I teach fifth grade gifted and talented math and science. The focus of the unit is human impact on the earth, which is one of the five themes of geography. During the unit lessons the students will be participating in a simulated oil spill, mapping the Exxon Valdez oil spill, conducting research on the importance of oil as a resource to the United States as well as various environmental issues and topics concerning oil spills. The students will also investigate the relationship between oil and the United State’s involvement in the Gulf War. The students will be writing an editorial taking a position for the Gulf War or against the Gulf War.
The Apprentice Webquest: Ecosystems in Danger, http://www.ldcsb.on.ca/schools/cfe/rpt/RPT_Ecosystems/student.html
will allow the students to problem solve using a real life scenario. The purpose of this webquest is to help the students to make logical informed decisions that will impact many people.
The students will be given a reasoning web that will help them reason through the problems of importing and exporting oil and make a decision about whether Mr. Trump should indeed enter into the business of exporting oil. As the students complete this activity they will have to provide support or evidence that has been researched to support the problems that they have found with importing and exporting oil. The webquest allows the students to research and design the most effective and cost efficient method for importing and exporting oil. They will also research the validity of the argument that transporting oil is damaging to the environment. Upon completion of the task the students will be able to reason through a problem by looking at the problem from various viewpoints. The students will also have an idea of how importing and exporting oil can potentially harm the environment but can also be a profitable business as well. The students will make a decision about exporting and importing oil based on their research and the various viewpoints represented.
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Geography: Map Comprehension Skills
I am teaching a geography unit for fifth graders. Part of the unit is meant to address students’ lack of map skills. I have chosen to begin by having the students design their own country/nation, complete with borders, cities, towns, capitals, and various types of landforms. Rather than doing a simple pencil sketch, which usually yields a quick and sloppy rendering, the students will create their maps using the Microsoft Paint program. With this program they can refine details, correct mistakes without unsightly erasure marks, and render the map in color, which should result in a map that closely resembles maps they routinely encounter in their text books. Once a satisfactory design has been completed, it will be saved on the school’s hard drive. The file can then be imported into Microsoft Word as a Printed Watermark (from the Background section in the Format drop-down menu). Once the map is present as the background, the students can type the names of their cities, towns, countries, etc., simply by placing their cursor over the appropriate spot and typing it in. They may also use the Table menu to draw a map key, and perhaps even a grid, upon which they can place coordinates or measures of latitudes and longitudes. The original file can be kept and modified to produce other types of maps that they need knowledge of, including product, road, elevation, political, and historical.
Having created their own maps, and using the some of the same techniques used in modern cartography, it is hoped that students will have an expanded understanding of how to read and decipher maps they will be exposed to later in both school and in the real world.
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