| Materials Needed: Explore Geography
Picture Dictionary (one per student or student group), a compass,
and Explore the Ancient World Activity Sheet : "Make a Map!" |
Teacher Directions: As an introduction
to the activity, take the students for a walk around the school. Using
a compass, have students determine the directions north, south, east,
and west. Then, have them observe the physical and human characteristics
of the place by answering questions such as the following:
| Is the area flat or are there hills? |
| Are there many large trees or is there very little vegetation? |
| Are there houses or farmland all around the school? |
| Are there commercial buildings nearby? |
| If so, what kinds of businesses are in the buildings? |
| Is there a lot of traffic? |
| Do the streets serve the neighborhood only, or are they important
transportation corridors? |
|
| After you return to the classroom, have students take turns describing
a "place" they saw. Have the other students try to guess the place. |
| After this exercise, ask students to describe a place they have
been studying. For example, if students have just read about the Romans,
they might describe the hills of Rome and the Tiber River. They might
mention that Rome was built on a peninsula surrounded by the Mediterranean,
Adriatic, and the Tyrrhenian seas. They might also mention the mud
huts with straw roofs that the first settlers lived in, and the apartments,
theaters, and government buildings that were built later. Students
would probably mention the Roman roads that made transportation possible
throughout the Roman Empire and the aqueducts that carried water into
the city. |
| Review with students the geographical terms they have learned (e.g.,
sea, mountain range, aqueduct, peninsula, shore, river basin, foothill).
Have students look up each geographical term in the Explore Geography
Picture Dictionary. Ask them to read the definitions and sentences
aloud, along with the Fun Facts and Voices in Geography as appropriate.
|
| Organize the students into pairs or groups of three. Give each group
a copy of Explore the Ancient World Activity Sheet: "Make a Map!"
Review the directions with students. Have each student group draw
a map to illustrate the area they have been assigned. Ask them to
draw symbols to illustrate the important physical and human characteristics
of the area. Have them label their maps with the appropriate geographical
terms, and include a compass rose and title. |
 |
Make it Easier: Show
pictures from Explore the Ancient World. Ask students to describe
what they see. List the physical and human characteristics of the
place on the board. |
 |
Make it Quicker: Skip
the walk around the school. Assign each student group one or two geographical
terms to look up in the Explore Geography Picture Dictionary. |
 |
Make it More Fun:
Have student groups draw and illustrate their maps on butcher paper
and display as a mural. |
 |
Make it More Challenging:
Have students do additional research in an atlas, an encyclopedia,
or on the Internet to find out more about the vegetation native to
the area. |
