Here is a list of ideas for projects, mostly at the secondary level, in math, science, social studies, World Languages, English, the arts, CTE, and even P.E.  Please feel free to add to the list my commenting below.

Miscellaneous Project Ideas for Global Education in Various Subjects

English/Language Arts
•  Students write short stories, poems, or screenplays for videos they produce, that tell something about current American society and culture, for an audience of students in another country
•  Students read nonfiction accounts and fiction from various countries to compare how young people in different places face similar challenges, then present their analysis to an audience

World History
•  The United Nations, World Court, or other international institutions could be the setting for project scenarios in which students conduct investigations into past influences on current issues, then recommend policies or hold mock meetings to negotiate agreements/actions
•  Students can take the role of people in the past who faced a problem, re-creating the “solution” that was reached (e.g., the Treaty of Versailles after WWI; the Nuremburg Trials after WWII; dealing with colonialism and post-colonial issues in the developing world)

U.S. History
•  Various foreign policy case studies from the past – or current issues – could become projects whose goal is to evaluate U.S. policies and/or recommend solutions to problems, culminating with debates, panel discussions, role-play events, simulations, or presentations

Civics/Government
•  Various nation-building case studies could be projects that study issues and concepts about comparative forms of government and how to sustain democracy

Economics
•  Consultants to a large corporation recommend where in the world it should manufacture a product
•  Trade representatives from two or more nations negotiate an agreement
•  Students evaluate the pros and cons of NAFTA and other international trade agreements and stage a debate among various stakeholders

Science
•  Various international issues (e.g., climate change; habitat loss/endangered species; cross-border air pollution; use of genetically engineered crops in the developing world) could be the focus of projects in which students take the role of scientists presenting findings and making recommendations, or policymakers evaluating data from scientists
•  Students analyze the possibility of natural disasters (earthquake, flood, volcanic activity, etc.) striking various places across the world, evaluating their potential severity and effects
•  Students learn how scientists around the world collaborate and take part in (or re-create) an actual international effort

Math
•  Various world travel-planning projects could involve the use of algebra
•  Students take the role of a financial advisor whose client is moving to a city in another country and needs advice on the cost of living and other financial considerations.
•  Students take the role of an official in the government of another country preparing a statistical report on a topic such as education, demographic trends, economic data, etc. The end product can be a presentation with graphs and written descriptions of significant findings.
•  Students take the role of a statistician researching population trends for a country, region, or the world. The level of sophistication of the project will depend upon the mathematical level of the students. The end product can be a presentation, written report with appropriate graphs, or webpage of the findings.

World Languages
•  Plan a strategy and create materials for a U.S. company that wants to draw more customers from a particular culture/nation/language group to its tours of local attractions, history and culture
•  Write and produce a video (or stage a live version) of a newscast or a drama (e.g., a telenovena) from another country
•  Create podcasts in another language that young people visiting your community (or the nearest appropriate place) as tourists might like to listen to

Arts
•  Investigate the Driving Question, “How are artists influenced by art from other places?” and create a presentation and/or an original work that shows an influence from another culture.
•  Investigate the Driving Question, “Who owns art?” and recommend whether a museum should keep art from a country that wants it back

Career/Tech Ed
•  Students in the role of travel agents plan a trip for a client with a particular interest (e.g., surfing around the world; tasting exotic food; visiting World Heritage sites; interest in natural features, etc.)
•  Students in the role of customer service consultants help a business create a training program for its employees who need to interact with people from various nations and cultures
•  Students in the role of business consultants recommend ways for a resort operator or tourism company to develop policies and practices for “sustainable tourism” in various parts of the world
•  Students create content for a website that helps people in other countries understand something about the students, their lives & culture, etc.

Physical Education
•  Students plan a “World Games Day” for the school featuring unusual games from around the world

I’ll Play!

These are all good ideas, but one crucial theme seems missing, and that is having students do world-wide case study work to propose/initiate/manage responses to the impact of globalization in their own communities.  This also helps to address Alfred’s question about internationalizing PBL, as there is no reason that case study work needs to be limited to on-line research for studies from around the world.

Let’s take an issue EVERYONE has to deal with:  trash. 

Your local landfill is, well, full, and your county/city wants to build a new one. 

Wait a second!  Do you have to?

What are the markets for trash in the United States, and around the world?

Did you ever wonder what folks in other countries do with their trash (Iraq, we know, has big problems, but Lebanon has some REALLY cool solutions).

While we’re at it, what can will our decisions effect the “Garbage Patch” in the Pacific?  Whose problem IS that, anyway?

Looking at how other communities deal with their trash, researching their research and even interviewing kids in other countries using sites like epals or Taking IT Global to learn about how they dispose of their garbage, now that’s Global PBL!

I don’t think there’s a local issue you couldn’t do this with.  What do you think?

I participated in an international PBL between Michigan and Nepal (they speak English at school).  We took water samples and compared levels of pollution.  Then we devised ways of cleaning local water supplies and shared ideas.

Thanks, Oscod!  What did your students learn from students in Nepal that they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to learn?

Students in Nepal had different sources of water because much of theirs is rushing from the Himalayas.  We also learned that many of the Nepalese pollutants (like dye from carpet factories) wasn’t present in Michigan rivers due to government regulation.  We also learned about student activism.  My final project was an e-book picture book about water pollution in Nepal (What Can You Do With a River?- it’ll come up on a search) and student activism.

Do you think that I could get some help with developing PBL strategies for a masters in emergency management program? I’m trying to create some new teaching methods and I need your help. Hope you can offer me some help. Thank you in advance. Looking forward to hearing from you back.

PBL is a very good strategy for easy learning and my opinion is that it can be used in any environment as long as you adapt the strategy to your needs. It’s possible Dana and you can do it all by yourself. Good luck!!

The project ideas you presented are very good and I am sure the students would love them. Now it is much easier to organize a Global PBL than 10 years ago, finding ideas and applying them locally is one of the main reasons PBL has so much success. I am making online training and I had to work with people from different states, some of them had very ingenious ideas that saved us a lot of time and efforts in completing the project.