Independent Study for Students

LESSON ONE
Oil Crisis:
Get Into the Game
A global oil crisis has begun. Oil usage worldwide has increased to where the oil supply can only meet 95 percent of the demand. Begin the inquiry into the effects of less oil in our lives.

LESSON TWO:
How Bad Can It Get?
Fuel prices rise in anticipation of when actual supplies start to run short. It's clear that there is no quick fix to the shortage. Tensions start to rise.

LESSON THREE:
Life Is Starting to Change
Widespread changes are starting. Goods and services that depended on cheap oil are failing.

LESSON FOUR:
Elasticity and Collapse
This lesson investigates the factors that define elasticity in relation to oil—factors such as lifestyle, geography, setting and community.

LESSON FIVE:
Oil Dependency Among Nations
The oil crisis has caused some nations to reconsider their foreign policy objectives—and to aggressively seek to acquire oil.

LESSON SIX:
Food Without Oil
The impact of oil on our food supply is one of the most serious aspects of the oil crisis. Shortages are forcing many people to look for locally grown food.

LESSON SEVEN:
Breakdown
Governments have been hit as hard as anyone by the crisis, leading to the existence of red and green zones in cities and refugee camps in rural areas.

LESSON EIGHT:
Preparation and Community
With problems piling up and the government unable to help, many communities across the nation are turning inward for solutions.

LESSON NINE:
Lessons Learned
Now that the crisis has stabilized, how do we go forward? How do we balance our desire for energy's benefits with the risks and costs of procuring it?

LESSON TEN:
Your World Without Oil
Help out the World Without Oil team. Script and deliver your own citizen report that communicates what is happening to you in the crisis.

STUDENTS: LESSON TEN

Your World Without Oil

Introduction

Communication is a vital skill for life in general, but it is even more critical in a crisis. Inside the World Without Oil game, people are using text, voice, images and video to communicate the realities of the oil crisis, to pool information about complex problems and collaborate on solutions. Outside the game, these new media communications are a meaningful (and engaging) way for people to express their ideas and insights about a possible future and the consequences of choices we make in the present.

Part 1: Set the Stage

Listen to Anna_Matter's Week 21 podcast.

Part 2: Take Action

1. What are some of the choices and techniques used by Anna? Notice for example how she interweaves her own stories with those of the WWO players and events she is reporting on. Are you able to visualize the building she lives in and the other people who live there?

2. Quickly script a short broadcast narrative like Anna's that includes a summary mention of at least 5 WWO stories that you remember from prior lessons. (The videos by Kalwithoutoil would be examples.) The summary mention should communicate in a sentence or two what happens (and what you learned) in each story.

3. Make sure to include personal story, as Anna's did, that communicates your own perspective on your life within a World Without Oil.

4. The narrative should not be more than 3 minutes long.

Part 3: Lesson Activity

1. Effectiveness of the narratives will be rated based upon the level at which you achieve these goals:

Communicate the essence of the 5 WWO stories.
Communicate the essence of your life within the oil crisis.
Convey what the oil crisis is like.
Make the oil crisis seem real.

Part 4: Reflection

Reflect on the elements that go into a citizen report and the role of each element in achieving the report's goals. Does a citizen report differ from a newscaster's? What makes a citizen report more believable and trustworthy? What makes it more memorable and communicative?

Part 5: Take It Further

Draft and record longer podcasts, or even script and shoot videos that are entirely "inside" the alternate reality of World Without OIl.

Additional Resources

World Without Oil Classroom Home >>

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