Gapminder Inspires Grades 8 and 9
UN day this year at SIS, was marked with presentations by guest speakers. Grade 8 and 9 attended a very interesting assembly by Anna Rönnlund about Gapminder. At first, most of us didn’t know what Gapminder is, but the presentation caught our attention immediately. Anna Rönnlund is the vice president of Gapminder. Gapminder was founded by her father, her husband and herself on February 25, 2005. Gapminder is an independent Swedish foundation which has no religious, political or economic affiliation. Its goal is to fight the shocking misconceptions people have about global development. Also, this Swedish foundation provides free teaching resources which are then used to promote a fact-based worldview which is understandable by everyone. Anna showed us how Gapminder works.
Gapminder’s team created a survey. Asking people, aged 18 or older, in different countries, 12 question about world development. The results were shocking. Fifteen percent of the people, from 14 countries, had no correct answers. However one person got all 12 questions right. This was a shocking to us as students because we realised that people around the world do indeed have many misconceptions about global development.
Additionally, Anna also talked about Dollar Street. Dollar Street was created by Anna after she had spent 15 years making global public data easier to use and understand. She and her team presented data in moving charts, making global patterns and trends easier for people to see. However, it did not make everyday life at different income levels comprehensible to most people. She came up with the idea of Dollar Street. Dollar Street can be found on Gapminder’s website. Using this source, the public can get a picture of everyday life of different people based on different incomes.
After the presentation ,Anna was greeted by enthusiastic applause and received flowers thanking her for the time she took out of her busy schedule to come to SIS and talk about something which is very useful but at the same time interesting.
If you are interested in the project go to Dollar Street and find out more.
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