May 29-June 11, 2014, Current Events Lesson Plan
Current Event: World Cup Begins in a Torn Brazil
The World Cup Finals, held every four years to determine the world’s soccer champion, are being played in Brazil this year. (Soccer is called football in many countries.) The tournament involves 32 countries whose teams will play 64 games in 12 cities over 32 days. The televised men’s final is the most popular single-sports event in the world. The final match is scheduled for July 13 in Rio de Janeiro. However, the 2014 World Cup, the most expensive ever staged, has been highly controversial. Many Brazilians oppose the tournament. Across Brazil, demonstrators have protested the enormous cost of hosting the event–$11 billion–which they claim would have been better spent on hospitals, public housing, and schools. In Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, some 3,000 families camped in a squatter settlement known as the “People’s Cup,” hoping to use the global event as a platform to pressure the government to provide better public services.
Objective:
Brazil is the largest country in South America in both area and population. It occupies almost half the continent and has about as many people as all other South American nations combined. About two-thirds of the Amazon rain forest lies in Brazil. Brasilia is the country’s capital, and Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are the two largest cities. Rich natural resources have helped make Brazil a growing economic power. Brazil ranks among the world’s leading countries in the production of a wide variety of agricultural items, including cattle, coffee, and sugar cane. However, in spite of Brazil’s productive economy, the great wealth of some Brazilians contrasts sharply with the great poverty of others. A small number of landowners, executives, and government leaders live in luxury. But most Brazilians are poor and live in crowded city slums. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore Brazil and other countries.
Words to know:
- Amazon rain forest
- Amazon River
- Brasília
- Brazil
- Rio de Janeiro
- Sao Paulo
- Soccer
- South America
- World Cup
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some famous soccer players. (They might say David Beckham, Mia Hamm, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Pele, Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane.)
2. Brazil is the largest country in South America. Ask your students to name other South American countries. (They might say Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela.)
3. Have your students debate the topic, “All children should be required to play a sport.”
4. Have your students debate the topic, “Sports are a waste of time and money.”
5. Ask your students what their favorite sport is and why.
6. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view the FIFA World Cup Men’s Championship Game Winners timeline. (Students may wish to also use the “History” section in World Book’s Brazil article to help them create a timeline of Brazilian history.)