Geography · 10th Grade

Active learning ideas

Internally Displaced Persons and Refugee Camps

Active learning helps students grasp the complex realities of IDPs by moving beyond abstract definitions to tangible, human experiences they can analyze and critique. By engaging with real-world cases and design challenges, students connect geographic patterns to individual lives, which builds empathy and critical thinking about global systems.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Civ.14.9-12
• C3: D2.Geo.8.9-12

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Small Groups

Case Study Analysis: Zaatari Camp, From Emergency to City

Provide groups with data on Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan: its founding in 2012, population growth to 80,000+ residents, evolution of markets and informal infrastructure, and current services. Groups map the camp's evolution, identify what made it transition from emergency camp to semi-permanent settlement, and evaluate whether this transition represents success or failure of the international humanitarian system. Groups present to the class.

Explain how refugee camps evolve into permanent urban settlements.

Facilitation Tip

During the Zaatari Camp case study, have students track how a camp evolves over time by annotating a timeline with specific geographic and social changes.

What to look for

Provide students with a map showing a hypothetical region experiencing internal displacement. Ask them to identify three geographic factors that might have caused this displacement and one potential challenge for IDPs in reaching safety.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 02

• Concept Mapping
• 30 min · Pairs

Concept Mapping: Internal Displacement Patterns

Provide pairs with IDMC (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre) data on the top 10 countries by IDP population. Pairs map the displacement, identify whether each crisis is conflict-driven or climate-driven, and note the geographic relationship between IDP concentration and the source of displacement. Class discusses what patterns distinguish conflict displacement from climate displacement geographically.

Analyze the geographic factors contributing to internal displacement.

Facilitation Tip

For the mapping activity, assign each pair a different region to ensure varied perspectives on displacement patterns.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Should refugee camps be designed with the expectation that they may become permanent settlements?' Facilitate a debate where students use evidence from case studies to support their arguments, considering economic, social, and geographic factors.

• Understand
• Analyze
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 50 min · Small Groups

Design Challenge: Improving Long-Term Camp Conditions

Groups receive a brief describing a long-standing refugee camp facing specific challenges (inadequate water supply, lack of economic opportunities, poor shelter quality). Using a fixed budget and a menu of interventions (solar water pumping, skills training programs, improved shelter materials, expanded health clinic), groups design an improvement plan. Groups present plans and receive feedback on feasibility and geographic appropriateness.

Design solutions to improve living conditions in long-term refugee camps.

Facilitation Tip

In the design challenge, set a clear time limit for brainstorming to keep students focused on feasibility and resource constraints.

What to look for

Present students with a list of characteristics (e.g., informal markets, established schools, lack of legal status, reliance on aid). Ask them to classify each characteristic as typically found in a temporary emergency camp versus a semi-permanent settlement.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 04

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Should Camps Become Cities?

Present the dilemma: if a camp has existed for 15 years and has schools, markets, and social infrastructure, should it be formalized as a permanent settlement? Students individually argue a position; partners debate using geographic and legal considerations; class discusses what formalizing camps implies for the international norm of eventual repatriation and what it means for host countries.

Explain how refugee camps evolve into permanent urban settlements.

What to look for

Provide students with a map showing a hypothetical region experiencing internal displacement. Ask them to identify three geographic factors that might have caused this displacement and one potential challenge for IDPs in reaching safety.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should emphasize the legal gap between IDPs and refugees by comparing the 1951 Refugee Convention with the non-binding UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Avoid framing camps as purely humanitarian spaces; instead, highlight their unintended urbanization and the political complexities of long-term displacement. Research shows that students retain more when they confront contradictions in the humanitarian system, so use case studies to reveal how policy gaps shape daily life in camps.

Students will explain the legal and geographic differences between IDPs and refugees, analyze how displacement patterns vary by region, and evaluate the trade-offs in designing long-term camp solutions. Success looks like students using geographic evidence to support arguments and proposing nuanced solutions to real humanitarian challenges.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Mapping: Internal Displacement Patterns activity, watch for students assuming that all displacement is caused by conflict.

  Use the mapping activity to redirect students toward environmental and economic factors by having them overlay climate data, land-use maps, and conflict zones to identify co-occurring pressures that displace people.

• During the Design Challenge: Improving Long-Term Camp Conditions activity, watch for students treating camps as purely temporary structures.

  Have students refer to the Zaatari Camp case study’s timeline of urban development to ground their designs in the reality of protracted displacement, requiring them to justify how their solutions account for permanence.

• During Think-Pair-Share: Should Camps Become Cities?, watch for students idealizing camps as self-sustaining communities without addressing legal barriers.

  Use the legal protections gap highlighted in the mapping activity to push students to consider what responsibilities host governments and international actors retain, even in permanent settlements.

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Methods used in this brief

• Case Study Analysis
• Concept Mapping
• Think-Pair-Share