some of the positive and negative aspects of social networking?

• This graph shows the countries with the highest ratio of prisoners to the general population. About 9.25 million people are imprisoned around the world. • Which countries would you expect to be on the graph that aren’t? Which on the graph surprise you? • What factors might explain why some countries have more prisoners than others? 5

• From the earliest civilizations, people have organized their common beliefs into religions. Thousands of religions are practiced around the world. • Which of the religions on the pie chart do you know the most about? Least? • A recent study reports that half of Americans change their faith at least once. Why do you think that might be? 6

• The data for this chart comes from Forbes magazine’s annual list of billionaires. • Why do you think the U.S has so many billionaires? Why might there be such a large gap between the U.S. and other countries on the graph? • Why do you think people are so fascinated with the super-rich? What other measures of success are there besides monetary wealth?

• Ambitious builders are continually breaking the record for the world’s tallest skyscraper. • As of January 2010, the title goes to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, one of the states in the United Arab Emirates. • What does a tall building tell us about a country, if anything? Does it surprise you that the U.S. is not in the top 5?

• This graph measures municipal waste—trash collected by cities and towns. Collecting and getting rid of garbage is expensive and has environmental implications. • Does the amount of trash Americans produce surprise you? Why or why not? Why might some countries produce more garbage than others? • Where does all the garbage we toss out go? What long-term problems does trash present?

• Movies are America’s second-largest export • Movies are America’s second-largest export. (Agricultural products are the first.) • But it isn’t Hollywood that puts out the most movies—it’s Bollywood. That nickname for India’s film center comes in part from Bombay, the former name of the city of Mumbai. • Which do you think are more widely watched: American or Indian movies? Why?