Chicago News and Life in Africa

Today we will start by taking a look at a couple of major current events happening in Chicago.

Part 1: First, read this Reuters article about a visit to Chicago by the president of China, Hu Jintao. You can see a picture of Mr. Hu to the right.

Use the article to answer the questions below on loose leaf paper:

1. According to the article, why did Mr. Hu choose Chicago as the only American city outside of Washington, D.C. that he would visit during his current trip to the United States?
2. What are three connections Chicago has with China?

When you are finished, wait for further instructions.

Part 2: As most of you know, Chicago's longtime Mayor, Richard M. Daley, is retiring from office after 22 years -- he's been mayor since 1989. Four candidates are attempting to replace him: former congressman Rahm Emanuel, former senator Carol Mosely-Braun, former CPS head Gery Chico, and local politician Miguel del Valle. Chicagoans will be able to vote on the candidates on February 22, 2011. You can see a picture of the four below:

In order to learn a little more about the election, we will watch this video from WGN. Use the video to answer the questions below:

1. Who is interviewing the candidates in the video?
2. What questions did you see the students ask?
3. What answers did the candidates offer?
4. How did students feel about the answers they were given?

Part 3: Finally, we will learn a little bit about the people of the country you were assigned on Tuesday. Go to the the PSM LRC Page. Look for the CultureGrams link on the lower left hand side of the page. Click on the link. Use the information below to log in:

• Login: psms
• Password: lrcs

Once you've logged in, click on the box marked "World Edition." This will take you to the database's information about countries around the globe. Once there, click on Africa on the map, then find your country in the map of Africa. Click on your country. This will take you to a page FULL of information.

We will focus on Religion and Lifestyle today. You will learn about the ways in which people live every day in your assigned country. Use the information to answer the following questions in an e-mail to me (one per partner group). Name the e-mail "Lifestyle in _______." Fill in the blank with your country's name. Be sure to include both you and your partner's name in the e-mail. The e-mail is worth 20 points.

1. Where is this source written? Who writes it?
2. Why is important for us to know where the website is published, especially in this case?
3. What religious beliefs do people have in your country? Describe any religious practices.
4. Describe family life in your country.
5. How family life different from your life with your family in Chicago?
6. What type of housing do people typically have in your country?
7. What traditions does your country have related to dating and marriage?
8. How large do families typically get?
9. Describe the lifestyle of a person from your country based on the information included on the page.
10. Compare the diet of a person from your country with your diet.

If you finish with your tasks today, you may watch this video about Mr. Hu's visit. Remember: We have a quiz tomorrow covering the information from this week -- migration, African nations, landforms in Africa.