Country Research Unit

Country Research Unit
Elaine Katsuyoshi
Grade 6
April 1999

Purpose:

The purpose of this lesson is to expose students to other cultures, learn and appreciate in-depth about another country, and compare our culture with other cultures.

This is an integrated unit incorporating geography, writing, technology, math, and art. This unit was designed so students could practice research skills of finding information using various resources. It integrates the research study with technology skills using word processing, spreadsheet, column, headings, graphs, the Internet and copying and pasting. It is also a culminating activity demonstrating all research skills, technology skills, and the geography skills they have learned throughout the year.

Questions:

Focus Questions: What are the physical and human characteristics of a country and how it that country similar to the United States?

Sub Questions: Where is (country)? What is the topography like? What are the people, economy, and government like? What are some interesting places of that country to visit? How is this country similar to the United States? Who is a famous person from this country?

Objectives: The students will be able to:

demonstrate an understanding of different cultures and their similarities with the USA. (Standard 10A)
demonstrate application of geographic skills such as using coordinates, maps, and graphs. (Standard 1)
examine and analyze maps for climate and terrain. (Standard 3)
examine and analyze human and physical characteristics of place. (Standard 4)
illustrate and explain how places are unique. (Standard 6)
apply reference skills (research)
create an interesting computer-generated newsletter about a country.

Hawaii Content and Performance Standards:

Explain, use, and apply geographic themes of place, human-environment interactions, movement, and region.
Demonstrate use of geographic tools, maps, atlases.

National Geographic Standards: The geographically informed person knows and understands:

Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representation, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

Standard 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

Standard 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.

Standard 6: How culture and experience influence people's perception of places and regions.

Standard 10: The characteristics, distribution, and complexities of Earth's cultural mosaics.

Geographic Skills:

Ask geographic questions
Acquire geographic information
Organize geographic information
Analyze geographic information
Answer geographic questions

Geographic Themes: Place, Location, Human Environment Interaction, and Movement

Materials Needed:

Computer/Internet
Resources: Encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, books, brochures, magazines, interviewees (experts)
Journal
Chart paper for webbing
Syllabus
Rubric
Peer Evaluation
Blank map of the world
Graphic organizer (Compare and contrast)

Procedure:

Open with webbing. Brainstorm 7 important areas students should investigate about their country. Guide discussion to come up with Location/Geography/Topography, People, Politics, Interesting Places to visit, Similarities with our country, and a Famous Person and his contribution to that country or the world. Then have students list information need under the seven topics.
Pick countries from a box.
Go over syllabus.
Go over how to complete the journal. Staple in the syllabus and bibliography guides.
Go over rubric so students will know how they will be graded.
Give class time for research. Remind students of due dates. While students are doing research check individual journals and conference with each student.
Provide mini lessons as needed. Examples: Review latitude and longitude; How to use atlases and other resources; Graphic organizer to compare and contrast.
Provide library and computer classes each week for newsletter format instruction.
As the students finish a paragraph or more, provide time to keyboard on to discs. Have them print out the drafts so that they can edit and revise. All drafts need to be saved as evidence of ongoing work and editing.
Due dates need to be met or they are marked down on the final grade.
When the project is done, students are given a rubric to evaluate themselves. This is handed back with the teachers evaluation.
Students present their newsletter to the class and the class evaluates them. Class will also color in the countries on their map as they are being reported.
Design poster with a hand drawn picture of the country and pictures with places of interest of that country. Display at luncheon.
A luncheon featuring the recipes that they used in their research culminates this activity. Students will annotate on a chart the dishes they sampled and the countries the recipes originated from.