1. As motivation and review, display a large
world map in front of the classroom. Distribute a Point Me to
Puerto Rico worksheet to each student. Give the class several
minutes to complete the questions on their own. Illicit answers
from the students about their worksheet asking them, “Is Puerto
Rico north or south of the equator?” “What continent is Puerto
Rico part of?” “Where is Puerto Rico in relation to the United
States?”
2. Show students pictures and postcards of Puerto Rico. Ask
them, “What landforms do you think you will find in Puerto Rico?”
You can make your own postcards by printing pictures from various
sites such as http://geocities.com/TheTropics/Coast/6028/ and http://puertoricopic.com/index1.html. Be sure to show
a variety of pictures from both the cities and countryside of
Puerto Rico. You can also go to www.solboricua.com (This site has a wonderful assortment
of images of the island. However, the photographs are copyrighted
so just use this as a virtual field trip.)
3. Distribute a blank map of Puerto Rico, download and print
copies from Enchanted Learning
4. Have students draw symbols for mountains in the center of the
island.
5. Talk about Puerto Rico’s climate and how it effects the plant
life that grows on the island: sugar cane, pineapples, coffee
beans, and palm trees all need the hot sun to grow. Have students
draw symbols for each plant on their maps. Be sure to point out
and label where the capital city of San Juan is. Also label the
major oceans and seas around Puerto Rico - to the north is the
Atlantic Ocean, and to the south is the Caribbean Sea.
Evaluation
Collect student maps to see
that everything has been properly labeled and that students used
understandable and logical symbols for each plant.
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