Early Explorers

5.2

M. Hickman, Toby Lawless k -8 School

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Designer:  M. Hickman

Publication Date:  9/04

Standards:

•  Social Studies:
  • 5.2 Students trace the routes of early explorers and describe the early explorations of the Americas (provides background).
• Language Arts:
  • 1.1 Read aloud narrative and expository text fluently, accurately and with expression.
  • 2.1 Understand how format, graphics, charts, maps, etc. make information accessible.
  • 2.3 Discern main ideas and supporting evidence.

Key Concepts:

• Introduction to: exploration (5.2), migration, movement of people, (5.3 & 5.8), and nation (5.6 & 5.7).

Learning Outcome:  At the end of this less the students will be able to give a definition of a continent, compass rose, ocean, hemisphere, equator and prime meridian.  They will also be able to label the 7 continents, 4 oceans and the hemispheres on a map.

TCI Strategies:  Skill Builder

EL Strategies:  mixed pairing, visuals, pre-teach vocabulary

Materials:  overhead, colored pencils, interactive notebook, copy of map PG 2 student notebook, transparency 1A, 3 copies of challenge questions – cut apart, transparency of student pg. 2, History Alive! America’s Past textbook, transparency of old-world map.

Opportunities to Learn/Perform (Procedure):

• Preview:  In the upper left-hand side of their interactive notebooks have the students answer the following questions.  What names are you called by at home?  What names are you called by at school?  Are they different?  Could being called by different names cause confusion?  Why?
• Have random students give their responses.  Lead the class in a discussion that names are given for identification.
• Input – Show transparency 1A and tell the students they will learn how to label the key parts of a world map.  Discuss with the students the key parts labeled on transparency 1A.  Compare Transparency 1A with a transparency of an old world map. 
• Have students read section 1.2 on page 13 of History Alive! America’s Past. 
• Lead a discussion with the class and have them write the following definitions on the right hand page on their interactive notebooks. 
  • Continent:  There are 7 large landmasses:  North America, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, Antarctica
  • Ocean:  The largest bodies of water on Earth.  They surround the continents.  There are 4 oceans:  Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic
  • Hemisphere:  half-sphere
  • Prime Meridian:  An imaginary line that cuts the Earth in half from North to South
  • Equator:  An imaginary line that cuts the Earth in half from East to West
  • Compass Rose:  A symbol that represents and show the direction of North, South, East and West.
• Divide the students into pairs.  Give them 1 or 2 of the challenge questions and have them label their maps correctly with the answer, the question#, and the appropriate color.  Have the students check their answer with the teacher in order to receive more questions.
• As a class write the correct answers on the transparency of student page 2.  The students should correct any mistakes they made on their papers.
• Processing:  On the lower left hand page of their interactive notebooks have the students do the following.
  • Write and answer 3 challenge questions similar to the ones that you completed in class.  Be sure your questions have an answer in the listed category.

Category                      Question                      Answer

• Continent
• Ocean
• Hemisphere

Technology Component:  Overhead, Internet (for old world map)

TCI Resources: 5^th Grade History Alive: America’s Past

Other Resources:  Old World Map - Internet

Assessment:

• Preview:  Check student work; see specific question and directions in procedure.  To receive full credit the students must give a detailed answer that is written in complete sentences and has correct grammar and punctuation.
• Input:  Check student map and notes.  All notes and the map must correct and complete to receive credit.
• Process:  Check student work: see specific questions and directions in the procedure.  To receive full credit the student’s questions must be in the assigned category and the answer must be correct.

Rubric:  Preview 20 points, Process 20 Points, Notes 10 Points   Full credit or No credit (see above).

Reflection:

The student papers showed that most students understood the basic vocabulary and were able to locate the continents, oceans, and hemispheres.  Many students had difficulty writing questions related to the category of hemisphere.

If I were to teach this lesson again, I would change a few things.  I would give a longer explanation of the activity and demonstrate a few of the questions.  I would use more realia, such as a globe or an orange cut into pieces to demonstrate the hemispheres.  Many students had difficulty writing questions related to hemispheres, so I would do this question as a class for practice.  Finally, as a teacher, I had difficulty knowing which questions the students still needed to do as they brought their work to me to check.  I would have students make a number line at the bottom of their paper that matched the number of questions they had.  As students complete a question they could cross it off.  This would allow me to know what questions they still needed to complete. 

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