Archive for the ‘Geography’ Category
Make your own Compass – Middle School
FREE from Education Possible:
Even if your child is not yet old enough I highly recommend downloading these FREE instructions and saving them for later. Learning to use a compass is a very important skill and if your older child can learn to make one and really see how it works, that is a great educational plus.
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning 
Liz
Great Wall of China – Places of Old #5
I know earlier this week when I started this series I told you there were only 4 books! Well, I was able to get the fifth one, Great Wall of China, from the library yesterday so thought I would finish out the week with it. As I have mentioned before, on short projects I like to do things in a week. I have found that this keeps things fresh in the kids minds and keeps us all, me included, motivated. There is actually a sixth book in this series, Stonehenge, but we did Stonehenge in history a few weeks back and so I did not want to go back over that. I have posted a few links at the bottom of the page for Stonehenge if you wish to incorporate it into your study. The Dewey library number/reference for this book by Kate Riggs is JR951 RIG.
The ‘Places of Old’ books by Kate Riggs are easy to read, encourage curiosity and have full colored photos on every page. Although Caleb did not do the harder worksheet that I am sharing with you, he was old enough (4) to listen to the book. You can purchase these books from Amazon but because they are only available in hardback they are quite expensive so I recommend getting them from your library. If you are not able to find this particular book grab a different one!
Education.com has some FREE worksheets on the Great Wall of China here.
Activity Village has some nice photos and more info PLUS if you are studying China, they have loads of different crafts and activities to explore here.
As we were doing this study this morning I suddenly remembered the Dominoes. (It’s been a while since we have played that game.) We got them out, played a couple games and then Daniel and I built a portion of the Great Wall of China 🙂
As well as a regular atlas we have one of the It’s a Big Big World board book atlases. I just looked on Amazon and it looks like you can only buy them used, no longer in print. SO if you are ever at a yard sale or see one cheap GRAB it! We have had ours since Michelle and Michael were little and it has really helped us in our schooling as the pictures of the continents are so big and the countries clearly marked. Great for younger kids.
Yes, it is a little outdated now as some countries have changed (Sudan split to make Sudan and South Sudan etc) BUT the basics are there and that is what is important.
Here are some links I promised you on Stonehenge:
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning
Liz
Egyptian Pyramids – Places of Old #4
I found a whole pile of FREE ‘goodies’ to go with Egyptian Pyramids today. The Dewey library number/reference for this book by Kate Riggs is JR932 RIG.
The ‘Places of Old’ books by Kate Riggs are easy to read, encourage curiosity and have full colored photos on every page. Although Caleb did not do the harder worksheet that I am sharing with you, he was old enough (4) to listen to the book. You can purchase these books from Amazon but because they are only available in hardback they are quite expensive so I recommend getting them from your library. If you are not able to find this particular book grab a different one!
Education.com has some FREE worksheets on Egyptian Pyramids here. More individual pages, in no particular order from Education.com:
- Egypt Coloring Page
- How to Draw a Pyramid (suggested for Second Grade)
- Ancient World Pyramid (Fourth Grade vocabulary)
Activity Village has LOADS of links if you really want to get into Egypt!
If you have an atlas, get it out and let the children find Egypt. As part of our study we also read from the Bible in Genesis 41 about Joseph in Egypt interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams. The kids have heard this story many times before but it was a good opportunity to refresh their memories. We also discussed Moses crossing the Red Sea and Mary, Joseph and Jesus fleeing to Egypt to escape the massacre ordered by Herod.
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning
Liz
Machu Picchu – Places of Old #3
Off to Machu Picchu in Peru, a place I have wanted to visit for a long time! I can make do with pictures though 🙂 Like Taj Mahal this is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site The Dewey library number/reference for this book by Kate Riggs is JR985.37 RIG.
The ‘Places of Old’ books by Kate Riggs are easy to read, encourage curiosity and have full colored photos on every page. Although Caleb did not do the harder worksheet that I am sharing with you, he was old enough (4) to listen to the book. You can purchase these books from Amazon but because they are only available in hardback they are quite expensive so I recommend getting them from your library. If you are not able to find this particular book grab a different one!
Education.com has some FREE worksheets on Machu Picchu here. Wikipedia also has some interesting info.
I found three interesting videos which we all enjoyed:
- The History Channel – this one shows some fighting with spears etc.
- National Geographic
- You Tube – camera man is talking to a llama plus listening to a Peruvian sing.
All these links were correct at time of posting but parents PLEASE check them out before watching them with your kids in case anything has changed!
Kids Discover is another interesting link and also shows some of the native people and what they wear.
If you have an atlas, get it out and let the children find Peru.
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning
Liz
Taj Mahal – Places of Old #2
Today we visit the Taj Mahal in India, a tourist destination for over 3 million people each year! (The book says 2.2 million, Wikipedia says 3!) Did you know that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site? The Dewey library number/reference for this book by Kate Riggs is JR726 RIG.
The ‘Places of Old’ books by Kate Riggs are easy to read, encourage curiosity and have full colored photos on every page. Although Caleb did not do the harder worksheet that I am sharing with you, he was old enough (4) to listen to the book. You can purchase these books from Amazon but because they are only available in hardback they are quite expensive so I recommend getting them from your library.
Education.com has some FREE worksheets on Taj Mahal here. The fourth grade worksheet actually gives some extra details that are not in the book. Activity Village does not have any worksheets but does have a page with information on plus some India pages. Wikipedia also has some interesting info.
If you have an atlas, get it out and let the children find India. Older children can find Agra. Learning to use an atlas is an important skill.
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning
Liz
Easter Island – Places of Old #1
I came across a series of books in the library last week by author Kate Riggs. For the next 4 days I am going to share one a day with you along with some extra resources. Today it is Easter Island, a fascinating island in the Pacific Ocean, where there are nearly 900 Moai (statues). The Dewey library number/reference is JR996.1 RIG.
The ‘Places of Old’ books by Kate Riggs are easy to read, encourage curiosity and have full colored photos on every page. Although Caleb did not do the harder worksheet that I am sharing with you, he was old enough (4) to listen to the book. You can purchase these books from Amazon but because they are only available in hardback they are quite expensive so I recommend getting them from your library.
If you do not already do so, please make use of your local library. If they do not have a book, you can always ask them to get it for you through an inter-county loan. Most libraries are FREE. For us, because we live outside city limits, the charge is $25 per year for the whole family. That is still an amazing deal considering we check out approximately 50 books every 2 weeks!
Education.com has a couple FREE worksheets on Easter Island here. The fourth grade worksheet actually gives some extra details that are not in the book. Both Hannah and Daniel were able to do this worksheet easily so can be used for younger grades.
Wikipedia also has some interesting info including population (5761). I had the kids guess how many they thought lived on the island before we looked this up. We all guessed WAY under!
If you have an atlas, get it out and see if you can find the tiny island. Get older children to write down the longitude and latitude of the island. Learning to use an atlas is an important skill.
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning
Liz
Australian Animal Worksheets. Marsupials and more!
We recently did a study on Marsupials, concentrating mostly on Koalas but also incorporating details on the many other marsupials. For our Lapbook/Workbook I started with a Lapbooking Unit “A Pouch for Katie” from In the Hands of a Child. We used three prong folders for the study as we added so much more to it than would fit in a Lapbook!
I am not the kind of teacher who can just “wing” a lesson when doing a Lapbook/unit study. I have to know what I am going to be teaching each day. The joys of ITHOAC Lapbooks is that most of them come with a daily Lesson Plan. However the one provided was for a 6 day study and I have found that a 5 day study works better for us as we can complete it in a week. With that in mind I adapted the Lesson Plan provided with the Lapbook in order to complete it in 5 days. This did not include the Marsupial worksheets (top picture) which I created at a much later date, weeks after having prepared the Lapbook materials. I just divided those worksheets up to do some each day. These are FREE to download in the Science Downloads on our website.
Please note that although Caleb (4) did the Koala Lapbook I did NOT expect him to do the Marsupial worksheets – way too complicated. In fact I found a couple extra K things for him to do at Homeschool Share.
Activity Village has a FREE fun Count the Koalas page.
Last but not least, listed as suitable for First Graders I think these fabulous, colorful Australian Animal worksheets could be adapted for multiple ages 🙂 You can find them FREE at Education.com
You can find some good YouTube videos online featuring some of these amazing creatures.
Hope you enjoy this study as much as we did 🙂
Liz
Fun with the Vikings:)
The kids and I had a BLAST with the Vikings so we hope you enjoy them too! First you need to download the FREE book Viking Tales by Jennie Hall on Gutenberg.
We studied this book in sections taking a ‘break’ to study Iceland and Greenland when appropriate. After each section in the Vikings Tales I had the children narrate back to me what had happened. Those narrations are not in the downloads as your children will want to tell you what they learned.
SO for this study you will find 4 FREE downloads on our website:
- Vikings
- Iceland
Due to the size of our Iceland study we have had to put it in two downloads. The first one is Iceland – About Iceland and Glaciers, the second one is Iceland – Food and Wildlife
Another adVENTURE of FREE, fun learning 
Liz
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