Geography Awareness Week 1999November 14

Geography Awareness Week 1999
November 14-20, 1999

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Community Connections

Kathie Kleckner
Central School
400 Clinton
Ottawa, IL 61350

Preview of Main Ideas

Technical advances in communications have made it easier to learn about people and places far away from where we live. Students tend to view school as school. Yet schools in other areas can be very different from their school because of geography. This lesson will give students a chance to explore those differences and to see the similarities.

Connection With the Curriculum

This lesson can be used with Geography, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Math.

Teaching Level: All Grades

Objective #1: The students will use school home pages to find information about different schools and compare those schools to their own school.

Essential Element: Places and Regions.

Standard #4: The Physical and Human Characteristics of Places.

Knowledge Statement #2: How different human groups alter places in distinctive ways.

Skill Set #2: Acquire Geographic Information.

Skill #1: Use a variety of research skills to locate and collect geographic data.

Skill Set #3: Organize Geographic Information.

Skill #3: Prepare various forms of graphs to organize and display geographic information.

Skill Set #5: Answer Geographic Questions.

Skill #2: Make generalizations and assess their validity.

Theme: Regions

Materials

1. Assess to the Internet.
2. Web site list.
3. Paper and pencil

Suggestions for Teaching the Lesson

Opening the Lesson

If your school has its own web page, find it on the computer. Talk about what is on it. What could someone learn about our school from looking at this page?

If your school does not have its own page, talk about the things your school might put on a page. What would other schools learn about your school from that information?

Developing the Lesson

Explain that the class will be looking at web pages from different schools. Talk about what kinds of information they would want to look for. Make a list on the blackboard, their notebooks, or on chart paper. That list might include student population, number of classrooms, what the building looks like or is made of, topics that students are studying, field trips that they have taken, etc.

Once they have decided what information they will be looking for, give students a site address. They should record their findings and be ready to report back to the class.

Depending on the number of computers available, this may take more than one class period. Teachers may wish to have students do a Venn Diagram to chart how the schools are alike and different.

Teachers of younger students will want to go through the web site as a class.

Concluding the Lesson

Have students write a short report comparing the web site school with their school. What do the two schools have in common? What are their differences? What role might geography have played in how they are alike and different?

Teachers of younger students can talk this out or write a paragraph together.

Assessing Student Learning

A Geography grade may be given depending on the number of points the student has made.

A Language Arts grade may be given on the students ability to write a paragraph.

Extending the Lesson

Students can choose a fact from their finding (number of class, number of multistory buildings, number of sports teams, etc.). They can work this information up into a graph.

Students can chart the location of the schools on a map.

Use this lesson plan and the state information sites to do reports on different states.

Web Site Addresses for Schools 1

AK www.educ.state.ak.us/Alaskan_Schools/home.html
AK www.jsd.k12.ak.us/
AR www.jps.k12.ar.us/
AR www.arkansas.gov/family_ed_schools.

AZ http://www.ade.state.az.us/
CA www.rimsd.k12.ca.us/
CA www.lincoln.smmusd.org/
CA www.sjusd.k12.ca.us/sites/elem/Williams/staff.html
CO http://www.cde.state.co.us/utility/k12schls.htm

DC www.k12.dc.us/dcps/home.html
IAwww.state.ia.us/educate/directory.html
IL www.springfield.k12.il.us
IL www.ottawaelem.lasall.k12.il.us/
IL www.u46.k12.il.us
IL www.d211.org
LA http://www.doe.state.la.us/lde/index.html
MT www.target.k12.mt.us
NC http://www.ncpublicschools.org/
NM http://www.sfps.k12.nm.us/sfps/pages/1.html
OR www.hsd.k12.or.us
OR www.HolyFamPDX.ORG
PA www.northampton.k12.pa.us