Lesson 1: Creating a Country

Lesson Aims:
● Students to create features of their own ‘class country’.
● To engage and create a frame of reference for the unit that students identify with.
● To recognise features that define a country, make people identify with their country,
and identify the features that make a country a good place to live.

Resources:
L1 Country Creation Tasks worksheets, examples of national anthems, A4 plain paper and
colour pens.

Preparation:
Prepare the beginning of your display board with a sign: ‘Our Country’.

Starter:
This activity will help students think about what constitutes a nice place to live, looking at
both physical and sociological factors. It will also give ideas for the next part of the lesson.

Students discuss in pairs the question below and feedback to each other:
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?

Then ask students to think of and write down:

What makes this an ideal place to live?
What are two things that make the UK/ your city - a good place to live?

Feedback, noting on board themes, e.g: weather, food, people, multicultural society etc.

Teacher explains that these are features of a country and what distinguishes places from
each other. We are going to make our own ideal country.

Activity 1 - Creating a Country

Explain to students that they have been specially tasked to create a new country.
1.

Divide students into groups, and task each group with creating one of the features of
2. the country: anthem, religions, food, economy, climate, land, name.

Students should brainstorm their ideas, then produce a small A4 poster to present
3. their ideas to the class that you should later display. (A blank worksheet is included
in the resources book, which you can use to add any one of the features that may
have come up in your previous class discussion.)

12 Who’s Running the Country?

Lesson 1: Creating a Country

Tips:
This activity is differentiated. The economy and religion tasks are more challenging, the
‘anthem’ task could go to musically inclined students (I always ask which students want to
make up a song), and the shape and name tasks are well suited to more visual learners.

Students should read their group instructions together and begin planning ideas. I did this
activity in one lesson, under limited time.

Plenary:
Students feedback their designs briefly, sticking their posters up on the display. Leave the
anthem until last as students will join in and get very excited about this.

Extension:
Class or group discussion.
What features are important in making a country a good place to live in?
Whose responsibility is it to ensure a country has these features and is a good place to live?

Tips:
Possible answers should discuss - the citizens, the government, what if the government is
not doing enough? What about the police?

Who’s Running the Country? 13

 Group 1
TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility
of creating this country’s name and flag. The flag must be drawn on the
paper provided and the name written underneath. You will present it to the
class in a presentation of one minute maximum.

Here are some examples of the names of actual countries:

Venezuela Angola Central African Republic

Nicaragua Chad The United Arab Emirates
Costa Rica Djibouti The United States of America
Kazakhstan Macedonia The People’s Republic of China
Israel The Democratic Republic of Congo

Here are some examples of flags from actual countries:

UK (Includes a union of English, Scottish, Irish flags)

Ghana (Includes African colours and a black star

– symbolising African freedom)

USA (50 stars symbolising 50 states in USA)

Israel (Star of David – Jewish religious symbol)

Turkey (Displays the star and crescent symbols)

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 Group 2

TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility of
creating this country’s shape and capital city. The country must be
drawn on the paper provided and the capital city marked clearly on the map.
You will present it to the class in a presentation of one minute maximum.

What continent is this country on?

What will this new country look like?

Is it by the sea or inland?

Here are some examples of actual countries

Chad
(landlocked) Chile (by the sea)

UK (Island)

What will this new country’s capital city be called?

Here are some examples of actual capital cities:

London Seoul
Oslo Panama City
Tripoli Auckland
Riyadh Tirana
Libreville Managua

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 Group 3

TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility of
deciding the nature of this country’s economy. There are four questions
for you to answer. You need to present your decisions in a poster. You will
present it to the class in a presentation of one minute maximum.

1. What goods does this new country mostly produce? Pick one or two main
items.

Goods it might produce include:

Bananas Cotton
Corn Fish
Olives Computers
Wheat Oil

2. Is this new country a rich or a poor country? ‘GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
per capita’ means broadly how much money there is per person in the country.
Your answer should be in GDP per capita.

Examples of the GDP per capita of actual countries are:

Poor Middle
Tanzania: $600 Iran: $7,700
Yemen: $800 Colombia: $6,600
Tajikstan: $1,100 Poland: $12,000

3. What kind of jobs are there in this country? (Jobs working in farming on the
land, or jobs in offices e.g… )

4. What is the currency of this new country?

Examples of actual currencies are:

The Dollar The Rupee
The Yen The Franc
The Peso The Taka
The Pound The Yuan

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 Group 4

TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility of
creating this country’s religious and ethnic groups. You must answer the
questions below and produce a poster to present your creations.

You will present it to the class in a presentation of one minute maximum.

1. Do the people in this new country all have the same religion, or do they have
different religions? What are these religions?

You can use actual religions, or invent names of new religions.

If the people have different religions, do they get along? Or do they fight with
each other?

2. Are the people in this new country all from the same ethnic group, or are
there different ethnic groups in this country? What are these groups?

You must invent the names of the groups.

If there are different ethnic groups, do they get along? Or do they fight with
each other?

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 Group 5 Create a National Anthem!

TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility of
creating this country’s National Anthem.

You will need to write out the lyrics and sing the anthem to the class.

You can use a tune you know and make up the words

OR

You can make up the tune and words.

Find out what the name of the country is from the other group.

Make sure you are thinking about what will be important to the people, what
you want them to think about when they are singing their national anthem, how
singing it will make them feel.

You could begin by brainstorming ideas for things that are important that the
song should mention.

Have a look at the words of other national anthems to help inspire you.

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 Group

TASK

We are creating a new country. You have been given the responsibility of
creating this country’s ______________.

You must produce a poster to display your creations. You will present it to
the class in a presentation of one minute maximum.

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

British National Anthem

God Save The Queen

G
od save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.

O Lord our God arise,

Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

T hy choicest gifts in store

On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen.

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

The Australian National Anthem

Advance Australia Fair

A ustralians all let us rejoice,

For we are young and free;
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea.
Our land abounds in Nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In hist’ry’s page, let ev’ry stage
Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
“Advance Australia Fair.”

B eneath our radiant Southern Cross

We’ll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
“Advance Australia Fair.”

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks

 The Ghanaian National Anthem

G od bless our homeland Ghana,

And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right.
Fill our hearts with true humility
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors’ rule
With all our will and might evermore.

H ail to thy name, O Ghana

To thee we make our solemn vow;
Steadfast to build together
A nation strong in Unity;
With our gifts of mind and strength of arm,
Whether night or day, in the midst of storm,
In every need whate’er the call may be,
To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore.

R aise high the flag of Ghana,

And one with Africa advance;
Black star of hope and honour,
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana free flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland,
And under God march on forevermore.

Lesson 1 - Country Creation Tasks