| Overview:
This lesson focuses on map decoding skills. My students read a
book about South America by Mark Plotkin called Tales of a Shaman's
Apprentice, but have little context of the geography. The lesson asks
students to use the map to answer a variety of questions. The questions
focus on both map reading skills and South American geography. Objectives: Students will be able to: 1. Identify geographic features of a South American map 2. Use the scale of the map to calculate distances between points 3. Follow the journeys of Mark Plotkin in Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by plotting points on the map 4. Identify examples of the five geographic themes on the map of South America |
Grade
Level(s): 9-12 Subjects: Geography, Literature, Environmental Studies Time: 2 class periods or 1 block period Prerequisites: This lesson is designed to support the book, Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice, by Mark Plotkin. Plotkin is an ethnobotanist collecting medicinal plant samples with the help of native cultures along the Amazon River. This book provides a great cultural, literary, and environmental context in which to study South America. However, students could be studying any aspect of South America to utilize this lesson. Some questions refer directly to the book, but can be changed by the teacher to reflect content applicable to another classroom situation. Required Materials: Maps of South America are needed to teach this lesson. The map that I have used to formulate the questions for this lesson is the National Geographic map published in August 1992 entitled, Amazonia: A World Resource at Risk. I also recommend the use of Goode's World Atlas. However, any quality maps will work. Students will also need blank outline maps of South America for the assessment. Maps can be found online at several websites. Refer to the Weblinks section of the lesson for links to useful sites. Optional Technologies: GIS |
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| Suggested
Procedure (Pedagogy): Opening Hand each student (or small group depending on available resources) a map of South America. Let the students have some time to explore the map (5 minutes). Development Questions posed to the students to help them deconstruct the map: Who published this map? (National Geographic-high quality cartographers that have 3 independent sources check their maps for accuracy). What is the date of publication? (August, 1992) What map projection is used? (Chamberlin Trimetric Projection) What is the scale of the map? (1:11,890,000) What does this scale mean? (1 unit on the map=11,890,000 units on the earth's surface) How far is it between Brasilia, Brazil and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil? (approx. 575 miles) What places are the equivalent distances from Minneapolis/St. Paul? (Indianapolis, Detroit) How many countries are in South America? (12) What is the Capitol city of Peru? (Lima) Find the legend? Locate an oil pipeline on the map. (Southern Argentina has several) Locate the equator. (Ecuador-Colombia-Brazil) What body of water borders Venezuela? (Caribbean Sea) Is Brazil bigger or smaller than Alaska? (Bigger) Trace the Amazon River from the headwaters to the mouth. Turn the map over to the other side, "Amazonia, A World at Risk". Read the text boxes. What type of information is included on this map? How are these maps different than the map on the other side? Can you identify all five geographic themes demonstrated on these maps? Provide an example of each by writing a few sentences to show how the map reflects a theme. Closing To demonstrate the ability to interpret maps of South America, the students will be given an assignment to map one of the journeys of Mark Plotkin in Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice. Plotkin makes reference to several countries, cities, rivers, and villages in his book. Students need to map the significant points of one of his journeys on a blank outline map of South America. Students should carefully consider what information needs to be included and labeled. Students should also create 3 textboxes and include appropriate quotations from Plotkins' book relating to the geography of the particular area. Differentiation: Students of varying abilities may answer an assigned portion of the map reading questions. Students of higher abilities may create questions of their own for other students to answer. Groups of high-achieving students may trade their own questions with each other in a structured or independent activity. Student Activity-Online: There are several South American geography websites that students can explore. Some of these websites are listed under the section, Web Links. Suggested Assessment: Students should be assessed on their ability to participate in the map reading activity. Although they may struggle with the questions, it is important that they stick with the lesson and understand how to correctly read a map. It is best to create an atmosphere where students are willing to take risks and even make mistakes as they explore the map. The important part is that they realize the correct answer and are able to understand the map. The final assessment for this lesson tests the students' ability to read, interpret, and create a map that contains accurate information. RESOURCE BAR Definitions Ethnobotanist - A person who engages in the systematic study of how the people in a particular region use the local plants. Scale - The relationship between map size and area represented on the map. Scale can be listed in three different ways (ratio or fraction, written statement, or on a graphic bar). Standards NCSS Standard III: People, Places, & Environments Expectation b: create, interpret, use, and synthesize information from various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs. NCSS Standard III: People, Places, & Environments Expectation d: calculate distance, scale, area, density, and distinguish spatial distribution patterns. Web Links for Teachers and Students Here are several sites that focus on South American geography. These sites contain maps, photographs, quizzes, descriptions, climate data, demographics, and biogeography. http://geography.about.com http://gosouthamerica.about.com/cs.sageography http://www.geographic.org_maps.countryinfo http://www.factmonster.com/atlas/southamerica.html Discussion Refer to the list of discussion questions in the Development section. Extension Activities Students could create maps on GIS to enhance this activity. They could also search for different maps of South America and compare them. Lessons related to this topic are also posted on this website. |
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| Credits This lesson was created by Michael Bolsoni. Michael teaches social and environmental studies at the School of Environmental Studies at the Minnesota Zoo. He can be reached at michael.bolsoni@district196.org. |
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