The USA National Qualifications

Today we will… Identify what I know (from my prior knowledge) about the USA. Recall and list some facts about the USA. Discuss stereotypes of Americans and assess how accurate these are. Examine what capitalism is and identify capitalist businesses and what services they provide.

Success Criteria Construct a spider diagram showing examples of what I know about the USA Express my opinion on USA stereotypes and determine whether these stereotypes are accurate or not. Examine what capitalism is and identify capitalist businesses and what services they provide.

Task 1.What do we already know? What do you know about the USA? What have you learned about the USA in school, on TV and in films? With your shoulder partner come up with 10 things you know about the USA. Task The USA

US Stereotypes People that don’t know much about America stereotype what it is like. In reality it is quite different. Stereotypes are assumptions we make about an entire group based on observations of some e.g. All teenagers are neds, all Scottish people wear kilts and eat haggis!! Here are some of the stereotypes people have of the USA. Discuss these as a class. Think about what the stereotype is and why people might think America is really like that. Also, discuss what America is actually like.

The USA – Some interesting facts… The USA is the most powerful country in the world. The basis of its power is its wealth, which in turn rests on its size, population and mineral resources. These factors gave the USA both its economic influence and its military dominance.

The USA – Some interesting facts… The USA is approximately 9,826,630 square kilometres in area. It is approximately half the area of Russia and also smaller than Canada. It is slightly bigger than China or Brazil and over twice the size of the entire European Union. The UK is only 244,100 square kilometres and the whole country could fit into the state of Texas alone.

Map of the USA

The USA – Some interesting facts… With a population of approx. 313 million, the USA has the third largest population in the world (after China and India). The USA also has a large variety of water, mineral, agricultural and other land resources, which provide the basis for a highly productive economy, making the USA the world's wealthiest nation.

Task 2 – Lets see what you can remember With your shoulder partner, come up with 5 things that you have learned so far about the USA. You will have 2 minutes to do this. Write these answers down in your jotters.

How is the USA important to Scotland? People in the UK are heavily influenced by US culture. We are surrounded by US culture on TV shows, films and in newspapers and magazines. In the UK we copy a lot of the fashion and cultural ways of life in the USA. Like the USA, the UK is a capitalist country (we will learn more about what this means this soon). See if you recognise any of the following examples of US culture.

Capitalism in the USA Like the UK, the USA is a capitalist country. Capitalism is an ideology which describes the way in which a country organises its economy. In a capitalist country individuals are free to invest in any business they choose. If they are successful they will make profits and become wealthy, but if they make losses then their businesses will close.

Capitalism in the USA Competition and demand decide whether a business will be successful or not. Competition from other companies will force a firm to cut its prices and provide better services to attract customers. Businesses will only be successful if they provide what the public demands. Under Capitalism, people can set up their own companies. They can invest their money, talents, abilities and their hard work and if they are successful they will achieve the American Dream (You will learn more about the American Dream later).

Here are a few examples of successful Capitalist companies in the USA…

Task 3:Capitalism in the USA cont… The last few slides have shown 3 huge US multinational companies that we have here in the UK. On the next slide there is a table. Copy and complete this table in your jotter. You will see the names of various US companies which sell products in the UK. What you need to do is figure out what they sell. You should fill the table out on your own and then discuss your answers with your shoulder partner.

US based Multinational companies COMPANYPRODUCTCOMPANYPRODUCT MicrosoftLevi Strauss Fisher PriceBoeing Colgate- Palmolive Kodak Ben & Jerry’sHeinz XeroxKellogg's FordMotorola MACGap

Was I successful? I have Constructed a spider diagram showing examples of what I know about the USA I can Express my opinion on USA stereotypes and determine whether these stereotypes are accurate or not. I have examined what capitalism is and identify capitalist businesses and what services they provide.