Lesson 1: Ancient China's Geography and how it effected early settlement |
TABLE GROUPS OF 4-5
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Students will travel as table groups of 4-5 people around the room. They will stop at tables to learn about different areas of China. Students will learn about the geography of China, areas of Inner and Outer China, and how the geographic features effected settlement and way of life. Students would take notes on the page at the bottom of the page. (or you could access the page here.)
First the entire class will learn about Outer China and Inner China. Students will read and take notes on 19.2 independently. This will give students a basic understanding of the geography of China so they can learn about it in more detail while traveling to different tables later.
First the entire class will learn about Outer China and Inner China. Students will read and take notes on 19.2 independently. This will give students a basic understanding of the geography of China so they can learn about it in more detail while traveling to different tables later.
TABLE 1: Table 1 will be about the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau and the Northwestern Deserts. Students will read 19.3 and 19.4 as a table group. They will discuss details of the chapter and view images of the two regions. They will also talk about how they think climate, resources, and other key details might have influenced the way people lived in these regions, or why they may have not chosen to settle here.
Pictures to be used:
Pictures to be used:
TABLE 2: Table 2 will be about the Northeastern Plain, the North China Plain, and the Chang Jiang Basins, as well as more information about the Northwestern Deserts, and the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau. Students will watch the Prezi by Elina Gorokhovsky and take notes on anything they found interesting or important. Although this Prezi includes some information students would read from a textbook at another table, it also includes some interesting details and facts that the textbook doesn't. It also allows students to get the same ideas that are in the textbook from a different source that is slightly more visually interesting.
TABLE 3: Table 3 will mainly be about the isolation of Ancient China, as well as briefly covering the important geographic features of China and their locations. This video is important for students to watch because it gives them a better idea of where the geographic features are, as well as how those locations really affected China (good impact and bad impact). There will be a video playing from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6IrkUvJxio (see below) that is directed towards students and guides the notes of students.
Video to be used:
Video to be used:
TABLE 4: Table 5 will be about the different life styles in different regions. Students would predict what they think life was like in each region of China as a table group, then read 19.10 in their textbooks. As they were reading they would take brief notes. After completing the section of the chapter they would compare and contrast their predictions with what was included in 19.10.
TABLE 5: Table 5 would be a quiz at http://www.ducksters.com/history/china/geography_of_ancient_china_questions.php. Groups could choose to work together on this part or to take the short test individually. This quiz would not count for any grade, but could show scholars what their general knowledge of the geography of China was before or after they learned about it. Since groups switch from table to table, there is no guarantee that students would know all the information asked for on the test since they might have not been to all the tables yet. This is ok because the test shows what answers you got right or wrong, so scholars could just make a note to pay more attention to topics they got wrong in following stations.
This lesson would be very brief and not take very long: only one (or at most, two) class periods. It is only meant to give students a full understanding of the area they will learn about in the near future. After this lesson is completed and everyone has gone to all five tables, students would write a short summary of what they had learned about. Students would be able to use their notes to help them remember details. Their notes would also be available for review and reflection.
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