U.N. Security Council
Classroom Simulation on Syria
A zero-prep, interactive activity; made by teachers, for teachers; ready for class today!
Classroom Simulation on Syria
A zero-prep, interactive activity; made by teachers, for teachers; ready for class today!

Background and Overview:
This 1-2 period classroom simulation allows your students to impersonate the United Nations Security Council's deliberations on Syria, providing them an understanding of the complex nature of the situation from the perspective of 15 member nations. Easy-to-use with all materials ready-to-be distributed, it creates a fantastic simulation to teach about the issues related to the crisis. Your role as teacher will be to impersonate the President of the Security Council, supervising the debate of the resolutions.
Please note that due to the level of nuance necessary for this activity to succeed, it is recommended for higher-level high school classrooms. Likewise, it is important to spend 1-2 days learning about the origins of the crisis, as well as the dynamics of its historic refugee flows beforehand.
This 1-2 period classroom simulation allows your students to impersonate the United Nations Security Council's deliberations on Syria, providing them an understanding of the complex nature of the situation from the perspective of 15 member nations. Easy-to-use with all materials ready-to-be distributed, it creates a fantastic simulation to teach about the issues related to the crisis. Your role as teacher will be to impersonate the President of the Security Council, supervising the debate of the resolutions.
Please note that due to the level of nuance necessary for this activity to succeed, it is recommended for higher-level high school classrooms. Likewise, it is important to spend 1-2 days learning about the origins of the crisis, as well as the dynamics of its historic refugee flows beforehand.

How this lesson works:
-Before class starts, be sure to have the PowerPoint up that provides some background on the Security Council and the two resolutions to be debated.
-Print up the 15 Country Position Student Guides and their accompanying desk placards to make things look official.
-After, play a CNN video that summarizes the debate on poison gas, then assign a writing assignment from several options on our Advanced Learner page.
-Before class starts, be sure to have the PowerPoint up that provides some background on the Security Council and the two resolutions to be debated.
-Print up the 15 Country Position Student Guides and their accompanying desk placards to make things look official.
-After, play a CNN video that summarizes the debate on poison gas, then assign a writing assignment from several options on our Advanced Learner page.