Kirsten Britt
Second – (Third Grade) Level
Geography

PURPOSE:
The students will learn to take a look at their own culture and see how the physical environment affects how people live.  Students at the second grade level have learned about their family and their community.  This lesson will build on what they know and broaden their outlook to include other peoples and other ways that people live.  The main focus is on a culture's form of housing, food, and clothing. This lesson will help them to become more aware of their surroundings and more appreciative of other peoples.

CONNECTION TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:

No. 1 -  How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective
The student will receive practice in looking up maps on the Internet, writing information on maps, and making their own globe.

 No. 4 – The physical and human characteristics places
The student will learn about the different types of weather, foods, clothing and more in the United States and in Japan and how the physical characteristics affect how the humans live.

No. 9 – The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on earth’s surface
The students will study the population densities of the United States and Japan.

No. 15 – How physical systems affect human systems
The students will study how people adapt to what their physical environment can offer them.

No. 16 – The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources
The students will learn how people use the resources from the land they live on.

APPLICABLE TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:

The student will use simple geographic tools such as maps, globes, and photographs.

The student will understand the locations and characteristics of places and regions.

The student will understand how physical characteristics of places and regions affect people’s activities and settlement patterns.

The student will understand how humans use and modify the physical environment.

OBJECTIVES LIST:
Students will demonstrate their ability:

1.  To use the Internet as a tool to learn about a country.

2.  To show how different factors such as population density, land, location, etc. can affect the way people live.

3.  Compare and contrast the United States and Japan.

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION:

These lesson plans will be written for the second grade.  They will consist of ten 50-minute lessons.  The students will study the cultures of the United States and Japan using a variety of learning activities and technology.  They will particularly focus on the food, dress, and form of housing in The United States and Japan.

PROCEDURES:

Day 1: A Look into Our Culture

1.  Sponge Activity: (10 minutes)
Give children short interview to fill out (Appendix A).

2.  Opening Activity:  (10 minutes)
Ask the children how they answered the questions and have them raise their hands for what they circled.  Record the numbers and graph the data for what they are wearing on a large bar graph in front of the class.

3.  Guided Practice: (20 minutes)
Record numbers on the board for foods in general categories that the children had for dinner.  Also record numbers for the forms of housing and what their homes are made out of.  Divide the class into groups of  3-4 and assign each group a topic and have them make a bar graph to show the results.

4.  Independent Practice: (10 minutes)

Go around to each group as they finish their graph and explain that the Internet can be used as a source to learn more about a country.  Show them how to get to the site to look at the United States and read about it.

MATERIALS:
Class copies of Appendix A
large poster boards / white board and markers
rulers
large graph paper
computers

Day 2: Weather in the United States

1.  Sponge Activity:  (5 minutes)
Put children in groups of  2-3.  Give them go outside and check the temperature and write it down.

2.  Opening:  (5 minutes)
Compare each group’s results and record the temperatures on the board.  Why are some of the answers different?  Ask the children if they checked the temperature in the shade or in the sun.  Go over the proper techniques to using a thermometer.

3.  Guided Practice: (10 minutes)
Have the groups from Day 1 share their graphs with the class.  Talk about the results and ask the students whether or not they think that what people wear, what types of homes they live in, and what they eat are affected by the weather where they live.

4.  Independent Practice:  (30 minutes)
Put the children in groups of 3-4.  Go to http://city.net/countries/united_states/maps/usa.html and make enough copies of this map of the western United States for each group to have one.  Tell them to go to http://www.ems.psu.edu/WeatherWorld/kidstuff/wxdude.html and to enter the names of the cities marked on the map and find out the temperature for the day.  Have them write down the degrees right on the map.  If they have extra time, tell them to go to http://www.ems.psu.edu/WeatherWorld/kidstuff/kidlinks.html and explore the weather links.

MATERIALS:
at least 6 thermometers
copies of the United States map
computers

Day 3: Why Do We Live How We Live?

1.  Sponge Activity: (10 minutes)
Give children the globe worksheet to start coloring (Appendix B).  Have them keep the papers in their desks.  Let students explore the Odyssey Globe in small groups if it is available to you.

2.  Opening:  (5 minutes)
Explain to the children that they have used the Internet to learn that we have mild temperatures in the western United States and that affects what we wear.  Tell them that you want them to come up with some reasons for why we live in houses like we do and why we eat the foods we do.

3.  Guided Practice:  (15 minutes)
Guide the students through a brainstorm map on the board about what they think can affect the way that we live.  Be sure to include population density, natural resources, and economics in your map.

4.  Independent Practice:  (20 minutes)
Give the students the paper doll patterns (Appendix C) and give them scraps of fabric, markers, construction paper, and glue.  Tell them to make clothes and glue them onto the paper dolls.  Write a temperature beside the paper doll that would be appropriate for what they have dressed them on.  You can either go around and assist the children with this or write a general outline on the board for clothing and temperature.  For example: shorts and a T-shirt = 80 degrees, sweatshirt and jeans = 60 degrees, a thick coat = 40 degrees.

MATERIALS:
class set of Appendix B
markers
computers
white board
class set of Appendix C
fabric scraps
construction paper
glue

Day 4: Internet Day

1.  Sponge Activity:  (5 minutes)
Let the children continue to color and/or cut out their globe worksheet (Appendix B).

2.  Opening Activity:  (7 minutes)
Review the brainstorm map from Day 3.  Tell the children that they are going to get the chance to see if they made correct guesses.  Divide the class into groups of 3-4 and give them 5 minutes to discuss what they are going to try and find on the Internet.

3.  Guided Practice:  (3 minutes)
Review how to use the web and put up web site suggestions on the board.  Here are some web sites to suggest:
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html 
http://city.net/maps

However, I find that web sites are constantly changing so the best way to do this activity may be to show them how to use Net Search and search engines to find the topic that they are looking for.  The main objective of this day should be for students to enjoy exploring the net to answer their questions.  Don’t put too much pressure on the students for a certain product, but instead emphasize the process.

4.  Independent Practice: (35 minutes)
Let the children explore the Internet in their groups.

MATERIALS:
Appendix B
scissors
computers

Day 5: Finishing the Study of the United States
 

1.  Sponge Activity: (5 minutes)
Tell the children to continue working on their globe worksheet (Appendix B).  They should be at the cutting and pasting stage of the project.

2.  Opening:  (20 minutes)
Let each group present the information that they found on the Internet.  Discuss and draw conclusions as a class.

3.  Guided Practice:  (5 minutes)
Tell the students that next week they will be learning about Japan.  Ask them what they would want to include in a letter if they were writing a second grader in Japan to tell them about our culture in the United States.

4.  Independent Practice:  (20 minutes)
Tell them to write that letter to their pretend pen pal.  Tell them to include the areas of food, dress, and housing in their letter.  If they finish before the time is up, tell them to illustrate their letter.

Alternate Plan: Join a chat room where the students can chat with children in an English class in Japan.

5.  Assessment:
Grade the letters according to whether or not the child included a least one sentence about food, dress, and housing and on accuracy.

MATERIALS:
Appendix B
scissors
glue

Day 6: How My Parents Learned to Eat

1.  Sponge Activity:  (15 minutes)
Guide the children to finish their globe activity (Appendix C).

2.  Opening:  (10 minutes)
Have the children point to the United States and then to Japan on their globes.  Also show them on a larger map where each of the countries are.  Have them make some general observations about both countries and write them on the board. (Example:  The United States is really large and Japan is really small.  Japan is made up of islands.)

3.  Guided Practice:  (10 minutes)
Tell the children that you are going to read them a story that shows how people from Japan are different from people in the United States is some ways and one example is in the way that they eat.  Read the book How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman to the class.

4.  Independent Practice:  (15 minutes)
Worksheet on How My Parents Learned to Eat (Appendix D).

MATERIALS:
paper plates
straws
stapler
globe
How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R. Friedman
class set of Appendix D

Day 7: Kids Link to Japan 

1.  Sponge Activity:  (10 minutes)
Have the children write a journal entry completing this sentence:  "If I could go any place in the world I would go to . . ."

2.  Opening:  (5 minutes)
Have a few children share their journal entries.  Then explain that even though we cannot go wherever we want to right now, we can get a taste of another country by using the Internet.

3.  Guided Practice:  (15 minutes)
Put the children in groups of 3-4.  Go to http://city.net/countries/japan/maps/japan.html and make enough copies of the map of Japan for each group. Tell them that they are going to pick at least 5 cities and find out the temperatures and write them down on the map like they did last week.  Use http://www.ems.psu.edu/WeatherWorld/kidstuff/wxdude.html again.

4.  Independent Practice:  (20 minutes)
Let the children explore a little about the Japanese culture.  Kids link to Japan is an excellent web site for children.  http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/link.html

MATERIALS:
at least 6 copies of the map of Japan
computers

Day 8: What do People Eat in Japan?

1.  Sponge Activity:  (10 minutes)
Tell the children to look at a map of Japan.  Ask them to finish this sentence in their journals, "I think that people in Japan eat . . ."  Tell the students to write at least half a page and to think of more than one reason.

2.  Opening Activity:  (15 minutes)
Divide the children into groups of 3-4.  Give each group a cookie sheet covered on the bottom with blue construction paper.  Give them play dough and tell them to make a physical map of Japan.  The blue represents the water.

3.  Guided Activity:  (15 minutes)
Give each child a piece of seaweed and a small amount of rice.  Give them the chance to roll their own rice ball.  Ask them why they think that Japanese people eat a lot of seaweed.  (They should answer because Japan is surrounded by water.)  Explain that Japanese people often roll up fish inside the seaweed as well.

4.  Independent Practice:  (10 minutes)
Keep the children in their same groups.  Give them a variety of different resources (atlases, almanacs, social studies books, library books about Japan, and the Internet) and ask them to come up with an idea on why they think that Japanese people eat so much rice.  Have each group designate a secretary to write that idea down.

MATERIALS:
play dough
blue construction paper
at least 6 cookie sheets
rice
seaweed pieces
resource books
computers

Day 9: Everyday Life in Japan

1.  Sponge Activity:  (10 minutes)
Have the children complete this sentence in a journal entry:  "I think that  ______ affects what kind of home you live in because . . ."

2.  Opening:  (5 minutes)
Ask a few of the students to share their journal entries.  Tell the children that many different factors affect how people live.  Tell them that you are going to use the Internet together to learn how people live in Japan.

3.  Guided Practice:  (15 minutes)
On a computer with an LCD panel for the overhead, go to the web site http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/index.html  Start with clicking on "everyday life."  Go through what type of home Japanese people live in, what they eat, and what they wear and expand into other categories as time permits.

4.  Independent Practice:  (20 minutes)
Go to http://www-japan.mit.edu/kimono/kimono-child.html and show children the picture of the Japanese children in kimonos.  Give them colorful scraps of origami paper, scissors, glue, construction paper, and markers, and let them create their own kimono.

MATERIALS:
picture of Japanese children in kimonos
computers
origami paper
scissors
glue
construction paper
markers
 
Day 10: Finishing the Unit

1.  Sponge Activity:  (5 minutes)
Have the children complete this sentence, "The most exciting thing that I learned in this unit was . . ."

2.  Opening:  (1 minute)
Tell the class, "Today we are going to review what we have learned for the past two weeks.

3.  Guided Practice:  (4 minutes)
Divide the class into groups of 3-4 and assist them in getting to http://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/index.html

4.  Independent Practice:  (30 minutes)
Give the groups the Internet worksheet to complete (Appendix E).

5.  Assessment:
Grade the Internet worksheets.

6.  Closure:  (10 minutes)
Discuss as a class what they have learned, especially about how the physical conditions affect what people wear, eat, and the homes that they live in.  Compare the United States with Japan.

MATERIALS:
class set copies of Appendix E
computers

APPENDIX:
A)   All About Me

1.  What kind of home to you live in?   Circle. apartment house other

2.  What is your house made out of?

3.  Sketch a picture of your house.
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
4.  What are you wearing right now?  You may circle more than one.

dress  jeans  skirt  shoes  shirt  socks

sweatshirt  pants  earrings necklace

ring  belt  coat  boots  sweater

5.  What did you eat and drink for dinner last night?

B) 

C)  

D) How My Parents Learned to Eat By Ina R. Friedman

1.  In the beginning of the story what and how did John eat?  What and how did Aiko eat?

2. What problem did John and Aiko have?

3.  How did they solve their problem?
 

4.  Write a paragraph about a time that you saw someone doing something different than the way you do it.  How did that make you feel?  What did you do?
 
 

E) Internet Search for Japan

1.  What do Japanese people do when they walk into their houses?
 

2.  What are the two most popular sports in Japan for children?
 

3.  What is the capital of Japan?
 

4.  What month do Japanese children start the first grade?
 

5.  What type of weather does Japan have?
 

6.  Does Japan have a lot of natural resources?
 

7.  What do Japanese people call flower arranging?
 

8.  Name 5 different activities that Japanese children like to do after school.
 

9.  Sketch the Japanese flag:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

10.  What happened to the air and rivers in Japan in the 1960s?
 

EXTENSIONS:
(included in lesson plans)
art – globes, paper dolls, kimonos
literature – How My Parents Learned to Eat
writing – journal assignments, worksheets
math – temperature graphs
science – temperature, physical maps
technology – computers

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Sources:  Wolfe, Liz, "Shelters/ Immigration Unit," 1991.  Redwood City School District.

WWW Sites:
"CIA World Fact Book – 1996."  Central Intelligence Agency, 1998.  http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html  (5 April 1998).
"Excite Maps."  Excite, 1998.  http://city.net/maps/  (5 April 1998).
"Kids Link to Japan."  1998.  http://wwwjinjapan.org/kidsweb/index.html  (5 April 1998).
"Weather World Kid Links"  1998.  http://www.ems.psu.edu/WeatherWorld/kidstuff/kidlinks.html  (5 April 1998).

Created April 16, 1998

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