Mission Geography

Mission Geography: Europe PRESENTATION WILL BEGIN Monday, May 24^th

Overview:

In this lesson, students will research and learn about the culture, physical geography, and history of selected countries in Europe. Acting as "tour operators," small groups of students will create an imaginary tour group itinerary that highlights interesting and important destinations as well as characteristics of their selected countries.

Connections to the Curriculum:

Geography, history (world), social studies

Connections to the National Geography Standards:

Standard 5: "That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity"

Time:

Three to five hours

Materials Required:

Computer with Internet access

Objectives:

Students will

research cultural, geographic, and historical information about selected countries;
create an imaginary travel plan to visit those countries;
create a tour guide brochure to highlight areas of their imaginary trip; and
identify each of the countries of Europe.

Geographic Skills:

Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Analyzing Geographic Information

Explanation:

You will be “tour operators” for several classes. You will either work in small groups of no more than 3 or individually. If you work in a group you will have to develop a three-week tour of one region in Europe. Individuals will develop a 10 day tour. You will have to make sure that your tour follows particular rules, and to do so, you must first learn about the geography, culture, and history of each country in their assigned region.

Step One: You will decide if you are working in small groups or individually. If working in a group you will sign a contract to complete this assignment. Each group will be assigned to work on one of the following regions:

v Southern Europe—Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece

v Eastern Europe—Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia

v Northern Europe—United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland

v Europe’s Heartland—France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Liechentenstein

v Southeastern Europe—Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia

Step Two: Your goal is to develop a three-week tour itinerary (plan) for their customers. Your ultimate product will be a brochure that describes the tour in detail, and that you will share with the class.

You will have two class periods to learn basic information about several countries in your assigned region in Europe. You will have to take notes about each country that you would like to have represented in your tour. You MUST cover at least 3 countries from your region of Europe.

Step Three: You will be asked to compare and contrast the countries using a form provided by your teacher. This form will be filled out using the notes about your countries that you took in Step One. When the form is handed out it will be explained by your teacher and a due date will be given.

Step Four: You will also receive a checklist to be completed while you are working on your project. Using this checklist you will complete your brochures and give it to your instructor.

BROCHURE DUE DATE IS: FRIDAY, May 14^th.

Step Five: After you have completed your brochure, you will present your project to the class. You will use the checklist given to you in Step Four to make sure you have all the components necessary for your oral presentation. The brochure you completed in Step Five will be given to the class as a hand-out so that your audience can take notes as you present.

Step Six: There will be a final test over the information provided by each group. Your notes may be used for this test. You will hand in your notes after the test and they will account for 50% of your grade.

Checklist(GROUP)

Name of Team Members:________________________________________

Your Name___________________________________________________

You must complete this by checking off what has been accomplished.

Student Research(30 points for each) Points awarded

_____Notes on at least 3 countries in the region _____

_____Completed Daily Journal _____

_____Completed Chart used in step three _____

Brochure(20 points each)

_____Includes 3 country itinerary(at least 2 days in each country) _____

_____3 weeks in length including travel to & from countries _____

EVERY DAY TWO SITES MUST BE PLANNED(no shopping, swimming, going to the beach, free day, etc). Only 1 sporting every per country

_____Includes at least visiting 2 or more historical sites per country _____

_____Includes at least one picture with caption from each country _____

_____Neat _____

_____Good organization _____

_____Detailed information on sites being visited _____

_____Includes traveling by bus, train, & plane with realistic travel _____

time

_____Map of area which includes all the countries in your region _____

_____Gives some information about the culture of each country _____

Presentation(15 points for each)All members must participate equally

_____Presentation gives geographical information about countries _____

_____Presentation is logical and easy to follow _____

_____Presentation has been rehearsed & is “professional” _____

_____Presentation is at least 5 to 10 minutes in length _____

_____Presentation should include information about climate, what to _____

wear, & type of currency needed

_____Presentation includes information about culture which should _____

include major languages spoken & type of government

Total points _____

Grade _____

Checklist(INDIVIDUAL)