This document describes a classroom activity simulating collective farming in China under Mao Zedong. Students are randomly assigned to farms and must record their work and payments. They also evaluate the pros and cons of a collective versus regular farming system. The document provides historical context about China's Great Leap Forward and the failures of collective farming, which led to famine. It instructs students pretending to be communist party members to submit a report identifying issues with collective farming and suggestions for improvement to Mao Zedong.

1. NAME: ___________________________________ DATE: ____________________ PERIOD: ____<br />COLLECTIVE FARMING ACTIVITY<br />You are a farmer. You will randomly be assigned to a farm and told what you must do and how you will be paid for your work.<br />I will be paid _____________________________________ for ______________________________<br />________________________________________________________________________________.<br />Fill in this table below based on the work you completed.<br />Day NumberNumber of crops plantedAmount Paid<br />Did you feel motivated to work hard? Why or why not?<br />Were you in a collective farming system or a regular system?<br />In the table below list the pros and cons of the system you were in.<br />ProsCons<br />Find someone who worked in a farming system opposite of yours and write down what they had for their pros and cons.<br />Pros Cons<br />NAME: ___________________________________ DATE: ____________________ PERIOD: ____<br />COLLECTIVE FARMING REPORT<br />Collective farming was instituted by Mao Zedong during the Great Leap Forward (1958 – 1961). Mao’s goals were to create a classless society, where everybody worked together and embodied the ideals of Karl Marx (communism/Marxist socialism). In the collective farming model up to 30,000 people lived together in dormitories and all worked together on farmland owned by the state. The idea was that they all worked together to produce crops, take care of the children, cook, and fulfill their needs. One of the problems with this system is that the state doesn’t make any profit.<br />The Great Leap Forward was supposed to increase food production and move the People’s Republic of China towards pure communism. One of the problems (as you likely discovered in your collective farming model) is that there’s little motivation to work hard, since there’s no reward. From 1958 – 1961 when collective farms were instituted there was massive crop failure/under production. An estimated 20 – 30 million people died of starvation. The government passed this off as, “bad weather.” In 1961 Mao ended the Great Leap Forward and modified the collective farming model.<br />Your task is to pretend you are a member of the communist party. It is 1961 and you’ve been given the task of researching the failures of collective farming and suggesting ways farming could be made more efficient. You need to point out the failures of the collective farming system, and the ways in which you would correct them, your official report will be submitted to Mao Zedong for consideration.<br />Failure of Collective FarmingYour suggestion for improvement<br />NAME: ___________________________________ DATE: ____________________ PERIOD: ____<br />COLLECTIVE FARMING REPORT<br />Collective farming was instituted by Mao Zedong during the Great Leap Forward (1958 – 1961). Mao’s goals were to create a classless society, where everybody worked together and embodied the ideals of Karl Marx (communism/Marxist socialism). In the collective farming model up to 30,000 people lived together in dormitories and all worked together on farmland owned by the state. The idea was that they all worked together to produce crops, take care of the children, cook, and fulfill their needs. One of the problems with this system is that the state doesn’t make any profit.<br />The Great Leap Forward was supposed to increase food production and move the People’s Republic of China towards pure communism. One of the problems (as you likely discovered in your collective farming model) is that there’s little motivation to work hard, since there’s no reward. From 1958 – 1961 when collective farms were instituted there was massive crop failure/under production. An estimated 20 – 30 million people died of starvation. The government passed this off as, “bad weather.” In 1961 Mao ended the Great Leap Forward and modified the collective farming model.<br />Your task is to pretend you are a member of the communist party. It is 1961 and you’ve been given the task of researching the failures of collective farming and suggesting ways farming could be made more efficient. You need to point out the failures of the collective farming system, and the ways in which you would correct them, your official report will be submitted to Mao Zedong for consideration.<br />