Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a
country other than the
There
are two separate phases of this project.
Phase 1 – We will take an in class vote to select a particular country and
city to use for this project. Our entire
class will create a joint presentation with clues about the mystery country and city. We will present this information live to the
other participating classrooms across the country through the use of the video
conferencing technology. The other classrooms, using maps, the internet,
textbooks, and other resources, will try to discover the mystery location based
on the descriptions we have presented.
To accomplish this phase, our class will be divided into five teams,
each team receiving a particular topic that they will be required to research
and collect data about. The research
collected by each group will be combined in class to create one all
encompassing PowerPoint presentation. That PowerPoint presentation is the one that
will be shown during the video conference.
Phase 2 – All of the other
classrooms participating in this project will be conducting their own
presentations that will provide clues to a particular mystery location that we
must figure out. Being that there are five
other classrooms participating in this project, each of the 5 teams in our
classroom will have the opportunity to use maps, the internet, textbooks, and
other resources to discover the mystery locations that are being described in
the presentations.
Instructions
1.) Based on the set of 5 questions I have provided each team (Questions are listed below), determine which question each member will be collecting information on. After your first in class meeting, each group will submit a piece of paper containing all team member names and the questions they have chosen on it.
Group #1 Questions - How are Goods imported to and exported from the country? How do average people travel within the country? Describe how land and sea areas define the country’s borders? How does this country get along with its neighbors? (See Transnational Issues in the CIA WorldFactBook) How do people use the land to make a living? For example, describe the main industries in the country.
Group #2
Questions - How does the dress of the people in the country reflect the
climate? Illustrate if possible. What
are the major economic activities in the country? What is the latitude or longitude of the
northern boundary of the country? What
is the area of the country? What are the
major ecosystems in this country?
Group #3 Questions - What
body of water is closest to the country?
What is the primary language of the country? What is the population of the country? What is the country's major religion? What kind of government does the country
have?
Group #4 Questions - What
is the literacy rate for the country?
What is the GDP for the country?
Describe the country's involvement in a major conflict (internal or with
neighbors or worldwide). When was the
country established? Has the country
ever been known by another name?
Group #5 Questions -
What is the most common form of transportation for people within the city? Which direction from the country capitol do
you travel to reach the town or city?
Name and describe a tourist attraction in your city or town. Illustrate
if possible. What is the population of
your city? (You can give a range if you wish.)
Describe one or more notable physical landforms in or near this city.
2.) Using maps, the internet, textbooks, globes, atlases, almanacs, encyclopedias, and any other resources you can think of, each group member will record the findings to their particular question in the form of a Microsoft Word Document and save it on a disk. After every group has submitted their work, we will use a laptop computer and projector to create a PowerPoint presentation based on the information contained on each of your disks. The class will vote on what material makes it to the final version of the presentation and what gets edited. Listed below is a group of websites that will provide answers to all of the questions that have been given to you.
http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.countryreports.org/
http://www.theodora.com/flags/flags.html
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html
3.)
During the live video conference each team will be provided one half
hour to discover the mystery locations that are being described in the presentations
conducted by the other classrooms. All
teams will have access to maps, the internet, textbooks, globes, atlases,
almanacs, encyclopedias, as resources to find the correct answer. Once each team has determined what there
answer will be, they must write the names of both the country and city on a poster. Then each team must hold the poster up facing
the camera in order to officially record their answer. An example of this is list below:
Project Grading
Activity Participation 50%
Word Document Saved On Disk 25%
Team Results For Obtaining The Correct Answer 25%
Total 100%
This will be an extremely fun assignment that will challenge
each of you to work together in an effort to complete a common goal. Helen Keller once said “Alone we can do so
little; together we can do so much.”
Work hard, work together, and I promise that you will all be proud of
your results.