Teacher Curriculum Standards

The instructional unit is planned for the fourth graders at Colegio Roosevelt: The American School of Lima in Lima, Peru.  The students are primarily native Spanish speakers and have varying levels of proficiency in English.   In their Spanish class of 50 minutes a day, the students learn Peruvian history and geography and Spanish language arts.  The fourth grade social studies curriculum, for the English instruction classes, focuses on geographic regions and one of the geographic regions is the desert.

Social Studies Standards Addressed

• Understanding that all living things adapt to their environment;
• Humans have a significant impact on their environment;
• Deserts exist on all continents; and
• Deserts have unique geographic features

  

This lesson will not only include the social studies curriculum, but as they study the animals and the geographic changes in the desert they will be exploring science. The research and writing will include the language arts area, plus many more.  This lesson gives the students opportunities to use creative problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and creative production.