1.2 A: Welcome to earth Duration: 45-60 minutes Instructions: Level of complexity: 2 1. Briefly present the following scenario to the group: Knowledge/Subjects: Art, Civics, Governance, Politics, Social Studies An ambassador from Mars is coming to visit today with his/her delegation and wants to learn about nationality. The ambassador of Earth and his/her delegation have agreed to meet with him/her and to teach him/her about what nationality means. The delegation from Earth would also like to learn about how things work on Mars as they recently learned that Mars does not have a system of countries, borders and nationality like we do here on Earth! 2. Divide the group into two subgroups (or four subgroups if the group is large). One subgroup is going to be a delegation from Earth and the other the delegation from Mars. Skills: Comparative Analysis, Creativity, Critical thinking, Decision Making, Deducting Reasoning, Effective communication, Group collaboration, Spatial Reasoning Values/Attitudes: Sense of identity, Value diversity Objectives: • For participants to explore how borders and belonging are organised on Earth, identify the drawbacks of our system and re-imagine the way it is shaped. • For participants to understand the meaning of belonging and the role borders play in our interaction with the world around us. 3. Have one subgroup prepare a presentation on Earth to the members of the Mars delegation. They can give Materials: a brief background of the planet and describe how it is Paper and pen/pencil. organised in terms of the division of land using borders Art supplies (if available) and the idea of having different countries, governments and nationalities. The Mars team will then address the same issues and how they are dealt with on their planet. Participants can be as creative as they want, they can make up terms, ways of organising, or whatever else they can think of. Make sure to point out to the Earth delegation that the delegation from Mars is likely to be unfamiliar with Earth vocabulary so they will need to think of a way to explain the system to them. 4. Once each planet has given their presentation (around 5 minutes), have the participants discuss what they liked and what they think could be improved about each planet’s way of structuring itself. How does lack of borders or nationality impact life on Mars? What would happen if a Martian is not happy with their current place of residency and wanted to move somewhere else? Does the way Mars is organised make the participants feel differently about how things are organised on Earth? How? Why? What would be different if there was no borders, no separate countries and no nationality on Earth? Would it redefine our sense of belonging? Are there elements from each planet that could be drawn out and used to think about borders, belonging and citizenship on the other planet? Further the Activity The Earth is considering making a settlement on another planet and is seeking for advice on the ideal system of borders, belonging and citizenship to apply on its settlement. In the form of a play, have the Earth and Mars delegations act out this scenario (possibly for other classes, parents etc.) by presenting their own systems and coming up with the ideal system of borders, belonging and citizenship for Earth to apply on its new settlement. 19