Bellwork: Read the story below then write down your reaction and decide whether you think it is a true story or not. Explain your thinking! A young street vendor in Tunisia named Mohamed Bouazizi set out to sell vegetables from a cart early in the morning. He bought his goods on credit because he had no money. Shortly after he began pushing his cart through the city, a police officer told him he did not have the correct permit and demanded a bribe. When Bouazizi did not give her enough, she took his goods. He immediately went to complain to the authorities at the local government headquarters, but they refuesd to see him. Feeling desperate and frustrated that he could now not repay the debt of feed his family of eight, he bought a can of gasoline and set himself on fire in protest.

He is now famous throughout Tunisia and the Arab world — a legend, in fact. But Mohammed Bouazizi never set out to be such a thing. His aunt Radia Bouazizi says his dream was to save enough money to be able to rent or buy a pickup truck. "Not to cruise around in," she says, "but for his work." Her nephew was a vegetable seller. "He would come home tired after pushing the cart around all day. All he wanted was a pickup." Instead, he started a revolution. TRUE

Arab Spring What did this look like?

Who? Many people who were involved in the protests were young adults that were frustrated with the lack of jobs. Women who suffered under strict and restrictive laws protested. They wanted to change their government and create a democracy.

What? A huge protest in support of democracy for their country. People were standing up to their government that had ruled their home countries for years with absolute power. They demanded political change and economic opportunity.

Where? Protests started in Tunisia. Other countries in the Middle East started similar protests. The first country after Tunisia was Egypt. Then Yemen, Iran, Bahrain, Algeria, Libya. Several other Middle East Countries started protests as well. – Jordan, Kuwait, Israel Palestinian territory, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Syria, UAE, and Saudi Arabia Interactive Map

Let’s label the major countries that were part of Arab Spring protests Tunisia Egypt Yemen Bahrain Libya Iran Algeria

When? Protests started during the winter of 2010 and the spring of Some of these protests created change. However, others are still going on with even more violence occurring.

What do these countries look like now?

Why? 2011 Unemployment Chart (Ages 15 to 24) Employment rates Women’s Rights Oppression – Example: Bouazizi

How? …Social Media

Your Task In the middle of your chart you will see a section labeled summary Take a few minutes to think about what we have discussed today and look at what you have written down. Write out at least five sentences summarizing Arab Spring using your notes.

Bellwork Where is the absolute location of the areas we are talking about? Look at the map below and find each location! Yellow- Blue- Red- Black-

Your task today: Choose one of the following activities to complete. As you have already found out, social media played a huge role in what happened at Arab Spring. Pick one of the activities to show what you would have seen on social media back in 2010 and –INSTAGRAM: draw three detailed pictures of what was going on and put a caption on each that is at least 20 words long. –TWITTER: create a profile and tweet at least 4 things to share the news of what was happening. –FACEBOOK: create a profile and three status updates of what is happening near you. –REPORTER: pretend you are a reporter and create a news report that you will broadcast to the citizens.