As a child I remember trying to imagine how different my life would have been had my family moved across the world and started a new life in a country such as the United States or Canada or Australia. And certainly one or two of my peers at primary school relocated to both Australia and the US. It all seemed so glamorous and exciting back then. The following website http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/ would perhaps however have been very useful (had the internet existed) allowing us all to delve a little more deeply into the reality of life in a different country.
The web designers comment:
“The lottery of birth is responsible for much of who we are. If you were not born in the country you were, what would you be like? Would you be the same person?”
The concept is certainly an intriguing one and may very well capture the imagination of students. So, given the fact that William and Kate have just returned from a successful tour of Canada, I typed in Canada to find out what my life would have been like had I been born and raised in Canada. This is what I found out-I would:
- use 2.8 times more electricity
- consume 2.4 times more oil
- live 2.13 years longer
- make 9.09% more money
- work 5.31% more hours each year
- have 4.39% more chance of dying in infancy
The website provides further details about the specific country which you have chosen to investigate along with a suggested reading list. It’s certainly worth a look!
Hi Susan, I wonder what the stats would bring up if you had been born in Australia. I am from Australia and found your post rather intriguing. It would be even more fascinating to key in India or Africa to find those stats!
Hi Anne, really interesting in terms of Australia I would use 82% more electricity,consume 55% more oil, live 2.56 more years, experience 10% less of a class divide, have 29% more chance of being employed and make 10% more money. Sounds like a great place to be born! India makes for really depressing reading! I still think this will be a great site for initiating discussions with students.
Great for discussions indeed – not least on what those percentages and “averages” actually mean. It’s an interesting starting point when teaching anything statistical to try to deconstruct such things; they may make an appearance in my lessons next year.