Suggested Procedure:

Day One:

Opening:  Ask students to explain the differences between climate and weather.   Write the word climate on the board.  Begin creating a list of things in Minnesota that are influenced by Minnesota’s climate.  This will include clothing we plan on wearing, the design of our homes, the types of roads we build, the type of heavy equipment that the state buys, long term planning of communities, the types of agriculture we produce, the types of plants and animals that are native to this area, and reasons why people stay or leave the state.

Ask students about what types of emergencies that people in Minnesota need to prepare for because we know that certain things could happen in the state for example, flooding, blizzards, fire, tornadoes, drought, etc.  Ask students how do they know what they will need in case of a blizzard?

Write the list on the board.  Ask students if they have ever gone camping?  What materials would they need to bring if they were gone for a weekend, a week, or a month?  What changes did they have to make in their planning because of the longer length of time that they were gone?  What influence would the time of the year have on their planning?

Development:

Remind students that every climate zone has its own advantages and disadvantages depending upon its unique characteristics.  These characteristics influence the types of problems people will encounter, planning for living there, and the accommodations people need to make for the different seasons.

Review with the students the various places that they could look to discover information about the characteristics of the different climate regions.  Have the students turn to that section of the textbook.  Place the students into small groups and assign each group a different climate zone.  Have each group write out the important characteristics of that zone.  Then extrapolate from that information the different advantages and disadvantages you would face in that climate zone.

Closure:  Have the spokesperson for each group report to the class the information they gathered.

Day Two:

Opening:  Review the previous day’s class discussion.  Have a student(s) summarize the reason you need to know the characteristics of a climate zone

Development:  Place a map of the major climate regions on the overhead.  Have students select an area that they would like to live in and explain why.

After covering all the desirable climate regions, have students explain why they would not want to live in certain climate regions.

With the exception of Antarctica, people have lived in these regions prior to the development of modern technology.  Discuss with the students how people were able to live in these regions without the modern technology of today.

Closure:  Have the students record their favorite climate region in their notebook, write out the advantages and disadvantages of living in this region, and explain how people were able to live in these areas prior to the development of modern technologies.

Day Three:

Opening:  Review the last two days discussions with the class.  Point out that climate influences how people design their homes, adapt their way of life, and influences their wants and needs.  Have the students clarify other aspects of life that are influenced by climate.

Development:  Direct the students’ conversation towards the influence of climate on types of vegetation and animals that can live in various climate regions

Assign small groups of students a specific climate region and have them look up the plants and animals that are native to three or four countries within this climate region.  Also have the students check on what agriculture products are produced, either for local consumption or export, within those countries.

Have the students write the name of their climate region on a large sheet of paper and list their information beneath the name of the climate region.  Place the posters around the room.  Lead the students in a discussion of what similarities and differences they discover among the different regions and the types of plants and animals that can live in the different regions.

Closing:  Have the students record the class’ information from each chart into their notebooks.

Suggested Assessment: The completeness of the information recorded on the posters.

Day Four:

Opening:  This is the time to pull the information together for the summative unit assignment.

Development:  Have the students take out their notes that they have taken over the past three days.  Place the students in small groups.  Have the small group select a climate region.  Then have them locate one country within that climate region.

Tell the students that they are planning a vacation to this country during the month of March.  Have them determine what clothes they should pack, what types of food they would expect to eat, and what type of weather they would expect to encounter in this country.

Have each group select a spokesperson that will report to the class about their decisions and why they believe they are correct.

Closing:  Discuss how climate influences what people can or cannot do within a country.

Suggested Assessment: Level of information gathered by the group.

Day Five:

Opening:  Assign the summative assignment.

Development:   The students will be given an opportunity to demonstrate that they understand the problems that a group of people would encounter as they try to cope and adapt to the conditions set by their climate region. 

Assign the students to small groups.  This assignment works best with 3-4 students. 

Tell the students that their groups will be dropped into a remote area of their climate region.  They must come up with a shelter design built with local materials, they need to determine the types of clothing that they will need for the entire year, and they need to determine the how they will live off the land.  The attached assignment sheet has the specifics regarding the assignment.

The students need to work together to research the types of indigenous homes that were constructed in this climate zone, growing seasons, native plants and animals, and weather patterns to plan for types of clothing to bring.

Students are not allowed to bring any modern (electrical or mechanical devices).  They are allowed to bring two weeks of food or water.  I allow an unlimited budget, however if an item is not specified, I assume they forgot to bring it.

Students need to come up with a practical plan for their stay including all aspects of life from sanitation issues to entertainment.

Closing:  Have students select climate region out of a hat.  Only students who happen to get mountain climate region are allowed to live in caves.  Let students meet and start discussing and planning.

Day Six:

Opening:  Review the requirements of the project with the class.  Deal with individual and group questions.

Development:  It is important on this day to either have Web sites available to research specific countries, access to a media center for books, or gather together a cart of books on countries in all the climate regions. 

Have students regroup in their small groups.

Meet with each group and have each group explain what their current plans are for their living in this climate region.

Questions students generally fail to consider, but the teacher should check to see that they have thought about and must consider.

1.      How will you store your excess food?

2.      What are you going to do about clean water?

3.      How will you keep your site clean and sanitary?

4.      Do you have access to clean water for drinking, cleaning, or irrigation?

5.      How are you going to get food?

6.      Who is responsible for hunting, gathering, cleaning, cooking, or clean-up?

7.      If you are not allowed firearms, how will you hunt?

8.      What are you going to do with your garbage?

9.      Where is everyone going to sleep?

10.  What are you going to do for entertainment?

11.  How many hours a day will you have to devote to finding and preparing food, cleaning the site and clothing, and preparing for the changing seasons?

There are many more issues, but most are dependent on the climate region the students have been placed.  For example, students in the tropical regions fail to understand how much rain they will need to cope with and plan for.  Students in the tundra region tend to miscalculate their growing season and being the wrong seeds.

Closing: Pull the class back together, check for understanding regarding the requirements of the project, and review the due dates and in class work dates.

Suggested Assessment:  The project is the assessment.  See attached project sheet and check off sheet for completion of tasks.  Even though a group is doing the project, each member should take responsibility for one of the major sections.  Individuals can be assessed on their portion of the project.

Web Links:  http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook (excellent source for information about countries)  http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/08/climates.html (From this site you can download a climate map and travel to other climate related sites.)  http://www.agriculture.com/agweather/index.html (This site links agriculture and climate, good background for the teacher, very difficult to navigate for students) http://www.uwsuper.edu/library/guides/childlit/childlit/wildernessbib/Kids%20Bib.htm (Excellent site to locate children’s literature involving survival)

Standards: 

Standard 8: “The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on the Earth’s surface” Standard 14: “How human actions modify the physical environment”