Hands-on Geography Social Studies Earth Science Lessons and Games Using Globes

April is Earth Month and it's a good time to explore earth science and world geography. With the National Geography Bee right around the corner, here are hands-on social studies lessons, map activities and geography games with globes. Playing geography games with globes helps students visualize the big picture better than with maps. Use map activities to locate specific places and use globes for accurate place countries in the world at large. Use geography games with globes to demonstrate earth science lessons, just in time for Earth Month in April!

Race Around the World map activities: Divide students into teams of 2-4. Give each team a globe and attach a world map to the wall or bulletin board. Call out countries, cities and provinces for teams to locate their globes. The first team to find the location wins a point. After the location is found indicate it on the wall map with a pin or sticky note arrow (available at most office supply retailers).

Earth Science Jeopardy: Students may play individually or in teams. Draw a Jeopardy grid on a Dry-Erase board, overhead projector or chalkboard. Label five categories across the top of the Earth Science Jeopardy board. Here are some suggested earth science categories: Rivers, Mountain Ranges, Africa, Asia, Islands, Europe, United States, South America, Bodies of Water, Northern Hemisphere, Locations that begin with ____ (fill in letter). Fill in dollar amounts as in regular Jeopardy. Players select a category and value. The geography games leader calls out a place and team members must locate it on globes. Give teams buzzers or bells to sound when they find the answer.

Latitude and Longitude Hide 'n Seek map activities: Explain the how lines and degrees of latitude and longitude work. Official latitude lines--also called parallels--go east to west and longitude lines go north and south. There are 180 latitude lines--90 above the equator (north) and 90 below (south). There are 360 lines of longitude (180 in the eastern hemisphere and 180 in the western hemisphere). They are divided into 24 groups which define time zones as well as geographical locations. Use coordinate geometry to place cities and landforms in lines of latitude and longitude. Ask students to list different earth science landforms located with the latitude and longitude markings. Ask students list cities and locales based on latitude and longitude coordinates or bearings.

Time zones bingo map activities: Using the small dial attached to the top of the globe, teach students how read lines of longitude to determine time zone. Call out a time zone. Students fill their card by locating and listing a city or province in that time zone. Require older students to calculate what time it is in different countries by giving the time in another time zone. Explain the Greenwich Mean Time system.

Play Dough Recipe and Easy Geography Landforms Lesson Plans

Here is an easy, hands-on geography lesson plan. Use this lesson plan in the general education classroom, homeschool and special needs classroom. Students of all ages enjoy this interactive geography activity. Begin by mixing up a large batch of play dough. Make the play dough in class and use it for an interactive math measuring lesson plan. Here's an easy play dough recipe:

  1 cup hot water

  

  1 cup white flour

  

  1/4 cup salt

  

  1 teaspoon vegetable oil

  

  2 teaspoons alum or cream of tartar

  

  blue or green food coloring

  Mix with fork or by hand. Adjust recipe for a larger group using a 1:1 ratio for water, flour and salt, a 1:2 ratio for alum or cream of tartar and a 1: one quarter ratio for salt. Measuring and mixing this play dough in class gives students practice in ratios, fractions and measurement. When mixed, separate into two balls. Color one ball blue (or green) for water. Leave one ball plain color for land. Give each student a paper plate, a plastic knife and a zippered bag of blue play dough and another of plain play dough.

Introduce geography terms and definitions used for landforms. Here are free printable landforms coloring pages and geography vocabulary lesson plans. Demonstrate the shape of the landform using play dough or drawing the landform on the overhead projector. Use black pen for land and blue for water. Students will use their blue and white clay to create landforms based on drawings from the board or overhead projector.

Living History Wax Museum Lesson Plans

History is about more than dead people long past. It's a medium for learning new ideas and processes. It's a vehicle for change. History lesson plans should include historical reenactment, cultural immersion and student-directed, hands-on history activities. Students should experience history activities through all five senses. They should engage in interactive history activities. Then they begin to see the big picture. Here are cross-curricular history activities that teach reading, writing, speaking, research, art and drama. Students will create tableaux for historical reenactment in the Living History Wax Museum.

How to create a living history wax museum: Have students choose figure for historical reenactment from whatever social studies content you're studying: exploration, colonial period, a country, inventions, mythology. Kids should research their person, her life, work and lifestyle. Another living history variation is a cultural diversity wax museum, where students represent famous people who share their ancestry. Students might choose literary figures or famous characters of their heritage for historical reenactment. Then students will create a living history tableaux with a costume, props, artifacts and an appropriate backdrop for historical reenactment of their chosen figure.

Individual tableaux will be set up like wax museum exhibits that guests will visit. Arrange living history exhibits in a multipurpose room, series of smaller classrooms, along a hallway or outdoors. Divide tableaux with portable partitions or use large cardboard pieces to create individual niches for each students tableaux. Each student should have a table to display props. Organize work days for students to construct props/backdrops. Provide paper, recycled materials and large cardboard boxes.

Next, students should write a 1-2 minute first-person script in the character's voice. Encourage them to include interesting biographical details and vignettes. Their historical reenactment should end with a quote from their chosen person. Have students practice their narratives with each other and provide each other with feedback. Students should memorize their monologue and recite it to guests who come to the wax museum.

Have students write a transcript of their speech. Assemble narratives into a printed booklet for guests to take home. Attach a map noting where each child is located. Encourage younger guests to collect "autographs" on their programs. Save programs for student portfolios. Have students invite guests and create promotional advertising for their living history project and wax museum. During the performance, guests travel from character to character. It could be done onstage as a pageant, but booths where guests can circulate is more informal and comfortable for families with small children or senior grandparents.

Encourage kids to be prepared for questions from guests. Place a notebook at each booth so visitors can leave responses. Consider using feedback to determine overall living history project grade. Grades should reflect creativity and participation. Extend lesson plans by having students create foods from their time period or country to to serve as refreshments.

Marketing, Business, Math Lesson Plans with Manufacturer's Marketplace

In my never-ending quest to make learning more hands-on and content more approachable, here is a school activity that combines business and money math, writing, design, marketing, public relations and organization: it's called Manufacturer's Marketplace. If you want to engage your students in active learning and create a memorable lesson plan that everyone will enjoy then Manufacturer's Marketplace is the venue for you.

  The concept behind a Manufacturer's Marketplace is quite simple. Each student must design and produce a good or service, which he vends to his school community on a given school day. All that is needed from the teacher's perspective is a time, place and student body. Manufacturer's Marketplace can be held in any grade; in school districts in which children enter middle school in sixth grade, Manufacturer's Marketplace makes a great 'farewell to fifth grade and elementary school' project'.

  To organize Manufacturer's Marketplace with your students or homeschool cooperative, each child should be given a planning sheet to fill out with parents, explaining what good or service he plans to market, his costs involved and his final price per unit. Goods should be made by hand and not purchased. Students should draw a model of their product or service as well as an advertising poster to be hung in the school hallway. Cost per product should be kept under $1.00 per unit so that student's with little pocket money can still purchase something. As a class, students should create a take-home flyer to be sent home with students in all grades, reminding students to bring money for Manufacturer's Marketplace Day.

  On Manufacturer's Marketplace Day, students should set up their product on individual desks or tables. Part of the assignment is to create enough product to supply the number of students in the school. Recommend that students bring at least one unit for every three - five students in the school. An important part of this marketing assignment that students will learn is about supply and demand. Classrooms of students should be given slots of time to browse and shop.

  After Manufacturer's Marketplace Day, the student should calculate profit, any discounts they may have given, any hidden costs incurred as well as any leftover product (to be deducted from the sales as a business liability). Students should also write a brief business report analyzing the project, listing successes as well as changes that they would make next time (bought too little, over-bought, etc.).

Manufacturer's Marketplace is a great math, business, book-keeping, design, entrepreneurial, marketing and social event for your school.

Free Printable Dr Seuss Recipes

Free Printable Dr Seuss Recipes Oobleck, Pink Yink Ink Drink. Dr. Seuss celebrates his birthday on March 2. We celebrate Dr. Seuss legacy of literature. Dr. Seuss's charming fable Bartholomew and the Oobleck is pure Seuss fun. Here are recipes to make oobleck with your children, homeschool or students.Dr Seuss recipes. For Pink Yink Ink Drink recipes, visit this blog. For more fun kids foods and recipes visit me at Great Food 4U (blogspot). For more kitchen science recipes, come see me at Kaboom! Fizzle! Pop! (blogspot)

Free Printable Dr Seuss Coloring Pages, Crafts, Activities

Celebrate 'Read Across America' and Dr. Seuss's birthday March 2, with free printable Dr.Seuss coloring pages, lessons, crafts, puzzles, games and activities.  Dr. Seuss coloring pages include the Grinch, the Lorax, the Sneetches, The Cat in the Hat, Horton and more Seuss friends.Homeschool Share has many free printable Dr. Seuss worksheets, coloring pages and activities.