#250. The Odyssey

Literature, level: Middle
Posted by S. Webb (SWebb94564@aol.com).
Northwest High School, Clarksville/Montgomery
Materials Required: Library for research
Activity Time: 3 class periods in the library
Concepts Taught: Research techniques, geography of the world, budgeting expenses

For the Odyssey I give my 9th graders a project. They are to plan their own 'odyssey". They must choose three foreign countries that they would like to visit. They must decide on a specific region or city within each country and do research about what sights they will visit while there. They must include their method/methods of travel to the country and where they will stay and any other pertinent information about their trip. What makes the project more
challenging is that the students are only allowed to spend $6,000. for their entire odyssey. They contact local travel agencies and use the internet to find approximate travel
fares to get the most for their money. Their finished
paper must give a detailed account of the entire trip and
include the sources of their information.
We spend 3 to 4 class periods in the library for research
purposes, and 2 to 3 class periods on instruction for citing
sources, etc.
They must also discuss in their paper any unusual laws or customs of their countries that they need to be aware of
before traveling there.
This project incorporates language arts, geography, and math and the students love it!