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World HIV and AIDS map

Goal: To understand the global distribution of HIV and AIDS and compare it to the distribution of wealth and population. *

Activity length: 30-45 minutes

Materials: Large World Maps (enough for each person, or for each small group), 75 Chips (25 each of three colors) for each map

  • Use skittles instead of chips for a tastier activity (but don't eat them until the activity is over!)

Step 1: Pre-Quiz

  1. Have each person or team complete the quiz.
  2. Don’t provide the correct answers yet.
  3. Briefly ask each person or group to share their answers with the larger group by listing off the questions.

Quiz Questions

  1. Which continent contains the least amount of people living with HIV and AIDS?
    Answer: Oceania
  2. True or False: More than 20 million people in Africa have HIV and AIDS.
    Answer: True
  3. The amount of people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa is:
    1. 25% of the global population living with AIDS/HIV
    2. 40-50% of the global population living with AIDS/HIV
    3. Greater than 50% of the global population living with AIDS/HIV
    Answer: c. The actual amount is 69.3%
  4. True of false: Latin America has less people with HIV and AIDS than North America.
    Answer: False
  5. How many more people have AIDS/HIV in Asia than in North America:
    1. Twice as many people.
    2. Five times as many people.
    3. They have the same amount of people living with HIV and AIDS.
    Answer: b. Five times as many people have HIV and AIDS in Asia than in North America.
  6. Estimate how many people in North America have HIV and AIDS.
    Answer: 1.2 million
  7. How many people in the world have HIV and AIDS?
    Answer: 32.9 million

Step 2: World HIV and AIDS Map

  1. Give each person or small group a world map and 25 chips of the same color.
  2. Tell them that the chips represent the world’s population.
  3. Ask each person or group to place the chips by continent where they think people live.
  4. Discuss the different estimates and then tell them the accurate figures.
  5. Have them rearrange their chips to reflect the facts.
  6. Give each person or group another 25 chips of the other color.
  7. Tell them that these chips represent all the wealth produced in world (monetary worth of all the goods and services produced every year, from health care to automobiles).
  8. Tell them to put the chips on the continents to indicate their estimate of who gets this wealth. (Each chip represents 1/25 of the world’s total amount of goods and services produced.)
  9. Discuss the different estimates and then tell them the accurate figures.
  10. Give each person or group another 25 chips of the third color.
  11. Tell them that these chips represent the amount of people in the world with HIV and AIDS.
  12. Tell them to put the chips on the continents to indicate their estimate of how many people live with HIV and AIDS on each continent. (Each chip represents 1/25 of the total amount of people in the world living with HIV and AIDS).
  13. Discuss the different estimates and then tell them the accurate figures.
ContinentPopulation 2008 (in millions)% of World Population# of chips out of 25Wealth (GDP in Billions of Dollars)% of World GDP# of Chips out of 25Population Living with HIV and AIDS (in millions)% of Global Population Living with HIV and AIDS# of chips out of 25
Africa96714.442,092 3.8122.869.317
Asia4,05260.41521,504 38.5106.018.25
Oceania350.50737.2 1.3074,0000.220
Europe73611314,244 25.761.23.651
North America3385.1112,7762361.23.651
Latin America5778.624,299 7.721.75.171
World Total6,7051002555,500 1002532.910025


Sources:
World population data: Population Reference Bureau, 2008 World Population Data Sheet, www.prb.org
World GDP data: Geo HIV
World AIDS/HIV data: UNAIDS, 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic


Step 3: Review the answers to the quiz

 

Step 4: Finish the activity with the debriefing questions below:

  • What is the relationship between global population, wealth, and HIV and AIDS?
  • Within the global community, is HIV and AIDS distributed fairly?
  • How do you think HIV and AIDS came to be so prevalent in certain continents?
  • What does the inequality of HIV and AIDS in societies mean in terms of the kinds of lives people lead?
  • How might the amount of people with HIV and AIDS in a society affect the amount of wealth in that society, and vice versa?
  • How might continents with densely populated areas be affected by HIV and AIDS and why?
  • What can be done about the unequal way in which HIV and AIDS occurs around the globe?
  • Are continents with less people living with HIV and AIDS obligated to help the continents with more people living with HIV and AIDS?

*Adapted from Rethinking Schools Online, “Poverty and World Wealth”

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