Showing posts with label Geography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geography. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Updates

I just updated the geography posts with mapwork :) I included a link to a website with some blackline maps- pick the appropriate ones :)
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Friday, March 6, 2009

3-Part Cards for Biomes

In my text, I mentioned using 3 part cards for remembering and learning the biomes. I figured I should also let you see my cards :)
Unfortunately, google docs wont let me publish it HERE but you can easily email me to get the cards....
Contact information in the right hand sidebar under the 'about me and my blogs' link.
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Geography Book Ch. 2

N.B. there are actually pictures to go with all the map/equator stuff, but I do not own the copyright to them. Eventually I hope I will get around to producing my own pictures for your enjoyment, for now, a quick search with google images will help you to find visual stimulation for the kids. You can also use my links to find the same information.

As always, use at your own risk, all writings are copyrighted to me and if you want to ask questions my contact information can be found at my main blog or somewhere in the links to the sides :D

Chapter 2: Continents, Oceans and Biomes

Chances are, that once the Alien You has filed a report on the structure of the Earth, that you will be told to look at the surface of the Earth- after all this is where all the life is present.

Out of your view-screen, you would be able to see that the earth is ¾ covered with water, the other ¼ is land. You would be able to see 3 large bodies of water and 6 large bodies of land, but listening to Earth communications you would hear that the humans consider there to be 5 oceans and 7 continents.

The continents are called, Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America.

You would not be sure which one was which, so you would have to refer to a human map.

Alien You would probably be a little confused as to why there are lines dividing some of these places in half, but you'd get the idea of where the continents started and stopped from it.


Next you'd try to find out the oceans. You would find out that they are called the Atlantic, Arctic, Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans. Again, you'd consult a human map to find out which one is which.

Alien You would probably be a little confused as to why even some of the waters seem divided up, but you would probably put it down to humans being a little weird :)

Alien You would now realise that the humans like to divide and classify things (that is to sort them into groups of things that share something in common), and you would be a little curious as to what else humans have classified.

You look back at the maps, and notice lines drawn horizontally across it.

“Equator” you would read. Above and below it, equally spaced are more lines- “Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn”.

Alien You would need to look those up, and when you did you will find that the equator is an imaginary belt around the centre of the earth. It is the fattest part of the globe, with a constant warm temperature, and equal lengths of day and night. The areas between the two tropics, and surrounding the equator, are what the humans call 'the tropics'. This is a band around the earth, where the weather does not fluctuate much, and is warm almost all the time.

You would notice on your map, that the equator is 0 degrees latitude, and that each of the Tropics is 23.5 degrees- the Tropic of Cancer is 23.5 degrees NORTH, the tropic of Capricorn 23.5 degrees SOUTH.

Since Alien You is from another planet, you wouldn't know what North and South mean. So you do a little research. North and South, you would discover, come from something called the CARDINAL directions or Compass Points. These are found on a COMPASS. North points to the 'top' of the Earth, where the North Pole is.

When Alien you decided to find out more, you would discover that the earth works a lot like a giant magnet. As the needle on a compass spins, it turns to point NORTH, not to the North pole itself, but to something called Magnetic North. It's close to the North pole :)

The Cardinal directions are like the 4 points of a cross. At the top is North, to the right is East, at the bottom is South and on the left is West. Between each of these points the directions are given mixed names...

North-east, south-east, South-west and north-west. You find they can be divided even further into North-North-East, South-North-East and so on.

You might learn that every map has the directions on it, in the form of a compass rose... which always tells you which way is north- and if the map doesn't have one, then north is at the top of the page.

You find a rhyme to help you remember which way the directions are, for when you go travelling on earth.

The east is where the sun does rise

Each morning in the glorious skies;

Full west he sets, or hides his head,

And points us to the time for bed;

He's in the south at our lunch time;

The north is facing to a line.

Now you understand the directions, you go looking for the way the humans have classified the earth. As Alien You looks around, you would probably begin to notice patterns. One of the first you'd see, is that the places on earth, fit into six main groups. You might discover that the humans call these biomes, and have organised them according to the vegetation (plant and tree growth) and organisms that live there.

Alien You might find the human definition:

“The world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment.” (Campbell 1996)

But being an Alien, you'd know it meant the first thing I said ;)

Then you would find out that there are six major types of Biomes:

Freshwater, Marine, Desert, Forest (tropical, temperate and taiga), Grassland (including savanna and chaparral) and Tundra

The more Alien You would research though, the more biomes you would find. Being a smart Alien, you would know that you did not want to make it too complicated, and you'd stick to the ones you found first.

Each of the six biomes, have some further divisions in them, to describe different types of that biome. You realise that not all deserts are hot, and not all grassland are without trees, so Alien You decides to make memory cards which you can then use to help you remember.

Parent's Note: Here, hand out the biome cards provided, using each of them to introduce the properties of each biome. They are designed as Montessori style three-part cards- the picture and title plus the description and title. Cut out the picture and it's title separately from each other, but leave the description and it's title together. You will use these in 'matching' games for the children to use.

I have divided the biome cards into freshwater, marine water, tundra and grasslands, forest, and desert. There are subdivisions under each biome to describe various TYPES of biome. While these are not super important to know now, most children like the extra information because it makes more sense that way :)

Vocabulary to learn

Continents

Oceans

Classify

Equator

Tropics

Biomes

Cardinal Directions

Compass


Flash cards to introduce

Seven Continents

Four Oceans

Biomes

Cardinal directions


Cards to review

Solar System

Earth Structure

Volcano Cards


Activities

Make a compass: http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/compass1.htm

Make an ocean in a bottle: http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/ocean-in-a-bottle.html

Cool video of the experiment with a more advanced report on oil and water: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-an-ocean-in-a-bottle

Cartesian diver: http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/lab/diver/index.htm

Biome in a baggie: http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/biomeinabaggie.html


Map work:

Draw the continental divides on the map and label each continent.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm

Mark the equator with a red line.

Mark the two tropics with yellow lines.


Writing Activity Prompts

Using your Alien identity, create some more reports for the aliens back home.

a- Make a notebook page about Continents and oceans OR biomes and the Cardinal directions. Include a map with the directions on it.

b- In your travel journal, record information about the continents and oceans OR Cardinal directions and biomes, include a map with the directions on it.

c- Using a video camera, make a report for the aliens back home. Imagine you are on a scientific exploration mission, and think of it as being a news report, with visuals to help the others understand. You can send this to your grandparents if you like :)

Further Resources

Online

OCEANS AND CONTINENTS:

Actually, only oceans. The continents will of course be looked at on an individual basis later :)

Oceans wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean

Enchanted Learning Oceans page:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/ocean/

WWF Oceans:

http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/middle_school/habitats/oceans/

Planet Ocean: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/planetocean/

http://www.ocean.com/

Oceans Alive:

http://www.mos.org/oceans/

BBC Oceans Page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/oceans/


COMPASS POINTS/CARDINAL DIRECTIONS:

The wiki page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_direction

watch a video about the cardinal directions:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=da9929b0f9a3ce48f97c

On World Atlas:

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/comprose.htm

An easy game using the directions (aimed at the younger crowd)

http://www.sfsocialstudies.com/g1/u2/index.html

A cyberchase game:

http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/games/inverseoperations/inverseoperations.html

A little about navigation:

http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/082000.htm

Origins of the compass rose:

http://www.gisnet.com/notebook/comprose.php


BIOMES

Many of these sites are university level sites, the tend to go into a LOT of detail, so keep them for those children who want to do MORE on the subject :)

The best biomes site on the web- all my information is from here :)

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/index.php

Travel with Bill Botanist to all the biomes of the world:

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/Biome/plantindex.php

Enchanted Learning site:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

Some cool homeschooling activities related to Biomes (scroll down for the biomes):

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/directory/EarthScience.htm

Good descriptive site about biomes (more in-depth divisions):

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

A nice site with nice pictures of the animals and plants in the biomes:

http://ths.sps.lane.edu/biomes/index1.html

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/biomes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome

http://www.runet.edu/~swoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/intro.html


Books

Oceans and Continents

We will cover the continents in individual detail later, so these are just overviews.

Mara, Wil: The Seven Continents Children's Press (2005)

Mara, Wil: The Four Oceans (Children's Press 2005)

Simon, Seymour: Oceans Collins (2006)

Ryan, Pam Munoz: Hello Ocean Charlesbridge Publishing (2001)

Cole, Joanna: Magic Schoolbus on the Ocean Floor Scholastic (1994)

MacQuitty, Miranda: Ocean DK Children (2004)

Nelson, Robin: Where is My Continent? Lerner Publishing Group (2001)

Cheyney, Jeanne and Arnold: Continents Good Year Books 1997

Moore, Jo Ellen and Shipman, Gary: Beginning Geography: Continents and Oceans Evan-Moore (1993)



Cardinal Directions
De Capua, Sarah: We Need Directions (Rookie Read-About Geography) Children's Press(CT) (2002)

Fowler, Allan: North, South, East, and West (Rookie Read-About Science) Childrens Press Chicago (1993)

Aberg, Rebecca: Map Keys (Rookie Read-About Geography) Children's Press (CT) (2003)

Gonzales, Doreen: Up North and Down South: Using Map Directions (Map Mania) Capstone Press (2008)

Schroeder, Susan: Cardinal Points: NORTH AuthorHouse (2008) Fiction book for older kids, not really about the cardinal points but about astronomy and all sorts :)

Aberg, Rebecca: Latitude and Longitude Children's Press (2003)


Biomes

Explore the Biomes Series, Various Authors, Capstone Press (2007)

Van Cleave, Janice: Janice VanCleave's Science Around the World: Activities on Biomes from Pole to Pole Wiley (2004)

Davis, Barbara J: Biomes and Ecosystems Gareth Stevens Publishing (2007)

Kalman, Bobbie: What is a Biome? Crabtree Publishing Company (1998)

Woodward, Susan L: Biomes of Earth: Terrestrial, Aquatic, and Human-Dominated Greenwood Press (2003)

Collard, Sneed B. III: Many Biomes, One Earth Charlesbridge Punblishing (2009)

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Geography Text

I started writing a geography text to use with DS. I tried to make it fun, and the idea is that the story is a spine to be used with the recommended texts and other resources. Each chapter will have two to three topics, and is designed to be studied over the course of a couple of weeks :) Each section will be used in conjunction with flashcards, written activities and experiments.
As we get into the journeys through various countries, they will keep a 'travel journal'. Or at least that is the plan! So far so good...
If you'd like to see it, read on!

JOURNEY TO THE PLANET EARTH
Part 1: Meet the Earth

Chapter 1: Physical Geography- the Structure of the Earth.
I supposed many of you think you know all about the world. And chances are you may indeed know a little about it, but probably not all there is to know about the world. This chapter will introduce the earth to you, so you can begin to learn a little about the place where you were born!
If you were an alien, arriving in a spaceship to visit this planet- and you can imagine that you are peaceful or going to take over the world as (whichever pleases you)- you would begin the approach to our planet, by arriving in our solar system.
The solar system, is the series of planets, dwarf planets and asteroids (plus a few comets and other odd pieces of debris) that orbit our sun. The sun, (which as an alien you would call Sol) is holding them in a not-quite-circular pattern around it, using the force of gravity. You will learn a lot more about this in science class :)
As you enter the solar system the furthest point (that we know of) from the sun, would bring you into contact with some dwarf planets called Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. - barely bigger than asteroids, which inhabit the edges of the solar system. That far from the sun, it is very cold, and the sun looks like little more than a large star. You would drive through the solar system, seeing a few planets here and there- and if you were fortunate, you might even arrive at a time when you would actually see ALL of the planets as you passed by. This doesn't happen often, and it is far more likely that the alien you, would see just a few of them. The next planet you would see, is one which we call Neptune. It is the first of four gas giants that you would see. Net would come Uranus, which has rings around it in a vertical orbit. Saturn would follow, with it's famous rings. Then you would see the biggest planet in the solar system- Jupiter.
After Jupiter, you would make your way through the asteroid belt- a ring of asteroids around the sun. Within this belt is another dwarf planet called Ceres.
After the asteroids, you'd pass Mars, the red planet, before finally arriving at our planet- Earth. There are only two more planets closer to the sun- Venus and Mercury, both of which are very hot and uninhabitable as a result.
The Alien You, will see immediately that earth is different. For a start, it is teeming with life. There is a large amount of water covering about ¾ of the earth, and it's temperature range is quite moderate.
Using your specialised alien equipment, you would notice that the earth is made up of several layers. The outer layer, is relatively thin- only about 25 miles deep or so (and only about 3-5 miles thick under the oceans). It is a hard layer, rather brittle, and it is made up of the lightest elements. It covers a liquid layer beneath it, which we call the mantle.
This liquid layer, is made up of what we know as lava- essentially molten rocks. The rocks are being compressed by the sheer weight of the earth's crust, creating heat, which prevents these rocks being in the solid state you would see on the crust. Technically they are solid in the mantle, but they are able to move around like a very thick, syrupy liquid. The mantle is the thickest layer of the earth at 1800 miles thick.
Now, beyond THAT layer, is another one- the outer core. The outer core is a ball of very hot metals (4000 degrees F to 9000 degrees F) all in their liquid state. It is about 1400 miles thick, and made mostly from melted nickle and iron.
The last layer is called the inner core- and the pressure and temperatures there are so great that the metals are squeezed together in a dense ball. They cannot move like a liquid, but rather vibrate in place instead.
But that doesn't matter to you, because it is the first layer and the second one which you find interesting.
The mantle, being semi-liquid, has a lot of movement going on. The liquid rock, or magma, acts very much like the water in a tea kettle. Water in a tea kettle circulates while being heated. Eventually it gets hot, and lets off gases- in this case water vapour in the form of steam. The steam will be forceful enough to make the kettle whistle (if it has a whistle) or if not, you might hear the lid rattle.
When magma gets hot, it too lets off gases. The gases, really have nowhere to go, so they cause an increase in pressure. As the pressure increases, it forces the magma to rise through cracks in the surface- eventually causing a volcanic eruption. The eruption is a much more powerful version of the steaming kettle :)

Alien You, might decide to look rather closely at the areas where you see the magma coming out. You notice that they always occur in the same areas, and as you look at your equipment closely, you realise that the crust layer of the earth, is in fact more like a series of puzzle pieces, than a coat over the top of the globe.
These puzzle pieces fit together remarkably well, but along the cracks where they meet- the fault line, you begin to realise that these areas have more earthquakes and volcanoes than elsewhere.
Imagine ice in a glass of water- as the water beneath it moves so does the ice. The larger the ice, the less it moves, but it does still move. Well, that is how the crust works. Like the ice on water, the crust on top of the liquid magma layer, moves a little when the magma does. As more pressure- and therefore more force in the movement builds, so does the earth along these faults move more.
Earthquake prone areas of the globe always occur along these fault lines.
Volcanoes are a little different- there are two main types of volcano- those that spew rock and ash, and those that spew the lava. These different types of volcanoes occur in different areas- and it is different types of pressure build-up that cause this. You'll learn more about these later too :)
So now, alien you has traveled through the solar system. Alien You has arrived at the earth, and began the first part of their study on the planet.
Just as Alien You is making a report, so will you be making a report, and yes, perhaps you will be allowed to make it just as if you were reporting back to your alien planet :)

Vocabulary to learn
Solar System
Orbit
Gravity
Asteroids
Dwarf Planet
Gas Giant
Crust
Mantle
Core
Magma
Lava
Fault Lines

Flash cards to introduce
Solar System
Earth Structure
Volcano Cards
Activities
Map Work
Colour in the main fault lines on a black line map.
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/testmaps/maps.htm

Writing Activity Prompts
Alien You has to report back to your home planet- so create your own alien identity, and do two of the following:

a- Make a notebook page about the structure of the earth (lower grades)
b- You will be creating a book in which you will write your travel experiences to be published to the folks back home. This week, create the title page and write about visiting the earth and it's structure.
c- Using a camera, make your first report home, focusing on the structure of the earth. Plan it out on paper first, using graphics to illustrate your points.

Further Resources

Online

Disclaimer, parents should always check websites themselves, as notions of appropriate and inappropriate content vary :)
EARTHQUAKES
The National Earthquake Information Center- NEIC (part of USGS) has a load of information on their website, aimed at a variety of ages.

FEMA Earthquake Legends: http://www.fema.gov/kids/eqlegnd.htm
The Educational Technology Center has put together a page full of links:

VOLCANOES
Bedfordshire UK Library System has some nice kids pages:
Volcano World- definitely check out the Rocky Stories :)
FEMA Volcanoes for Kids: http://www.fema.gov/kids/volcano.htm
Great Page with quick facts for kids from another UK site:
Homeschool Volcano Unit:
A site with some great volcanic information- aimed a little more at the advanced elementary school student- the language is simplistic, the topics less so- good explanations!
Excellent Volcano Theme Page with many links :)
Read about how to make an exploding Volcano
Companion Pages to the Nova programs about volcanoes
Volcano Questions Answered:
An Intereactive Page about Volcanoes
A cool page in Dutch and English about Volcanoes and plate techtonics
*the link above is dead, you can catch it at the wayback machine here: 
https://web.archive.org/web/20070429092515/http://library.thinkquest.org/17457/english.html or you might like this site suggested by Kelly Campbell - who kindly informed me about the dead link too!: http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/ )
Virtual Fieldtrip Into a Volcano
Volcanoes on other planets (appropriate for our intergalactic traveller!)
Another interactive Volcano website:
Volcano Game on Discovery Kids
College Level Lecture Notes on Volcanoes

Books

Disclaimer- parents should always check the books themselves as objectionable content or twaddle are obviously subject to opinion.
EARTHQUAKES
(recommended by the Earthquake Museum)
(Recommended by the Seismology department at Berkley)
  • Clifford, N., Incredible Earth, Inside Guides, DK Publishing, New York, New York, hardcover, 1996.
  • Fisher, R., The Earth Pack, National Geographic Society, 1995.
    A pop-up book on the Earth. Fun for adults as well as children.
  • Levy, M., and M. Salvadori, Earthquake Games, Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1997.
    Subtitled "Earthquakes and volcanoes explained by 32 games and experiments." A great hands-on activity book. Use materials like Slinkies, buckets of soil, sponges, rocks, and strings to demonstrate the principles underlying earthquakes. Contains background information, explanations of scientific concepts, and great illustrations.
  • Van Rose, S. , Volcano and Earthquake, Eyewitness Books, Knopf, New York, New York, 64 pp., hardcover, 1992.
    One of the Eyewitness Books series, this book contains wonderful photographs and illustrations of plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Includes some great pictures of historical seismic instruments.
Other books that come well recommended by parents
VOLCANOES



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