Grades 5-6
Understanding Geography - Math Integration
Objectives
Students will
Evaluation
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
Vocabulary
culture
Definition: A body of learned behaviors common to a given human society
Context: Culture is the way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs.environment
Definition: The circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded
Context: Geographers may study how the environment influences the way people earn a living.
geography
Definition: The scientific study of Earth and its features
Context: Geography is the study of the Earth, its features, the distribution of life, including humans and the effects of human activity on the environment.
habitat
Definition: The place or environment where a plant or animal lives or grows; the typical place of residence of a person or a human group
Context: Geographers are examining how the Chesapeake Bay has created an industry centered on harvesting oysters and how that industry affects the bay's habitat.
map
Definition: A representation of a whole or a part of an area
Context: With so much information to show, and so many ways to show it, maps are valuable tools for understanding the world around us.
Back to Top
Standards
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)has developed national standards to provide guidelines for teaching social studies. To become a member of the NCSS, or to view the standards online, go tohttp://www.socialstudies.org/.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
This lesson plan addresses the following standards:
Students will
- use geography skills to create neighborhood maps, and
- identify connections between geography, culture, and the economy in their local area.
- Large white construction paper (at least one sheet per student)
- Pencils and erasers
- Colored markers or crayons
- Maps of your local area and other city maps
- Information about the economy, industry, and attractions in your local area (usually can be found in relocation packets at a local Chamber of Commerce or local real estate offices)
- Computer with Internet access (optional)
- Understanding: Geography video and VCR or DVD and DVD player
- Begin the lesson by viewing Understanding: Geography . Then talk about the science of geography, the types of things geographers study, and the reasons they study them.
- Briefly discuss the different cultures and industries students saw in the program and the connections between a place's cultures and industries and its geography.
- Tell students that they will be making neighborhood maps to discuss local geography, economy, and culture. Share maps of your local area or other city maps, and discuss roads, major buildings, parks, natural geographic features, town centers or shops, and other kinds of things found on such maps. Talk about how to use the scale and other important features on a map. Talk about how some maps may include numbers or symbols to represent terrain or buildings; point out each map's key, where symbols are identified.
- Have students talk about their own neighborhoods. How big are they? What activities take place there? Are there parks or businesses? What kinds of buildings are in their neighborhood?
- Tell students that they will begin to design their neighborhood maps as homework. Each map should be designed as a square, with a student's home at the center. Tell students to walk a block or two north, south, east, and west of their home, taking notes on what they see in all directions (houses, parks, businesses, types of vegetation and terrain, etc.). Encourage students to make sketches of what they see. Students unable to complete maps of their own neighborhoods may make one of the neighborhood around the school.
- During the next class period have students create their maps. Tell them that each map should have a key to explain their map's symbols and include natural terrain, buildings, and streets. They may use creative symbols to represent map features as long as the symbols are included in the key. To see examples of neighborhood maps, students can go online to the following Web sites:
- http://www.greenmap.com/grmaps/gallery.html
- http://www.mapquest.com(by typing in an intersection or address students can see a general map of a particular area)
- When students have completed their maps, have them write a descriptive paragraph about their neighborhood. Each paragraph should include answers to the following questions:
- What kinds of terrain and vegetation can be found in your neighborhood?
- What do the buildings in your neighborhood look like? What similarities do the buildings have?
- What kinds of activities take place in your neighborhood? Where do they take place?
- Has your neighborhood changed since you've lived there? If so, how?
- Have students share their maps and paragraphs with the class. Then discuss the similarities between the maps, the overall similarities in your area, and how these similarities help define the local culture. Share with the class the information you have gathered about the economy and industry of your area and talk about how geography and environment has influenced the local economy.
Evaluation
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students' work during this lesson.
- Three points: Students actively participated in class discussions; created artistic and informative neighborhood maps that included natural and manmade features as well as a key to explain the map's symbols; and wrote clear, informative paragraphs about their neighborhoods, answering all four questions.
- Two points: Students somewhat participated in class discussions; created somewhat informative neighborhood maps that included either natural or manmade features and a key explaining most of the symbols used on the map; and included three of four answers to the class questions in their neighborhood paragraphs.
- One point: Students somewhat participated in class discussions; created unfinished or illegible neighborhood maps; and wrote disorganized paragraphs answering only one or two questions about their neighborhood.
Vocabulary
culture
Definition: A body of learned behaviors common to a given human society
Context: Culture is the way of life of a group of people who share similar beliefs and customs.environment
Definition: The circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded
Context: Geographers may study how the environment influences the way people earn a living.
geography
Definition: The scientific study of Earth and its features
Context: Geography is the study of the Earth, its features, the distribution of life, including humans and the effects of human activity on the environment.
habitat
Definition: The place or environment where a plant or animal lives or grows; the typical place of residence of a person or a human group
Context: Geographers are examining how the Chesapeake Bay has created an industry centered on harvesting oysters and how that industry affects the bay's habitat.
map
Definition: A representation of a whole or a part of an area
Context: With so much information to show, and so many ways to show it, maps are valuable tools for understanding the world around us.
Back to Top
Standards
The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)has developed national standards to provide guidelines for teaching social studies. To become a member of the NCSS, or to view the standards online, go tohttp://www.socialstudies.org/.
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
- Culture
- People, Places and Environments
- Production, Distribution, and Consumption
- Global Connections
This lesson plan addresses the following standards:
- Places and Regions
- Physical Systems
- Environment and Society
Around the World - Science Integration
Objective
Students will understand the following:
1.The world is made up of regions that are very different from each other in terms of climate, geography, animal life, and culture.
2.The United States itself contains a variety of climate zones and geographical features, abundant animal life, and many cultures.
Materials
For this lesson, you will need:
•World map or globe•Printed and online reference materials•Outline maps of the countries studied•Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1.The goal of this activity is to give students a good sense of some of the major geographical and cultural differences in the world with a focus on Antarctica, one part of Australia, parts of eastern Asia (Nepal and China), and one part of southwestern Asia (Oman), an area also known as the Middle East. On other imaginary trips around the world, you and your class will choose to focus on a different selection of countries and continents.
Begin by telling your students that they are going to imagine traveling to several parts of the world that you've picked out. Either now or as you go along, identify the parts of the world, and point them out on a large world map or a globe:
2.Tell students to imagine that they have just been flown to the continent known as Antarctica. Based on pictures and other reference materials that you will make available to students, have them tell you what they can figure out about Antarctica's weather, geography, and animals.
3.Tell or review with students that culture means "the way of life, ideas, customs, and traditions of a group of people." Go on to admit to students that it's hard to figure out what to say about the culture of the people in Antarctica because there are so few people living there. Nevertheless, ask students to think about the people who are sent to work in Antarctica with a few other people for many months at a stretch. Ask, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of being with a small number of other people for a long time?"
4.Challenge students to figure out how far it is from the northern tip of Antarctica to the Kimberley Plateau on the northern edge of Western Australia. Point out that by traveling from Antarctica to the Kimberley, students will find themselves in a land totally without snow. But this part of Australia has its own unusual climate (unusual by U.S. standards). After you tell students that one-half of the year in the Kimberley is known as the dry, ask them to guess what the other six months are known as. Follow up with other questions that students should be able to answer by checking reference materials: How wet does it get in the northern region of Australia during "the wet"? How do people travel in that region during the wet?
5.While it may be relatively simple for students to identify or describe the weather, the geography, and the animals in this part of Australia, you may have to help them learn about and appreciate the complicated array of its cultures, which, in part, includes the culture of the people descended from Europeans, the culture of the people descended from Asians, and the culture of the aborigines, who have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years.
6.Continuing on your journey to observe weather, geography, animals, and culture in different parts of the world, tell students they are now going to visit the Himalayan mountains. Have them show you on a map or globe or explain by reference to compass points in what direction they can travel to get from the Kimberley in Australia to the Himalayas.
7.In the Himalayas, once again ask students to tell you what they notice about the weather, the geography, and the animals. As with the first two stops on your imaginary trip, it will be harder to figure out what to say about the cultures in the region—unless your school community has people who practice the religions of Asia—for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.
8.The next stop is China. As with Australia, you should pick one area within China for your students' imaginary visit—say, the Hunan province. Once again, have students do research to identify weather, geography, and animals in Hunan. When it comes to culture in Hunan, your students should discover that China as a whole has one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Direct students to find out interesting facts about the Chinese language, holidays observed in China, and ancient arts of China.
9.Oman in the Middle East is the final stop on this world tour. Although technically still part of Asia, this stop will introduce your students to still another climate, geography, and animal population—as well as yet another set of cultures. In many parts of the United States, your students will include Islamic youngsters, so the other students should be able to learn about Islamic culture.
10.As your class returns from its world tour, a good way to wrap up this lesson about differences across the world is to review each of the areas' (1) climatic conditions, (2) geographical features, (3) animal life, and (4) cultures with the purpose of seeing which, if any, exist right here in the United States of America.Back to Top
Adaptations
Younger students will have less background knowledge about the places "visited." Be prepared to share with them some interesting facts about the weather, geography, animals, and culture of each place. Also, for younger students, provide as many visual aids as possible.
Back to Top
Discussion Questions
1.Discuss possible reasons why explorers would decide to remain in Antarctica during the winter. Would you? What are some of the character traits that explorers like these might have? Identify some people you know who have these traits.2.Consider and discuss the survival skills of Antarctic animals. How have they adapted to their challenging environment?3.Describe the effects of the rainy season and evaluate the extent to which they are positive or negative.4.Sometimes information about a country is given as an average. Why might it not be especially helpful to know about the average rainfall in this northern part of Australia?5.Australia is both a continent and a country. Debate whether this is also true for Antarctica. Do the same for Greenland, usually considered the world's largest island and not a continent.6.Why is a visit to Nepal like "coming to the roof of the world"? If Nepal is comparable to the "roof of the world," because of its mountainous location, what country or countries might be called the "basement of the world"?7.Discuss the regard people may have for a lama. Back up your statements with any supporting evidence you can locate. Identify and describe any people you might hold in similar regard.8.In the village of Mustang some boys will be selected to go away to school for 10 years. Discuss how they might feel about this experience. How would you feel?9.Compare life in the village of Mustang to your life. What are the similarities and differences? Consider the extent to which people in both environments feel that their lives are full and complete. Discuss the elements contributing to the degree of satisfaction people, especially children, feel in both settings.10.Compare the Chinese celebration of the New Year to other New Year's celebrations.11.Part of the Chinese New Year's celebration is dedicated to the renewal of family ties and the chance to honor elders and ancestors. Discuss the extent to which you renew family ties and honor elders and ancestors during any of your celebrations during the year.12.Banners appear on doorways to extend good wishes during the Chinese New Year's celebration. Paper lanterns appear on the last night. The red fire symbolizes prosperity and reenergizing of the spirit. Identify some of the symbols of your cultural celebrations and discuss what they mean or represent.13.Mohammed regarded his pet camel as strong, fast, and determined. Discuss the qualities you see in your pet or the pet of someone you know. Then discuss what you think are the best ways of caring for a pet.14.Compare schools in Oman or in another Middle Eastern country with your school. Consider improvements you might make to both.15.Although Mohammed did not receive a prize for winning the camel race, he still regarded his victory as a great honor. Discuss the possibility of winning a contest, but not receiving a prize. Describe what you think your feelings might be.Back to Top
Evaluation
You can evaluate your students' filled-in charts according to the following three-point rubric:
Three points: completely filled in; content correct; no errors in spelling or mechanics
Two points: mostly filled in; content mostly correct; some errors in spelling or mechanics
One point: sparsely filled in; content mostly incorrect; many errors in spelling or mechanicsBack to Top
Extensions
Antarctica Time Line
Invite students to create a time line showing the explorations of Antarctica from its discovery in 1820 to the present. Have students note names and nationalities of explorers who have traveled to various sites.
First Moon Celebration
To highlight Chinese culture, hold a First Moon celebration in your class in honor of the lunar new year. Consider making costumes, banners, paper lanterns; organizing a parade; or thinking of ways to demonstrate respect for family members.
Mapping
Have students fill in outline maps of any of the continents or countries studied, noting bordering countries or bodies of water, marking the capital, and indicating areas rich in natural resources.
Back to Tophttp://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/understanding-geography.cfm
Students will understand the following:
1.The world is made up of regions that are very different from each other in terms of climate, geography, animal life, and culture.
2.The United States itself contains a variety of climate zones and geographical features, abundant animal life, and many cultures.
Materials
For this lesson, you will need:
•World map or globe•Printed and online reference materials•Outline maps of the countries studied•Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1.The goal of this activity is to give students a good sense of some of the major geographical and cultural differences in the world with a focus on Antarctica, one part of Australia, parts of eastern Asia (Nepal and China), and one part of southwestern Asia (Oman), an area also known as the Middle East. On other imaginary trips around the world, you and your class will choose to focus on a different selection of countries and continents.
Begin by telling your students that they are going to imagine traveling to several parts of the world that you've picked out. Either now or as you go along, identify the parts of the world, and point them out on a large world map or a globe:
- Antarctica
- Australia
- Nepal and China in Asia
- Oman in the Middle East
- A piece of information about its weather
- A piece of information about its landforms
- A piece of information about its animal life
- A piece of information about its culture
2.Tell students to imagine that they have just been flown to the continent known as Antarctica. Based on pictures and other reference materials that you will make available to students, have them tell you what they can figure out about Antarctica's weather, geography, and animals.
3.Tell or review with students that culture means "the way of life, ideas, customs, and traditions of a group of people." Go on to admit to students that it's hard to figure out what to say about the culture of the people in Antarctica because there are so few people living there. Nevertheless, ask students to think about the people who are sent to work in Antarctica with a few other people for many months at a stretch. Ask, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of being with a small number of other people for a long time?"
4.Challenge students to figure out how far it is from the northern tip of Antarctica to the Kimberley Plateau on the northern edge of Western Australia. Point out that by traveling from Antarctica to the Kimberley, students will find themselves in a land totally without snow. But this part of Australia has its own unusual climate (unusual by U.S. standards). After you tell students that one-half of the year in the Kimberley is known as the dry, ask them to guess what the other six months are known as. Follow up with other questions that students should be able to answer by checking reference materials: How wet does it get in the northern region of Australia during "the wet"? How do people travel in that region during the wet?
5.While it may be relatively simple for students to identify or describe the weather, the geography, and the animals in this part of Australia, you may have to help them learn about and appreciate the complicated array of its cultures, which, in part, includes the culture of the people descended from Europeans, the culture of the people descended from Asians, and the culture of the aborigines, who have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years.
6.Continuing on your journey to observe weather, geography, animals, and culture in different parts of the world, tell students they are now going to visit the Himalayan mountains. Have them show you on a map or globe or explain by reference to compass points in what direction they can travel to get from the Kimberley in Australia to the Himalayas.
7.In the Himalayas, once again ask students to tell you what they notice about the weather, the geography, and the animals. As with the first two stops on your imaginary trip, it will be harder to figure out what to say about the cultures in the region—unless your school community has people who practice the religions of Asia—for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism.
8.The next stop is China. As with Australia, you should pick one area within China for your students' imaginary visit—say, the Hunan province. Once again, have students do research to identify weather, geography, and animals in Hunan. When it comes to culture in Hunan, your students should discover that China as a whole has one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Direct students to find out interesting facts about the Chinese language, holidays observed in China, and ancient arts of China.
9.Oman in the Middle East is the final stop on this world tour. Although technically still part of Asia, this stop will introduce your students to still another climate, geography, and animal population—as well as yet another set of cultures. In many parts of the United States, your students will include Islamic youngsters, so the other students should be able to learn about Islamic culture.
10.As your class returns from its world tour, a good way to wrap up this lesson about differences across the world is to review each of the areas' (1) climatic conditions, (2) geographical features, (3) animal life, and (4) cultures with the purpose of seeing which, if any, exist right here in the United States of America.Back to Top
Adaptations
Younger students will have less background knowledge about the places "visited." Be prepared to share with them some interesting facts about the weather, geography, animals, and culture of each place. Also, for younger students, provide as many visual aids as possible.
Back to Top
Discussion Questions
1.Discuss possible reasons why explorers would decide to remain in Antarctica during the winter. Would you? What are some of the character traits that explorers like these might have? Identify some people you know who have these traits.2.Consider and discuss the survival skills of Antarctic animals. How have they adapted to their challenging environment?3.Describe the effects of the rainy season and evaluate the extent to which they are positive or negative.4.Sometimes information about a country is given as an average. Why might it not be especially helpful to know about the average rainfall in this northern part of Australia?5.Australia is both a continent and a country. Debate whether this is also true for Antarctica. Do the same for Greenland, usually considered the world's largest island and not a continent.6.Why is a visit to Nepal like "coming to the roof of the world"? If Nepal is comparable to the "roof of the world," because of its mountainous location, what country or countries might be called the "basement of the world"?7.Discuss the regard people may have for a lama. Back up your statements with any supporting evidence you can locate. Identify and describe any people you might hold in similar regard.8.In the village of Mustang some boys will be selected to go away to school for 10 years. Discuss how they might feel about this experience. How would you feel?9.Compare life in the village of Mustang to your life. What are the similarities and differences? Consider the extent to which people in both environments feel that their lives are full and complete. Discuss the elements contributing to the degree of satisfaction people, especially children, feel in both settings.10.Compare the Chinese celebration of the New Year to other New Year's celebrations.11.Part of the Chinese New Year's celebration is dedicated to the renewal of family ties and the chance to honor elders and ancestors. Discuss the extent to which you renew family ties and honor elders and ancestors during any of your celebrations during the year.12.Banners appear on doorways to extend good wishes during the Chinese New Year's celebration. Paper lanterns appear on the last night. The red fire symbolizes prosperity and reenergizing of the spirit. Identify some of the symbols of your cultural celebrations and discuss what they mean or represent.13.Mohammed regarded his pet camel as strong, fast, and determined. Discuss the qualities you see in your pet or the pet of someone you know. Then discuss what you think are the best ways of caring for a pet.14.Compare schools in Oman or in another Middle Eastern country with your school. Consider improvements you might make to both.15.Although Mohammed did not receive a prize for winning the camel race, he still regarded his victory as a great honor. Discuss the possibility of winning a contest, but not receiving a prize. Describe what you think your feelings might be.Back to Top
Evaluation
You can evaluate your students' filled-in charts according to the following three-point rubric:
Three points: completely filled in; content correct; no errors in spelling or mechanics
Two points: mostly filled in; content mostly correct; some errors in spelling or mechanics
One point: sparsely filled in; content mostly incorrect; many errors in spelling or mechanicsBack to Top
Extensions
Antarctica Time Line
Invite students to create a time line showing the explorations of Antarctica from its discovery in 1820 to the present. Have students note names and nationalities of explorers who have traveled to various sites.
First Moon Celebration
To highlight Chinese culture, hold a First Moon celebration in your class in honor of the lunar new year. Consider making costumes, banners, paper lanterns; organizing a parade; or thinking of ways to demonstrate respect for family members.
Mapping
Have students fill in outline maps of any of the continents or countries studied, noting bordering countries or bodies of water, marking the capital, and indicating areas rich in natural resources.
Back to Tophttp://www.discoveryeducation.com/teachers/free-lesson-plans/understanding-geography.cfm