Have the students bring something they use or eat at home to the class that they think comes from another country or area of the world. Discuss with the students what they know about their contribution (its origins, how it got here, how it was made or grown, connections with other objects etc.). Ask students:
What products or foods come from other countries?
How does your family use any of these products?
How do these foods or products arrive at your home?
Set aside a bulletin board, wall space or area of the room for this study. Write down on the board or chart paper any relevant words or phrases that emerge that connect Human global diversity and interdependence.
Have a large map of the world in front of the class to identify any countries and their geographic locations that may come up in the conversation. The students should each have their own map to individually label the country and area. You can download student maps from the following site: http://nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/
atlas/index.html?Parent=world&Mod e =b&SubMode=
After the discussion lead the students through the web page Global Grocery located on the American Museum of Natural History's Ology web site called Biodiversity . This page will reinforce and expand the class discussion: http://ology.amnh.org/biodivers i ty / g l obalgrocery/index.html
Then take the students through the National Geographic hypertext web site (Lizzie's Morning), a child's daily experience and how many countries of the world she comes into contact with. This site demonstrates globalization and human interdependence. Each country or area of the world mentioned should be pointed out on the map.
http://national geographic.com/
x p e di t ions/activities/11/lizzie.html
Have the students individually create a biodiversity journal for the next phase of this study. Point out the appropriate times for recording important facts and information.
At this stage it's important to connect the idea of globalization with cultural diversity and the interdependence of all life and habitats throughout the world. The following virtual tours help in making the connection and defining the basic components of biodiversity as species diversity, ecosystem diversity, genetic diversity, and cultural diversity.
http://fmnh.org/biod i versity/investi g ate_basics1.html
Expand and reinforce the concept by leading the class through these virtual tours on the American Museum of Natural History's web site:
http://amnh.org/nationalcenter/it_
takes_all_kinds/index.html
http://amnh.org/exhibitions/hall_tour/spectrum/flash/
http://amnh.org/nati o nalcenter/it_
takes_all_ k inds/a/a.html
And:
http://worldwildlife.org/windows/biod.html
http://amnh.org/nationalcenter/it_
takes_all_kinds/a/a_04.html
|