Here I have provided two sample lessons from a Unit I created for a 7th grade classroom about the Cultural and Physical geography of Europe.
Unit Emphasis: Europe, Cultural and Physical Geography
Grade Level: 7
Unit Time Frame: 3 Weeks and 1 Day (16 Days)
Unit Aims:
Students will be able to use geographic resources available to them to locate locations on a map. Students should become confident as well as comfortable using such items as an atlas, globes, longitude and latitude lines, legends, etc. to help them discover places on maps.
Students will be able to compare their culture to other cultures worldwide. Students, throughout the year should be able to discern similarities as well as differences between American culture and the cultures studied within the course. This will not only help the student to learn more about the foreign culture, but will also help them learn more about themselves and their own culture.
Students will be confident in using resources to collect data and become more confident and experienced in presenting data. Students should gain knowledge by using resources, including primary sources, secondary sources, Internet, encyclopedia, etc. to collect data. Students should also become more confident in organizing data they have collected by completing a series of presentations that are required. These presentations will also help students better their oral-presentation skills.
Students will be able to organize themselves into constructive working groups. Many activities over the course of the year will be done in work groups. Much of the time, I will not assign students roles in groups, but rather let them figure out how to work effectively within a group independently. This gives students the chance to collectively organize their own time and gives them valuable organizational skills
Lessons Schedule (Days 8 and 10 are links to complete lesson plans)
Day One - Peninsulas and Islands, Mountains and Plains (Physical Geography of Europe)
Day Two - Rivers and Lakes, Natural Resources (Physical Geography of Europe)
Day Three - Europe's Climate Region (Climate of Europe)
Day Four - Flag Activity (Flags of Europe)
Day Five - Chapter Review (Physical Geography of Europe)
Day Six - Chapter Test (Physical Geography of Europe)
Day Seven - Population Patterns (Cultural Geography of Europe)
