Title: Passport to the Eastern Hemisphere

Subject(s): Social Studies (emphasis) Math & Language Arts (subskills)

Intended Grade Level(s): 7th grade 

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Description:

 This is a unit plan for a social studies project. The 7th grade students at our school study the Eastern Hemisphere. The PASSPORT to the EASTERN HEMISPHERE is used with these students.

Using the digital camera, color photos of all students in the seventh grade will be taken, and then inserted into a word processing "passport" document. Using the internet and other information sources available, students will investigate customs, currency, climate, location, and other facts that they would need to know if they were traveling to a specific country. Each time their research is complete for a country, the student's passport will be stamped and they will be allowed to move on to the next country. Class discussions explain that religious tolerance, gender roles and dress, as well as laws and regulations are very often different from what we experience in the United States. The passport provides students with a "real life" experience with travel, without ever leaving school. Students who lose their passport must report to the "embassy" (media center) to earn a new passport through community service, since losing a passport while traveling abroad would cause inconvenience and often financial difficulties.

Curriculum Benchmarks:

1. MI.SOC.I.4. evaluate key decisions made at critical turning points in history by assessing their implications and long term consequences
2. MI.SOC.II.1. describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of places, cultures, and settlements
3. MI.SOC.II.2. describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of ecosystems, resources, human adaptation, environmental impact, and the interrelationships among them
4. MI.SOC.II.3. describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of economic activities, trade, political activities, migration, information flow, and the interrelationships among them
5. MI.SOC.II.4. describe and compare characteristics of ecosystems, states, regions, countries, major world regions, and patterns and and explain the processes that created them
6. MI.SOC.II.5. describe and explain the causes, consequences, and geographic context of major global issues and events
7. MI.SOC.V.1. acquire information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets, and other sources, organized and present the information in maps, graphs, charts, and time lines, interpret the meaning and significance of information, and use a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing information
8. MI.SOC.V.2. conduct investigations by formulating a clear statement of a question, gathering and organizing information from a variety of sources, analyzing and interpreting information, formulating and testing hypotheses, reporting results both orally and in writing, and making use of appropriate technology
9. MI.ELA.1. read and comprehend general and technical material
10. MI.ELA.3. focus on meaning and communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts
11. MI.ELA.4. use the English language effectively
12. MI.ELA.6. learn to communicate information accurately and effectively and demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written, and visual texts that enlighten and engage an audience
13. MI.ELA.7. demonstrate, analyze, and reflect upon the skills and processes used to communicate through listening, speaking, viewing, reading, and writing
14. MI.ELA.II.1. develop spatial sense, use shape as an analytic and descriptive tool, identify characteristics and define shapes, identify properties and describe relationships among shapes
15. MI.ELA.II.2. identify locations of objects, identify location relative to other objects
16. MI.ELA.III.1. collect and explore data, organize data into a useful form, and develop skill in representing and reading data displayed in different formats

Materials/Hardware/Software:

• Digital camera
• word processing program (Claris Works was used, any word processing program would work),
• drawing program (Claris Works Draw was used, any drawing program would work),
• Internet (Netscape Navigator was used, other internet programs would also work here), and a computer.

 Activities/Procedures:

 The Passport Project is done as a part of our district's study of Western Europe, the Middle East, and possibly Africa.

1. Each student is assigned a nation at random from the geographic area under investigation.

 

 

2. During the course of the project the student is responsible for researching their assigned nation for the following basic information:

 

Population

Geographic area

Government type

Climate

Currency

Economy

Religion

Students can use the internet and any other current, factual source of information.

3. In addition, the students must create a time line of significant dates in the history of their nation. This requires students to examine the entire history of a country and make informed judgments based on their historical knowledge. Evaluation and synthesis skills are also used as students create a list of 20 interesting facts that would make a person want to visit their country.

 

 

4. Once the research is completed, each student creates an attractive and informative brochure about their nation. It is encouraged that students use a computer to create this brochure. (In 1998-99 it will be required since all students will have access to computers through our district's current bond issue.)

 

 

5. Once the brochures are completed, each student is issued a passport (which they created using a digital camera, word processing an drawing program). In this passport, students record basic information about each nation in the region being studied.

 

 

 

 

REVISIONS TO THE CURRENT PASSPORT PROGRAM:

This year we used generic passport pages. This made the creation of the passport much easier, but it robbed the project of some of it's value. Next year we will create specific nation pages which will cater to each individual country. Included on this nation page will be a map of the country, on which the students will have to locate the nation's capital and 3 major geographic features. Also included will be the nation's flag and 3-5 country specific questions.

Assessment/Evaluation:

    Concepts evaluated are listed below:   Government - Type; Has it changed in the last 10 years? Role of people in the government. Currency/Economy - Exchange rate; Currency; Economy/Industry; Economic status world wide. Transportation - Public; Private; Most prevalent mode; Cost. Geography/Area - Land forms; Square mile; Other physical features. Climate - Average temperatures; Average rainfall; Typical weather. Population/Religion - Total population; Population per square mile; Dominant religions. Other interesting facts - Customs; Farming; Tourist attractions.

Follow-up Activities:

 

When time allows, students present their brochures on assigned countries. Classroom discussions are held, using the information students completed in their passports, to investigate the similarities and differences in the nations studied.

Name: Craig Blower

School District Swan Valley School District

School Swan Valley Middle School

Address: 453 Van Wormer, Saginaw, MI 48609