Lets Take a Trip

thingiverse

When studying countries and continents, it's crucial that students get hands-on experience with the areas they're dealing with. This lesson requires students to do just that. Print Settings Printer Brand: MakerBot Printer: MakerBot Replicator (5th Generation) Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: No Post-Printing Some pieces are small, so make sure you have a place to store them together. If using in a classroom, ensure to put how many pieces are in the puzzle on the bag so that students have quick reference. Overview and Background Objectives: Identify the continent being worked on and place countries in their correct location given a map. Audiences This lesson is targeted at 3-5. Grade 3 social studies dictates that we learn continents, and that continents are made of countries. Grades 4-5 then go more in-depth. Subjects Social Studies Skills Learned (Standards) Grade 3: A.4.3. Performance Standard: Construct a map of the world from memory, showing the location of major land masses, bodies of water, and mountain ranges. A.4.5. Performance Standard: Use atlases, databases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps to gather information about the local community, Wisconsin, the United States, and the world. A.4.7. Performance Standard: Identify connections between the local community and other places in Wisconsin, the United States, and the world. Lesson Plan and Activity Day 1-2: Get kids excited by watching this video https://youtu.be/LZFF8EuaGjM and using Google Earth, start zoomed completely in on your city. Then begin to zoom out to your state, country, and finally, the world, discussing how big the world is. Help students realize the parts of the earth. Day 3-4: Discuss the difference between a map and a globe. Why would we use one over the other? Give each student a map to label the continents. If students have devices, have them go to this link http://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml (a clickable map of the world that they can zoom in on countries and get more info). Discuss water v. land and how they appear on maps v. globes. Have students label the large bodies of water as well. Introduce the map puzzle and see if students can put the map together as a group using the map. Discuss successes and troubles. Day 5-6: Discuss capitals and how capitals differ when they're of a country v. state. Ask if continents have capitals. Have students go back and label some of the major capitals on their maps (think of places prevalent in the news, ask them if they've traveled or know people from and label...). Point these locations out using the puzzle. Day 9-12: Have students pick a region that they're interested in and want to investigate further. See if they can pick 1-3 countries and pull some interesting facts from their reading to share out. Day 13-16: Share out interesting facts with "Speed Dating" strategy How to Speed Date in an Educational Setting Use speed learning in cases where each student has a chance to share information quickly, then switch roles. Have the students switch 3-5 times depending on the desired outcome of the activity. Possible Extensions - Use this site for kids to test their knowledge on country location http://www.teachingtreasures.com.au/teaching-tools/gknowledge6-8/african-map/african-countries-map.htm -Have students bring in current events that they hear about/read about and then after presented, have them place that event on the map connected to its country - Once students garner interest in specific places, have them do a larger project on a specific country, researching and then presenting in a "Country Museum" Materials Needed You will want to print the 3D maps that are linked to this lesson. You will need a world map for each student (see attached PDF). Suggested: teacher device with ability to project, student devices for links and further investigation Skills Learned A.4.3 A.4.5 A.4.7 Duration of Lesson 1-16 days