Sherri Collie—CollinwoodMiddle School
GEOGRAPHY AWARENESS WEEK
November 14-20, 2010
Freshwater!
Australia and Oceania!
Geography Awareness Week is November 14-20, 2010. The theme this year is Freshwater! And for those who want to continue with the “Around the World” theme from the Geography Action!, tile maps will be available for Australia and Oceania, as well as for the world.
You may also reach me at my website for more information or help with Geography Awareness Week.
LESSON PLANS AND IDEAS FOR Australia and Oceania
*Postcards of Oceania— All grade levels. Teachers will have to provide information for the younger levels.
Using copy paper (1/2 sheet) students will create a postcard about a country from the region of Oceania. Students will research information about their country’s attractions and features. Students will illustrate and color the postcards then display them. Students can also add information to the back of the postcard such as population, language, religion, resources, crops, industries, etc.
*Where Am I? (K—2)
Comparison of North America and Oceania
In this lesson, students will locate themselves on a North America map. They will explore spatial relationships among geographical features that are inside one another (countries within continents, states within countries, cities within states).
Point out North America and Oceania. Ask students if they know which one they live on. How many countries are within North America? Which country do they live in?
Help students to locate their continent, their country, their state, their city. Then reverse it—city, state, country, continent.
Compare North America to Oceania. Which region is bigger? Is there a county or island comparable in size to their state? What is the biggest country on each region? What is the smallest country on each region? What ocean would they use to get to Oceania?
*Who lives in Oceania? (K—2 3—5)
Read a nonfiction or fiction book that takes place somewhere in Oceania that features an animal, a child, or a habitat. When you finish, display the book or a copy of the book cover next to a map of Oceania and string a piece of yarn from the book to the country where the story takes place in Oceania. During GAW or weeks before, read a variety of books that takes place in Oceania. Create a display with the map. The books will help show the diversity of cultures, habitats, and animal life within Oceania.
*Grab bag of Oceania (All levels)
Students will select a country of Oceania and research information on it. Students will use the information to create items to put into a lunch size bag. The information would include native foods, plants, animals, language, religion, crops, industries, population, attractions, traditional clothing, etc. Students will decorate their bags on the outside to represent their country. Students will share their grab bag with the other students.
*Create a display of words from Oceania that we as Americans use every day.
*What am I? (All levels except K—2)
Write on small cards the name of a city, country, physical feature, world heritage site in Oceania. Hide it from one student. The student has to guess what the place is by asking questions that have a “yes” or “no” answer. For example:
Am I a building?
Am I an animal?
Do I live in a eucalyptus tree?
The answer: Koala
*Oceania’s landforms (All levels)
Make a topographical map out of clay or play dough to show water masses, peninsulas, mountains, rivers, plains, etc. of Oceania. Use a variety of colors to represent the different features. Or, teachers can use one color for land features and one color for bodies of water and shape the dough to represent the feature. This is a good activity to discuss high and low islands.
*Research traditional clothing from Oceania. Find pictures to represent these clothing from Oceania. Find pictures to represent these clothing styles or students can draw or make these items of clothing. Put pictures or drawings on display. Ask students to look at the styles and compare them to modern clothing. How big of a difference is there between the traditional style of clothing and the modern style? Which do the students like the best? Would they wear any of the traditional styles of clothing?
*Create a miniature matchbook foldable to represent the Indigenous groups of Oceania, such as the Aborigines, Maori, etc. Students should find out different things about their indigenous groups. Put the topics on the outside of the matchbook and a picture and/or information on the inside of the matchbook. Make a roll of matchbooks on a large 11” X 17” paper to showcase items from the indigenous groups. For foldable ideas go to
Matchbook fold: (Dinah Zike, Big Book of Book Activities)
1. Fold a sheet of paper in half like a hot dog leaving one side ½ inch longer.
2. Fold it in half again like a hamburger.
3. Then fold it half again forming eights
4. Open the fold and cut the sections apart.
5. Fold the cut paper; use the ½ to fold up over the paper and form a matchbook.
*Extreme Oceania (6—8 9—12)
Find the answers and highlight the locations on a map of Oceania. Make a map key to correlate with the extreme of Oceania.
- Largest city by population- 7. Largest English speaking population-
- Largest exporter of- 8. Longest river of region-
- Hottest place- 9. Smallest independent country-
- Highest mountain- 10. Largest country by population-
- Largest country in size- 11. Largest coral reef-
- Oldest indigenous group of region- 12. Largest U. S. Territory-
*Explorers of Oceania (All levels except K-2)
Explorers from all over the world settled in many places in Oceania. Explorers were looking for valuable trade routes, a mission to convert to a certain religion, land, or to find wealth. Assign students individually or as a group to research an area of Oceania that was colonized or set up as a territory by another nation.
Using the envelop foldable, ask Who? What country was the explorer born in? Who did he explore for? Where did the explorer go? What challenges were the explorer faced with? Who did they meet? What impact did they have on the world?
Foldable— Envelope Fold (Dinah Zike, Big Book of Books and Activities)
- Fold a sheet of paper (8 ½ by 11) into a taco forming a square. Cut off the excess paper strip formed by the fold
- Open the folded taco and refold it the opposite way forming another taco and an X fold pattern.
- Open the taco fold and fold the corners toward the center point of the X forming a small square.
- Trace this square on another sheet of paper. Cut and glue it to the inside of the envelope.
On the outside of the foldable put the questions. On the inside flaps, put the answers to the questions. On the big square, place a picture of the explorer.
All Grade Levels: Countries of Oceania
Using a map locate the countries that make up Oceania. Use the map to show the areas the questions are referring too.
Ask the following questions:
How many islands make up the region of Oceania?
What country is northeast of Australia? What island is south of Samoa?
What is the name of the country that shares part of its island with Indonesia?
What are the three major group of islands called in Oceania and why?
What large country is an island and a continent?
Name the islands that belong to the United States. (Europe) (France) (New Zealand)
What is the largest island of Oceania?
K—2 Activity
Give each student a picture of an Island to draw from Oceania. Label and color the island. Show and tell about the island to the other students.
3—4 Activity
Give each student an island to draw from Oceania. Students should use an atlas or a map to help them draw their island correctly. Label and color the island. Present the island to the other students. Exchange islands with the students in the classroom. Take five or six students at a time and have them to line up West to East as to the location of the islands of Oceania.
5—6 7—8 9--12
Give each student an island to draw from Oceania. Students should use an atlas or a map to help them to draw their island correctly. Label and color the island. Present the island to the other students. Exchange island with the other students. Students will give hints as to what their place is and the other students will guess it. Then have a student to show the location of that place on the map.
K—8: Fairy Tales, Myths, Legends, and Folktales
Everyone likes a good story and there are so many native stories from Oceania. Here are some books that have an excellent supply of stories.
Folktales told around the World by Richard Dorsay
Favorite Folktales from around the World by Jane Yolen
Aboriginal Myths, legends, and Fables by A. W. Reed
Around the World in 80 Tales by Saviour Pirotta
K—2
Read the story to the students. Students will illustrate a scene from the story. Display the pictures.
3—4
Read the story to the students. Students will illustrate a scene from the story and write a paragraph describing their illustration. Share with the other students.
5—6 7—8
Put students into groups. Give each group a story to read. Students will design a picture to describe their story. Students will write a summation of their story. Each group will share their picture and summation with the other students. Students may act out their story.
All levels: Physical Features of Australia and Oceania
Materials Needed:
Map of Australia and Oceania
Glue
Scissors
Construction paper or foam colored sheets (Brown in a triangular shape for mountains, blue lines for bodies of water, green circles for forests, green squares for plains, tan squares for plateaus, orange squares for peninsulas, and red squares for special points).
K—2 3--4
Use a map of the region to locate different physical features of it. Teacher will point out these different features to the students. Pass out a physical map of Australia and Oceania to the students. Students will use pre-cut pieces of construction paper or foam sheets to indicate where the major mountain ranges and rivers of Australia and Oceania are located.
5—6
Use a map of Australia and Oceania to locate different physical features of the region. Teacher can point out these different features to the students and then let the students come and show where they are on the map. Pass out a physical map of Australia and Oceania to the students. Students may work in groups or individually to label the physical features and then put the materials for the different physical features on the map.
7—8 9—12
Use a map of Australia and Oceania to locate different physical features of the region. Teacher will lead a discussion on the different physical features and will use a map to show the location of each physical feature. Students will work in groups or individually to make a chart of the different features from each region of Australia and Oceania. Students will then discuss these with their class and make any corrections necessary. Students will then label a map of the Australia and Oceania with the physical features and add the materials necessary to indicate the physical features.
5—6 7—8 9—12: Latitude and Longitude Looping
(Looping game idea from TCSS workshop in Memphis ’07)
Materials needed:
Index Cards
Atlas
Looping Instructions:
- First Card—At the top of the first index card, put the word Looping in the top middle. At the bottom of the first card, put coordinates of a place from the region of Oceania.
- On the second card, put the name of the place (answer) from the previous card in the top middle of the card. At the bottom of the second card, put a second set of coordinates of another place in Oceania. Students will have to use their atlases to locate their places.
- On the third card, put the name of the place (answer) from the previous card in the top middle of the card. On the bottom of the third card, put a third set of coordinates of another place in Oceania and so on until you get to the end of the cards.
- On the last card, put the place (answer) from the previous card in the top middle of the card. On the bottom of the last card, write in “What is the name of the Game?”
Rules for playing:
- Pass out a card to all students.
- The student with the card Looping at the top starts first.
- The student will read off the coordinates at the bottom of the card.
- The student who has the place with those coordinates answers with the name of the place. Then this student will read off its card coordinates.
- The student who has the place with those coordinates answers with the name of the place. Then this student will read off it s card coordinates and so on.
- The last card will have a place at the top and the student will answer. But on the bottom of the last card will be “What is the name of this game” and the first student who started will say “Looping”. You can have as many cards as need.
Example of cards:
Looping Tahiti Bass Strait Mt. Cook
18*S 150*E 40*S 145*E 43*S 170*E What is the name of the game?
This game can be adapted to use with vocabulary words, physical features, states/capitals, countries/capitals, and so on.
General Ideas to Use for Oceania
- Quotes from famous people from Oceania—Have a word on a different index card. Separate out and give one card to a student. Students will then work together to put the quote together and then read it to the class.
- Jell-O—Shape out Oceania with different colored Jell-O
- Crafts from Oceania. Research and find different crafts to create from the islands of the region.
- Research Famous Buildings, Statues, Places in Oceania. Students can illustrate and write something about their place.
- Music from Oceania—Listen to different sounds from Oceania. Discuss the different instruments that people use.
- Foods—what are some native foods from Oceania. How have they affected the world? What do the people of Oceania eat with? What are some native drinks? Have a food day in class with food from the region.
- N S E W / NE NW SE SW Electric Slide—Students stand up. Teacher calls out different direction with a step. Ex. – 2 steps N, 3 steps S, 4 steps NE, 3 steps W (NGS GA training ’08)
- Identify Islands of the region—Go to the board and draw a country of Oceania. Students guess which one it is.
- Identify Islands of Oceania—Give each student a place. Student gives out clues as to what it is without saying its name or areas around it.
- Poem about Oceania in the following format:
Noun
Adjective Adjective
Participle Participle Participle
Noun Noun Noun Noun
Participle Participle Participle
Adjective Adjective
Noun
- Design a poster for region of Oceania showing things that you will find located there. Put information about the region in a corner of the poster. This can also be for individual countries of the region.
Book List for Australia, Oceania, Antarctica, and Hawaii
Aboriginal Myths and Legends by A W Reed
Aboriginal Stories of Australia by A W Reed
Great Barrier Reef by Ruth Soffer
Aboriginal Designs by Penny Brown
Australia by Edupress
Australia ABC’s by Sarah Heiman
An Australian 1, 2, 3 of Animals by Bronwyn Bancroft
Australia by Allan Fowler
Australia by David Petersen
Australia and Oceania by Mel Friedman
Look what came from Australia by Kevin Davis
Explore Australia and Oceania by Bobbie Kalman
Oceania – Cultures and Costumes by Robert Lee Humphrey, Jr.
New Zealand A, B, C’s by Holly Schroeder
A Life like Mine- How children live around the world by Harry Belafonte
Around the World coloring book by Winky Adam
Around the World in 80 tales by Saviour Pirotta
Houses and Homes by Ann Morris
Antarctica by Allan Fowler
Antarctica by Mel Friedman
Land of Endless Water-Antarctica by Michael George
This Cold Heaven-Seven Seasons in Greenland by Gretel Ehrlich
Rivers of the United States by Michael Kramme
Great Lakes by Kimberly Valzania
Mississippi River by Allan Fowler
National Geographic-Water- Our Thirsty World
Water-The Fate of our most Precious Resource by Marq de Villiers
Water-The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization by Steven Soloman
Hawaii by Christine Taylor Butler
How ‘bout Hawaii coloring book by Gallopade International
The Mystery in Hawaii by Caroline March
Hawaiian Rainbows by Robert Thornhill
Hawaii volcanoes National Park by Sharlene and Ted Nelson
Hawaiian Plants and Animals by Y. S. Green
Story of Hawaii by Y. S. Green
Volcanoes of Hawaii A to Z by Terry Pierce
Arts and Crafts of Hawaii by Te Rangi Hirora (Peter Buck)
Hawaii- A Pictorial Celebration by Ellie Crowe
Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea, and Sky by Vivian Thompson