Reproducible 1: Poster Key
Objectives: Students will appreciate the images of Indonesia on the poster.
Using the Reproducible: Challenge students to identify all the poster images.
Dig Deeper: Have students report on one or more of the poster images.
Reproducible 2: Sizing Up Indonesia
Objectives: Students will compare a map of Indonesia with one of the continental United States. They will gain a sense of Indonesia's physical size relative to the United States and other countries.
Using the Reproducible: How does Indonesia's size compare to that of the U.S.? (From east to west they are roughly equal. The U.S. has a much greater landmass). Refer students to an atlas, where they can compare Indonesia with other island nations such as Japan and the U.K.
Dig Deeper: Students research how the fact Indonesia is an archipelago has affected its settlement.
Reproducible 3: Marco Polo Tells About Indonesia
About Eyewitness Accounts: Reproducibles 3 and 4 contain eyewitness reports. Introduce these by asking students to write brief description of an event they have all witnessed, such as a recent assembly or sports event. Compare the descriptions, and point out the places where writers contradict each other. Discuss the reliability of eyewitness historical accounts, and have students suggest ways to verify the accuracy of such accounts.
Objectives: Students will interpret firsthand descriptions, and understand how information about different parts of the world is conveyed.
Background: Marco Polo, the 13th century European explorer, visited Indonesia on his way home to Venice after 20 years in China. This reproducible contains two of his observations of the Indonesian Islands.
Get Ready: Have students find out about Marco Polo's family background and the reasons for his trip to China. Find a map of his travels and trace them on a recent world map. Investigate other early explorers, such as Columbus, who went in search of the Spice Islands (Indonesia).
Discussion Questions: Why did people in the past set out in unseaworthy boats, on journeys to uncharted territories fraught with real and imagined terrors, with few supplies and no modern instruments to guide them? What did they hope to find? Why are explorers today mapping the deep seas, outer space, and unexplored territories? How do people today react to reports of their findings?
Using the Reproducible: Students should deduce that in these quotations Marco Polo was describing a rhinoceros and a coconut. Discuss why people at home refused to believe Marco Polo's stories at first. Today, how can you find out about a faraway country if it's not possible to visit there yourself?
Dig Deeper: Find out about other explorers who reported on Indonesia.
Reproducible 4: The Day the Earth Exploded - Krakatau
Objectives: Students will interpret firsthand accounts describing one of the most dramatic natural events in modern history. They should understand that the islands of Indonesia were created and are sustained by volcanic action.
Background: Point out to students that the volcanoes of Indonesia are part of the Ring of Fire, a belt of volcanic activity that rings the Pacific Ocean. Unlike volcanoes in other parts of the world that produce slow-moving streams of lava when they erupt, the cone-shaped Indonesian volcanoes send up huge explosions of rock and ash. They are part of an endless cycle -- the volcanoes kill and destroy when they erupt, but the land is richer afterward and can sustain more life.
Using the Reproducible: Read the eyewitness accounts and discuss the facts about Krakatau. Ask: do the eyewitness accounts support each other? How do the eyewitness accounts differ from a photograph or seismograph of the event?
Dig Deeper: Compare the Krakatau eruption with other major volcanic eruptions such as Mt. Vesuvius and Mt. St. Helena.
Reproducible 5 and 6: Indonesia and the U.S.:
Crucial Connections; Indonesia in the Global Marketplace
Objectives: Students will gain an understanding of historic economic ties between Indonesia and the U.S. and of Indonesia's current economic relationships. They will interpret graphic representations of economic information.
Background: Encourage your students to find out more about Indonesia's natural resources; the distribution of those resources over the islands; and what impact their development is having on Indonesians.
Point out to students that some people fear the establishment of open trade between the U.S. and Asia, where labor is so much cheaper than it is here. But a recent Business Week editorial said: "Already some 3 million Americans are employed as a result of U.S. exports to the countries of Asia and the Pacific Rim. More that one-sixth of all jobs in the U.S. from 1989 to 1993 are because of trade with this region."
Using the Reproducible 5: Make sure students understand that the invention of the internal combustion engine, Ford's mass production methods, and the growth of a mobile American middle class are among the reasons Indonesia became an important trading partner with the U.S. Go over the answers to the questions posed on the reproducible.
Dig Deeper: To report on the diversity of products manufactured in Indonesia which are in daily use in the U.S., challenge students to look at household and personal items (and inside their sneakers) for a "Made in Indonesia" label. Point out that Indonesia is one of the world's largest suppliers of athletic shoes. It exported 1.5 billion dollars worth of footwear in 1993. More than 50 million Americans will buy a new pair of sneakers this year alone, spending over five billion dollars.
Ask: which crucial raw material used in manufacturing sneakers is found in Indonesia?
Using the Reproducible 6: Students should understand that a steep decline in oil prices in the early 1980's meant that Indonesia, as a major oil-producing country, took steps to diversify exports. Indonesia opened doors to foreign investors, eliminated trade barriers, and improved customs procedures. In recent years, Indonesia has diversified its exports to many countries, including the U.S. Help students figure out the answer to questions on graphs. Discuss how a country's rapid industrialization can affect its natural resources. Ask: How can Indonesia both protect its natural resources and industrialize?
Dig Deeper: Have students research which U.S. companies have significant investments in Indonesia and how their presence is affecting Indonesians.
Reproducible 7: Rice -- The Amazing Grain
Objectives: Students will understand the importance of rice to Indonesia and the implications of the country being self-sufficient in rice production.
Background: In the 13th century, islanders grew enough rice to feed their families. If any was left over, they traded it fore other goods. Later, Dutch conquerors forced farmers to grow crops that earned the government more money, leaving little time to tend other plots. Rice production slowed to a near standstill, creating terrible famines. In the 1970's, Indonesia began innovative campaign to increase rice production. The government controlled prices, distributed high-yield seed, and invested in new irrigation techniques. By 1985, Indonesia was self-sufficient in rice production.
Using the Reproducible: Point out the rice terraces in the center of the poster. Rice terraces, some 1,000 years old, are like shallow steps of green and yellow carved in to the black earth of volcanic. The complex systems of aqueducts and sluices that funnel water down from one step-paddy to the next are examples of brilliant survival engineering, environmental protection against erosion, and the management of equal water distribution.
Dig Deeper: Challenge teams of students to build model of rice terraces in the classroom, devising different means to ensure each paddy is always filled with water.
Reproducible 8: The Art of Indonesia -- Batik
Objectives: Students will undertake a hands-on activity based on the traditional art of batik.
Using the Reproducible: Locate examples of batik samples in textile books or magazines. Examine them with your students, and try to determine which patterns are being used (the reproducible shows some popular motifs).
Work with your school's art department to do the batik activity. You may also want to check out a library book on the subject, or call Dover Books at (516)294-7000 to order Batik, Tie Dyeing, Stenciling, Silk Screen, Block Printing.
Dig Deeper: Find out about other art forms found in Indonesia, such as Gamelan percussion orchestras, Wayang ("shadow puppet") theater, ikat weaving, pantun poetry, and Balinese dances.
