Economics 1 Look at the different standards of living in countries of the world. Very roughly, how much is the average weekly family income in: Russia ( pound;60), Britain (pound;300), America (pound;550, white; pound;380, Hispanic; pound;350, black)Third World country (pound;10 to pound;15 or less)?

What can you buy with an average wage in different countries? Why are some countries rich and others poor? (Natural resources? Organisation? Historical and cultural reasons?) Foreign languages 2 This Big Picture is ideal for written and oral work in foreign languages, especially for key stages 3 and 4 topics such as “everyday activities” (home life), “personal and social life” (family, leisure) and “the international world” (life in other countries). There is plenty to talk and write about, for example, learning or practising individual pieces of vocabulary,such as “chair”, “sofa”, “bicycle”, “car”; using expressions, such as “the table is next to the carpet”; writing about this family’s lifestyle.

Personal and social values 3 What would your possessions look like if spread out like this? What do you value most in your own home, and why? How important are material goods? If you could take four people and four things on a desert islandwith you, which would you choose, and why?

Ted Wragg is professor of education at Exeter University