Teachers.Net Lesson Plans

#174. Countries on the Internet

Geography, level: all
Posted by Amanda Thompson (AmandaKaye@aol.com).
University of Houston, Houston, TX
Materials Required: Computer w/internet connection, Web Browser, Instruction sheet (see plan), Word processor
Activity Time: 30 min - 1 hour
Concepts Taught: Learning about another country, Using search engines, Compiling information

FOCUS :
When students come into classroom they will find a
teacher prepared flyer about a country on their desks.
(You should do this on a country they will not do).
After giving them adequate time to look over it, the
teacher asks if the students feel that this would be a
good way to present information on a country. The
teacher then motivates them to want to do their own
flyers by having them imagine that they will be part of
a travel convention of European (or Asian, etc.)
countries. By making a flyer to give to people at the
event that highlights interesting facts about their
country, they can help to inform them and hopefully
want to visit that country.

OBJECTIVE:
Students will discover interesting and factual
information about another country using the Internet.
Students will be able to produce a flyer consisting of
the information they find.

TEACHER INPUT:
The teacher will show students how he or she found the
information in the teacher prepared flyer using search
engines (see instruction sheet for suggested engines).
Show the students how to narrow searches and which
sites may have the best information. Also show the
students how to bring up the template for the flyer
(Newsletter template in Microsoft Word).

GUIDED PRACTICE:
Have students break up into groups of 2 or 3.
Have them decide on a country in the appropriate
continent (whatever you are studying) that they would
like to learn more about. Using the instruction sheet
as a guide the students use search engines to find
information on their country. The teacher will walk
around and assist when needed.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
In their groups, students will complete a flyer using
the information they find.

CLOSURE/SUMMARY:
Bring students attention back to the teacher.
Have the students share two interesting new facts
about their countries.

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Instruction Sheet
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The following is a list of suggested topics that you
should be able to find for your country.
REMEMBER - You are not limited to these!

Location of the country
Currency Language
Climate
Food
Government
Transportation
*Anything else you think is interesting!

These are some search engines that you may find useful. if you know ofothers, feel flee to use them too.

http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.lycos.com
http://www.infoseek.com/Travel and Leisure/
http://www.city.net/

Use your information to make a flyer highlighting the
best information. Make it as attractive as possible.

Be creative! if you have time, feel free to add
pictures, or whatever else you think would work!