Skip Navigation

Around the World in 20 Days

Designer: Kathryn Schwarz, Ariane Popiel

We feel this tool will add to the curriculum by giving students an opportunity to investigate other countries and cultures. This information will provide discussion to compare and contrast foreign cultures with our own. Students will investigate the history, topography, important destinations and the culture of at least five countries across the world.

Target Population

This lesson is designed for fifth grade. The lesson can be used for all levels of fifth graders. The various websites used throughout the Web Quest are on various reading levels to make it accessible to all students. The students will work in groups with assigned tasks that will allow all students to perform at their appropriate level. There will be an artist, a note taker and a typist or technology person.

Teaching Standards

Our curricular goals are based on the 5th grade Pennsylvania Geography standards as well as promoting successful group interaction, and use of the Internet and Microsoft Power Point.

Standard 7.1.6

  • Describe and locate places and regions.
  • Human features
  • Countries (e.g., United Kingdom, Argentina, Egypt)
  • Major human regions (e.g., Mid Atlantic, New England, Southwest)
  • Major cities (e.g., London, Los Angeles, Tokyo)

Standard 7.2.6

  • Ways in which different people view places and regions
    (e.g., places to visit or to avoid)
  • Community connections to other places
  • Dependence and interdependence

Standard 7.3.6

  • Describe the physical characteristics of places and regions.
    • Comparison of the physical characteristics of different places and regions (e.g., soil, vegetation, climate, topography)
    • Climate types (e.g., marine west coast, humid continental, tropical wet and dry)
  • Describe the human characteristics of places and regions by their cultural characteristics.
    • Ethnicity of people at the county and state levels (e.g., customs,
      celebrations, languages, religions)
  • Describe the human characteristics of places and regions by their settlement characteristics.
    • Current and past settlement patterns in the local area

Teaching & Learning Theory

This project is strongly based in Cooperative Learning. The students will be heterogeneously grouped. Each student will be given a particular job according to their strength- creative designer, note taker, or typing. They will need to complete their jobs for the group to be successful; this makes each student accountable. The students will work together traveling to their chosen countries and answering various assessments. Then they will design and give a short presentation on the information they learned.

Products

Multimedia Design Tools

  • PowerPoint
  • MS Word