The most recent complete data from 2011 allows students to investigate the numbers of refugees, source countries and destination countries of refugees, and some destinations of the majority of asylum seekers.
Begin with a class discussion on the difference between refugees and asylum seekers. There may be students in your class who would be willing to share their (or their family's) stories.
Ask students to predict answers to the questions before they use the data in the Refugees worldwide: Student worksheet.
How many refugees are there in the world?
Students will need to be able to read pie graphs and estimate proportions.
Where do refugees come from? Where do refugees go?
The data is presented on world maps and in bar graphs.
What are the main destination countries for new asylum seekers?
This data is presented in a comparative column graph.
You might ask students to work in three groups to explore a single question each. Their findings can then be presented to the class.
Encourage students to find additional information. The Refugees worldwide: Student worksheet used data from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHCR 2011 report and UNHCR 2012 report.
You can download the Refugees worldwide: Teacher notes.
Australian Curriculum links
Year 6
Interpret secondary data presented in digital media and elsewhere (ACMSP148)
Year 7
Identify and investigate issues involving continuous or large count data collected from primary and secondary sources (ACMSP169)
