Learning activity 4

Evidence: Consolidation activity

Stage 1: The person I admire the most

A. What to do?

Write a biography of the person you admire the most. This person can be, for
example, a public figure, a celebrity, a politician, a world leader or someone
close to you, a relative.

Note: The person you choose cannot be the same chosen for Evidence 3 of
this learning activity.

B. How to do it?

You need to carry out some research in order to collect the necessary
information for writing the biography. If the person chosen is a public figure,
you can surf the web in order to get the details you are going to include. On
the contrary, if the person chose is someone you know personally, you can set
up an interview in order to ask the person the questions you may have about
his / her life.

Here is an outline we suggest following for writing the biography. We have

chosen Charles Darwin (public figure), an influential scientist of the
nineteenth century, as example for the outline.

Suggested outline
1. Early life and education.
2. Voyage of the Beagle.
3. Darwin's evolutionary theory.
4. Overwork, illness, and marriage.
5. Natural selection.
6. Geology books, barnacles, evolutionary research.
7. Publication of the theory of natural selection.
8. Responses to publication.
9. Descent of man, sexual selection, and botany.
10. Death and funeral.
Stage 2: My admiration for…

A. What to do?

In this section, you will record a tape or video in which you orally present the
person you chose in Section 1. For this part of the evidence you need to
present the biography as well as explain and illustrate the reasons why you
admire this person.

I present to my character that I chose is the famous President Barack Obama:

Barack Obama, born as Barack Hussein Obama, was born in Honolulu (Hawaii) on August 4,
1961. From 2009 to 2017, he was the 44th president of the United States and the first
African-American.

Since 1992, she maintains a relationship with lawyer Michelle Obama, with whom she has
two daughters: Malia and Sasha. For a good part of public opinion, Michelle has been the
best First Lady of the United States.

CHILDHOOD

Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan economist and an American anthropologist, traveled an

unusual path to the White House.

The former president's parents divorced when he was two years old. Soon after, her
mother married another man and they moved to Indonesia in 1967, her new husband's
country.

In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu and was raised with the help of his maternal
In 1971, Obama returned to Honolulu and was raised with the help of his maternal
grandparents while his mother was in Indonesia finishing his fieldwork and his father in
Kenya. He remained in Hawaii until he finished his high school studies.

STUDIES

Barack Obama moved to Los Angeles to begin his university studies. With the help of
scholarships and student loans, he began studying at Occidental College for two years.

Later, he moved to New York to study Political Science with a specialization in International
Relations at Columbia University. He graduated in 1983.

After working four years in New York, he moved to Chicago. There he worked with a group
of churches to help rebuild devastated communities by closing local steel factories.

After this experience that reaffirmed his belief in the union and in the hard work of
citizenship, he entered Harvard Law School, the law school of Harvard University.

In 1990, during his training at Harvard, he was elected president of the Harvard Law
Review magazine becoming the first African-American president of the publication.
After graduating from Harvard in 1992 and obtaining the Juris Doctor degree with
honorable mention cum laude, he returned to Illinois, where he taught Constitutional Law
at the University of Chicago.

POLITICAL TRAJECTORY

After having worked in various companies and law firms, in 1996 he held his first public
position: senator of the thirteenth district of Illinois. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2002.

In January 2003, he was also appointed chairman of the Illinois Senate Health and Human
Services Committee.

Obama, in 2002, began thinking about campaigning for a chair in the United States Senate.
Finally, he was elected senator and took office on January 4, 2005.

He became the fifth African-American senator in American history and the third to be
elected in elections.

Two years after his election as senator, Obama announced his candidacy for the Presidency
of the United States.

Obama won the presidential candidacy for the Democratic Party to Hillary Clinton in June
2008. From there, Obama focused his entire campaign on joining forces to defeat the
candidate for the Republican Party: Senator John McCain.
Finally, on November 4, 2008, Obama won the general election with the famous "Yes we
can." 365 electoral votes against 173 of Republican McCain. This made him the first
African-American president of the United States.

PRESIDENCY

Barack Obama was inaugurated 44 president of the United States of America on January
20, 2009. He has been the candidate with the most votes in history. He was two
legislatures in power, after being re-elected president in 2012 against Republican candidate
Mitt Romney.

He was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. In the words of Thorbjoern Jagland, head of
the Nobel Prize committee, "Obama created a new climate in international politics."

Despite the economic crisis, Obama fulfilled his promise to carry out a reform in the United
States health system. In March 2010, it passed a new law that aimed to extend medical
coverage to all Americans.

However, in November of that same year, midterm elections were held. Republicans won
250 seats in the House of Representatives and regained a majority in the Senate. Obama
had to face two years in office, until reelection in 2012, in which he had to agree on the big
decisions.
 This result, many blamed him for that much of the US citizenship did not notice the results
of the recovery of the economy and made him lose popularity.

One of the issues that are most known at the international level of the internal policy of
the Barack Obama administration was the intention to close the Guantanamo prison.
Although the president wanted to close the prison, it was not possible during his eight
years in office.

In terms of foreign policy, the Obama presidency stands out for its conciliatory nature and
its rapprochement with the rest of the world leaders.

One of the greatest achievements of the Obama administration was to restore relations
with Cuba in December 2014, with the president's visit to the island.

As a candidate, he promised to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a promise he did not
finally fulfill. While it is true that he withdrew troops from both countries: of the
approximately 200,000 soldiers he inherited from President Bush, Obama left less than
5,000 in Iraq and less than 10,000 in Afghanistan.

Obama also had to deal with terrorism, his struggle being one of his highest priorities. In
this regard, in May 2011, the president announced the death of Osama bin Laden, leader
of Al Qaeda and one of the most wanted terrorists of all time, at the hands of the US
special forces.

The presidency of Barack Obama ended in January 2017 when Donald Trump became
president after defeating Hillary Clinton.

CONCLUSION:

Barack Obama became a world leader thanks to his effort and work, he managed to break
down barriers with a humanitarian policy, regardless of his color showed the world that
people of African descent are also trained to run a country and I admire him because in his
term as president He did great things for the United States, he was never involved in
scandals and always showed love, respect and support for his wife because as he said
behind a successful man there is always a great woman.

B. How to do it?
 Record an audio or a video in the device of your preference. Before start the
recording, you need to organize the information you are going to introduce.
Your presentation has to include the following aspects:

1. An introduction.
2. A description of the biography.
3. Arguments and illustrations supporting your admiration for this person.
4. A conclusion.
5. Sources (In the event you consulted any articles, the web, journals, etc.)

Note: During the presentation you need to include the appropriate

signpost language for oral presentations and also some of the
vocabulary related to responsibility and leadership.

Stage 3: Submitting my evidence

When you finish your work, send the files to your instructor through the platform
as follows:

1. Click the title of this evidence.

2. Click Examinar mi equipo and look for the files in your computer. Make sure
the files are attached.
3. Leave a comment for the instructor (optional).
4. Click Enviar.

Important: The platform will only allow you to submit your files once. Please,
make sure you upload the two (2) files when submitting your evidence.
Note: This evidence is an individual activity. Remember to check the learning
guide in order to know if you have done all the assigned activities, know how to
develop them and deliver them correctly.

Criterios de evaluación
 Expresa ideas sobre productividad y responsabilidad usando el
vocabulario requerido.

 Prepara presentaciones orales haciendo uso del vocabulario y las

diferentes estructuras gramaticales requeridas.

 Expresa ideas sobre liderazgo y responsabilidad usando el vocabulario

requerido.

 Combina diferentes tiempos verbales para expresar ideas, usando la

estructura y el vocabulario requerido.

 Usa expresiones idiomáticas teniendo en cuenta el vocabulario y contexto

requerido.

 Expresa reflexiones críticas sobre el pasado en el contexto requerido.