Summary: This class launches student consideration of geographical differences on the planet.
Materials:
A globe or wall map
One or more balls with an outline of a globe (extension)
Preparation/Classroom Management: There are several ways to enhance this activity. You can set up a set of stations, each illustrated by a web page or printed materials, accompanied by the set of questions. Alternatively, you can set up a projection system that leads the students through the various areas of discussion.
Introduction:
What is Beacon International Neighborhood? This is a telecommunication program in which small groups of schools are organized to learn together. This year's focus links 4th grades in activities spanning water monitoring, modelling, resource evaluation and sustainable development. It involves three class sessions a week, and emphasizes the value of low-cost portable computers and probes.
What is a neighborhood? A typical neighborhood includes people who live close to one another, so close that they see one another relatively frequently and rely upon each other. The number of times you actually meet your neighbor depends on the density of the population. A person who lives in a large city apartment building may meet their neighbor more frequently than a person who lives in a farmland. One possible measure of a suburban neighborhood is the distance that is "bikable".
What is an international neighborhood? The World Wide Web and the Internet now allow people far apart to get to know each other well, and to see each other's world's so clearly that they might be considered "neighbors". We are motivated to build "international neighborhoods" because we recognize that we have a shared fate on this single planet, and that we need to get to know each other, or at least get to know well a few inhabitants of other places on the globe.
Who will be our international partners? Because of differences in schedules, international partners will start a bit later. Explain to your students that you will eventually have several international partner schools, but that you will be asked to relate most closely to one school in particular. You will have a special responsibility to answer the mail from that school.
ACTIVITY: SENSING THE GLOBE'S NATURAL FEATURES
Brainstorm: Does it make any difference where in the world you are born? Ask students, either individually or in small working groups, to consider why there are significant differences in plants and animals, including humans, around the world. Do not discourage them from considering key cultural and political features, but point them towards natural physical differences when they come to the end of their brainstorming.
Latitude
Temperature increases towards the equator. Why? Is this enough to explain the position of deserts?
Biodiversity increases towards equator. Could this be connected to the increase in temperature?
LongitudeThere are time zones because the Earth turns and sunlight falls on different parts of the globe, from East to West, as it turns.
When would be the best time for you to talk to someone in Italy? Someone in Singapore? Someone in San Francisco,US? Someone in Beacon, NY, US? For someone in Milan, Italy to talk to someone in Hong Kong?
Consult the Russian Time Zone Site. [http://www.worldtimezone.com/]
WeatherHow different is rainfall around the globe? What is your annual rainfall? What place has the highest rainfall? The lowest?
Temperatures: How different are temperatures around the globe? ?Where is it hottest in the world? Coldest?
What is your own average high and average low?
There are different types of seasons around the globe. Do you have 4 seasons in your area? Does Spring come slowly or quickly? Are there monsoons?
Prevailing winds - Where does YOUR weather come from, West or East?
Click HERE to enlarge
Continental Position
Access to water: Are you able to get a boat in the water? How far can it travel? What difference would this make?
Are you on the coast? More in the center of a continent? What difference might this make?
Do you live where there are frequent earthquakes? What difference might this make?
ResourcesWhat resources do you have in your region? your country?
Is there a lot of fresh water?
Is there a great deal of oil, gas, or wood for fuel?
If you used teams, have the teams Report Back: At the end of class, have each group report their ideas.
Brainstorm together: Which of these factors might be most important? There is no right answer here, but raising the question is a way to develop a spirited conversation.
Extensions:
A Watery Planet: Toss a globe up in the air repeatedly, and have students note where their thumbs land. After a while it will become clear that much of the Earth's surface (70%) is water. You need to do a significant number of tosses, and either 10 or 100 tosses will give results that are easier for 4th grade students to interpret.
Getting
to the Core. This is a metaphor for understanding the
value of the Earth's crust and arable soil.
home l activities l data exchange l webbed neighborhood l resources