Samantha Sparks
Fourth Grade
Geography

Purpose:
In this unit, the students will gain a better understanding of China.  We will discuss a few general facts about China, as well as explore China's history and customs.

Connection to National Standards:
No. 1  Knows and understands how to use maps, globes, and other graphical tools to acquire, process and report information.  I choose this national standard because the students will have to be familiar with and use maps to learn more about China.
No. 4  Knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places.  I choose this national standard because the students will be learning about the people of China in this unit.
No. 6  Knows and understands that culture and experience influence peoples perceptions of places and experiences.  This national standard applies to this unit because we will learn about the customs and culture of the people of China.
Applicable Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills:
The student understands how humans adapt to variations in the physical environment.
The student understands the concepts of location, distance, and direction on maps and globes.

Objectives List:
Students will demonstrate their ability:
* To learn about a different region of the world.
* To participate in social customs of a different region of the world.
* To experience the lives of people living in China.
* To find information and analyze an Internet site.

Overview of Presentation:
In this unit, the students will learn about China.  We will discuss China's location, general facts about the country, and a bit of China's social customs, what the people of China eat, holidays, etc.

Day One
Sponge Activity:
As the students come into class, tell them we will be exploring a new country.  Tell them a little bit about China and see if they can guess which country we will be learning about.

Opening:
Tell the students over the next few days they will be learning new things about China.  Pass out a map of China for the students to look at.

Guided Practice:
Share with the students general information about China.
* Official name- People's Republic of China.
* Area- 3,706,000 square miles
* Population- 1,003,555,000
* Language spoken- Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese
As a class, compare China to the United States, using a worksheet that has the maps of these two countries.
Talk to the class about the clothing people in China wear.  Pass out the paper doll patterns and the worksheet of the paper doll clothes.  If time permits, let the students color and cut them out.
Discuss with the class the different types of houses people in China live in.  Houseboats are very common in China.  There are two different kinds of houseboats- junks(large boats), and sampans(smaller boats used for fishing, transportation or housing).
Tell the class about The Great Wall an important part of the History of China.  * Manmade structure that can be seen by astronauts on the moon.
    * Was built over 2,000 years ago to protect China from it's    enemies to the north.
    * Made out of bricks and blocks of granite stone.
    * Wall is over 2,000 miles long.
    * Towers were built for observation and shelter as the wall winds
       up the steep mountains.

Independent Practice:
Have the students watch as you visit the Internet site on Maps.  Let the students see the map of China and explore a little on their own on the internet so they will be prepared for the next internet assignment, later in the unit.
Use the Internet Address:  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/maps/atlas/index.html.

Day Two
Sponge Activity:
Give the students a handout with Ancient Chinese sayings on it.  Have them read the sayings as they try to determine why they think these sayings have been around for so many years.

Opening:
Write a word on the board in Chinese.  Have the students guess what the word is in English.  Tell them this is an example of the Chinese writing, known as Calligraphy.

Guided Practice:
Explain to the students about Calligraphy.
 * It is a picture writing of over 40,000 different characters.
 * It is done with a brush called a fude and ink.
 * It is considered an ancient form of writing and is also prized art
 The Chinese read their characters from the top to the bottom of the page as we do, but they start at the right and read to the left side of the page.

Independent Practice:
Let the students experience writing in Chinese.  Give them a handout with some Chinese characters on it.  Tell the students to write a story using as many of the characters as they can.  Remind the students to start their story in the upper-right-hand corner of their paper.

*Math Extension:
Have the students do worksheet, Add In Chinese, they must first decode the numbers using the key before they can work the math calculations.
 

Day Three
Sponge Activity:
Have the students think of their favorite Chinese foods.

Opening:
Explain to the students that people in China do not eat hamburgers, spaghetti, or pizza like we do.  Vegetables and rice are their common foods.

Guided Practice:
Tell the students that because so many people live in China, they need a lot of farmers to grow food for everyone.  Farmers in China use water buffalo to pull their plows, while the women plant rice seeds in knee-deep water paddies.
Try to allow for a field trip to the school cafeteria to prepare some fun Chinese treats.
 * Rice- Rice is a staple food in China.  Prepare a kettle of rice to show the students how rice is cooked.
 * Vegetables- Chinese vegetables provide great nutrition for the people in China.  Show the students some basic Chinese vegetables, such as water chestnuts, Chinese snowpeas, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots.
Let the students sample these with their rice using chopsticks.  (Chopsticks can be purchased at a local Chinese Restaurant inexpensively)
To finish out the food lesson, Serve the students tea (another common Chinese item) and fortune cookies.  The tea can be made easily from tea leaves and hot water.  For each cup of hot water, add 1/2 teaspoon of tea

Day Four
Opening:
Tell the students that kites are a big part of the Chinese culture and history.  To us they are used for fun in the park on a windy day but long ago they were used for serious purposes.

Guided Practice:
The Chinese have used kites in a number of ways other than for fun.
* The very early Chinese people used kites to signal soliders.  The soliders who were also farmers, would see the kites when working in the fields and come quickly to help.
* Some early Chinese, flew kites over their houses at night to scare away bandits who might steal from them while they were sleeping.
* Farmers in China today use kites to scare birds away from their crops.  They will fly kites with firecrackers tied to the trails, when the firecrackers go off, the birds fly away.
*Kites are also used for fishing in China.  Chinese fishermen who do not own a boat may tie a long string to the tail of their kite.  At the end of the string is a hook with bait.  When the fish bites, the fisherman pulls the kite in!

Independent Practice:
Make Kites:
 To make kites that are sturdy and successful, purchase dowels from a hardware store and use butcher paper.  Have the custodian or someone slit the ends of the dowels so string can be slipped into them.
Cross the sticks and wrap string around the intersection.  Add a little white glue to add extra strength.  Slip string around perimeter of the sticks.  Lay sticks on top of the backside of the butcher paper.  Trim the paper as shown and fold paper edge over the string.  Now add the bridle by tying the pieces of string together.  You will also need 18-24 inches of string to which pieces of fabric have been tied.  This will make the tail.  Students can print with sponges to decorate them.

Day Five
Sponge Activity:
On the chalkboard write the following clues:
  * Has a white coat with black arms and legs.
  * Has a small black spot around each eye and small black ears.
  * When fully grown, weighs up to 300 lbs. and is 6 ft. tall.
  * Belongs to the raccoon family.
Have the students guess what kind of animal it is. (PANDA)

Opening:
Tell the students today we are going to talk about pandas.  They live in the bamboo forests on the hillsides of Southwest China.  Tender bamboo shoots are their favorite things to eat.  Pandas are in trouble because the bamboo they live in and eat is slowly disappearing because people are moving into the panda's habitat.  The Chinese government and the World Wildlife Fund are working together to keep the panda from becoming extinct but many pandas are still at risk.

Guided Practice:
Discuss with the class the term extinct.  Define it for them and discuss endangered species.  Take the class to the computer lab and give them an address to explore endangered species on the Internet.  You can use the address: http://www.sprint.com/epatrol/ep-endangered.html
 

Independent Practice:
Have the students complete the following Internet Worksheet.
  Internet Worksheet

Student's Name:
Web Site URL:

1.  What is an endangered species?

2.  When did the Bison become extinct?

3.  Where can the frilled lizard be found?

4.  What temperature water does the killer whale prefer?

5.  What does the Bald Eagle eat?

6.  Is the American Alligator endangered?

7.  What does the sugar glider eat?

8.  What are the three endangered species in Europe?

9.  Can the Jaguar swim easily?

10. How fast can  Cheetah run?

11. Where is the squirrel monkey mostly found?

12. What is the world's tallest animal?

13. How big is the sloth when it is born?

14. How many hours does the koala sleep in a day?

15. Why are penguins becoming extinct?
 

Day Six
Opening:
Tell your students, "Gung Ho Sun Hee"
Happy Chinese New Year!
Tell the students they will get to celebrate the Chinese New Year today!

Guided Practice:
The Chinese celebrate the New Year every year somewhere between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20 (the specific day depends on the year).  It is the single most important event of the year!  The Chinese New Year is determined in cycles of twelve and each year is named for an animal.  The animals are the mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken, dog, and pig.  According to the legend, Buddha invited all the animals to a great meeting but only twelve came.  To honor them, Buddha named a year after each one.  1979 is the year of the sheep with the rest of the years following the cycle.  In the celebration, The Chinese have a big parade.  In this parade they have colorful dragon costumes they wear.  They call this parade the parade of good luck dragons.  Dragons are invited into homes and places of business.  It is believed they will bring good luck to the people.

Independent Practice:
Make paper dragons.
 To make paper dragons, begin with a 12" x 18" sheet of green construction paper.  Fold in thirds the long way.  Fold in half.  Now fold each side of the half in half.  Students add dragon details of cut paper, foil, gummed paper, pipe cleaners, etc.  Students can make these a puppet by placing one hand in each opening. Bingo! A talking Dragon!Assessment:
The students will be given a test on the last day of the unit to see if they have mastered the objectives and gained knowledge of China and it's customs.Closure:
In this lesson, the students should have learned a few things they did not know prior to this unit on China.  They should gain an understanding of different regions in the world and experience a little bit of the culture of China.  They should also know a little bit more about the people of China after completing this study, and find and use information off an Internet site.
Materials:
Map of the United States
Map of China
Paper Doll Pattern
Paper Doll Clothes Pattern
Facts About China
Information on Chinese Houseboats
Chalkboard
Ancient Chinese Sayings
Sample of Calligraphy
information/Pictures of Great Wall
Chinese Vegetables
Rice
Cooking Utensils
Chopsticks
Tea Leaves
Dowel Rods (for Kites)
String (kites)
Information On Pandas
Computers
Internet Address for Endangered Species
Construction Paper (Paper Dragons)
Things To Decorate With

Bibliography:
"Endangered Species." http://www.sprint.com/epatrol/ep-endangered.html (April 21, 1998)

"Flags of the World." 1997. http://fotw.digibel.be/flags/cn.html (April 27,1998)

Fries, Marcia and Gina Lems-Tardif.  China, World Neighbor Series. Creative Teaching Press, Inc. 1995.

Milliken, Linda.  China, Hands-on Heritage, Activity Book.  Edupress, 1995.

National Geographic."Map Machine." 199 . http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/maps/atlas/index.html (April 21,1998)
 

Created 4-22-98

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