This lesson follows the idea: Teaching about current-day sweatshops to make the topic of work conditions during the Industrial Revolution more relevant for students (New York Times 2011-21).

The Planet Money team is making a T-shirt and following the shirt around the world as it gets manufactured — from the farms where the cotton is grown to the factories where the shirts are sewn together (NPR, USA 2014).

This lesson consists of two student readings. The first reading takes a closer look at the labor conditions in factories in China making Apple products. The second reading explores the debate about sweatshops more broadly (Teachable Moment, USA 2012).

What is the human cost of an iPad? The labor conditions at factories making Apple products have been in the public spotlight lately. While Apple is not unique in using low-wage Chinese labor to produce its electronic products, the popularity of the iPad and iPhone, along with publicity surrounding the death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, have renewed debate about what labor ...

In this New York Times lesson, students will first imagine they are executives at major American clothing retailers who are researching and negotiating what policy changes, if any, their company should take in light of the recent disasters in Bangladeshi garment factories. Then, students will write their own persuasive letters to their favorite clothing brand advocating a ...