Geography · 7th Grade

Active learning ideas

Voluntary Migration: Push and Pull Factors

Active learning works for voluntary migration because students need to connect abstract push and pull factors to human experiences. When they investigate real stories and map real data, the concept moves from memorization to meaningful understanding. This topic also benefits from students’ lived experiences, making it timely and personal.

• Common Core State Standards
• C3: D2.Geo.7.6-8
• C3: D2.Geo.8.6-8

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

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: My Family's Migration Story

Students write a brief note about one voluntary migration in their own family history -- this can be as recent as a move to a new neighborhood or as distant as immigration from another country. They pair up to identify the push and pull factors that drove that move, then share themes with the class.

What distinguishes a refugee from an economic migrant?

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share, circulate to listen for personal connections students make between their families’ stories and push/pull concepts.

What to look for

Provide students with a list of 10 scenarios (e.g., 'high unemployment rate,' 'political freedom,' 'natural disaster'). Ask them to label each as a push factor, pull factor, or neither, and briefly explain their reasoning for three of them.

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

Activity 02

• Role Play
• 45 min · Small Groups

Mapping Investigation: Tracking Migration Flows

Using maps showing historical and current migration flows (e.g., the 1930s Dust Bowl exodus, or Latin American migration patterns), student groups identify the primary push and pull factors for each flow and predict how those factors might change under different economic scenarios.

Analyze the primary push and pull factors influencing migration to a specific region.

Facilitation Tip

For the Mapping Investigation, project a blank world map and model how to organize data by color-coding push and pull factors before students work in pairs.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you are advising someone considering migration. What are the most important questions you would ask them about their home country and their desired destination to help them weigh push and pull factors?' Facilitate a class discussion on the complexity of these decisions.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• Simulation Game
• 50 min · Individual

Simulation Game: The Migration Decision

Students receive role cards representing people in a hypothetical country facing economic hardship, each with different family sizes, skills, finances, and connections abroad. They decide whether to stay or migrate and where to go. The class maps the resulting migration patterns and discusses what drove the distribution.

Predict the long-term impacts of large-scale voluntary migration on both origin and destination areas.

Facilitation Tip

In the Simulation, assign roles clearly and remind students to document their decision-making process using the provided worksheet.

What to look for

On an index card, have students write down one specific push factor and one specific pull factor that might have influenced a historical migration wave (e.g., Irish Potato Famine migration). Then, ask them to write one sentence explaining how these factors might have interacted.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers often find that starting with personal narratives builds engagement before introducing theoretical frameworks. Avoid presenting push/pull factors as a simple checklist, as this oversimplifies migration decisions. Research suggests that students grasp the complexity of migration better when they analyze real data and wrestle with trade-offs in simulations rather than passive reading.

Successful learning looks like students accurately identifying push and pull factors in diverse contexts and explaining how these factors interact to shape migration decisions. They should also demonstrate empathy by recognizing the complexity behind individual migration choices rather than oversimplifying motivations.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share: My Family's Migration Story, watch for students assuming migration is always driven by extreme hardship like poverty or war.

  Use the debrief to highlight the variety of motivations shared by students, such as education or family connections. Ask, 'Who moved for reasons other than danger or poverty? What made those reasons important?'

• During Simulation: The Migration Decision, watch for students assuming migrants have perfect information when making choices.

  Prompt students to reflect on the role of uncertainty in the simulation by asking, 'What information did you wish you had before deciding? How might missing information change your choice?'

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Role Play
• Simulation Game