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Subject: History, Social Studies
Lesson Length: 45 - 60 mins
Topic: Panama Canal Debate
Brief Description: Students will practice their research and debate skills by creating a comic which explains their perspective on a historic event.
Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with the issues related to the U.S. taking ownership of the Panama Canal.
Hook:
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Read and discuss the sample comic.
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What were the benefits of building the Panama Canal?
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What were the costs?
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Why would building a canal be difficult?
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Why did Panama oppose the building of the canal?
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As students answer, list arguments for and against on the board.
Activity:
- After reading, discussing and critically thinking about this issue, students will create a six-panel comic presenting the issue of whether the United States should have taken over the Panama Canal zone and built the Panama Canal.
- The comic should reflect the student’s opinion as to whether or not the building of the canal was a good idea.
- Students should include specific details supporting their opinion.
Closure:
- Have students present their comics to the class and display them on a bulletin board or online.
Differentiation:
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Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
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Provide a printout of the sample comic for student reference.
- Explore more recent debates regarding the Panama Canal.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.
Suggested Content Packs:
Make a comic about the US Executive Branch
Make a comic about Presidents' Day
