1. To appreciate the diversity of people.

2. To compare the lives of the people of Brazil with the lives of people in the United States.

3. To appreciate the contributions made by people of Brazil.

Standards Addressed:

1. Focus on the social and cultural elements of a Latin American country.

2. Understand how people in various regions of Latin America affect and are affected by their physical environment.

3. Explain the impact of technology on the environment, economies, and people of Latin America.

4. Describe how people of diverse cultural backgrounds in the Western Hemisphere have influenced each other.

5. Participates in group meetings.

6. Prepares and delivers presentations.

Setting:

The class will be in cooperative learning groups. Roles will include researchers who will find information online using web sites chosen by the teacher, recorder who will record the important information found by the researchers (information may be recorded using a word processing application such as Learning Company's Student Writing Center or Microsoft Word), illustrators who will be responsible to find online photos (from web sites that will be prescreened by the teacher) or create illustrations of the topics researched by the group using a drawing and painting application such as Kidpix, reporters, who share the information with the class both in oral reports and in written reports, and web designers who will place the textual information and graphics onto a web site for the class Virtual Travel Brochure. (Microsoft FrontPage or Netscape Communicator may be used).
 
 

Vocabulary:

Dictionary.com may be used to introduce and define the vocabulary words.
 

population	ethnic	birth rate	mestizo	mulatto
death rate	literacy	life expectancy	pictograph	culture

 

Materials:computer with internet capability, printer, word processing application, drawing and painting application, web authoring application.

Motivation:

The "Population Cooperative Learning Group" will brainstorm to develop a list of questions to be answered so that the students obtain an understanding of what the lives of people in Brazil are like. The questions will be placed on a T Chart.
 

1. What is Brazil's population?		160,737,489
2. What is the age structure of the population?		0-14 years: 31% (female 24,641,868; male 25,515,775)  15-64 years: 64% (female 51,966,272; male 51,254,165)  65 years and over: 5% (female 4,393,530; male 2,965,879)
3. What languages are spoken?	Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French
4. What is the literacy rate?	age 15 and over can read and write  total population: 80%  male: 80% female: 80%
5. What is the birth and death rates?	total population: 61.82 years  male: 56.57 years female: 67.32 years
6. What is the life expectancy at birth?	total population: 61.82 years  male: 56.57 years  female: 67.32 years (1995 est.)
7. What is the ethnic makeup?	Caucasian (includes Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish) 55%,  mixed Caucasian and African 38%,  African 6%,  other (includes Japanese, Arab, Amerindian) 1%
8. What are the main religions?	Roman Catholic 70%
9. What is the work force like?	57 million employed in services 42%, agriculture 31%, industry 27%

 
 
 

Development:

1. Students use the following web sites to fill in the T Chart above:

http://immigration-usa.com/wfb/brazil_people.html

This is a fact sheet on Brazil's people. This page includes statistical information on Brazil's population including age, growth rate, death rate, ethnic groups, languages, literacy.

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/br/popula.html

This page includes statistical information on Brazil's population including age, growth rate, death rate, ethnic groups, languages, literacy.

2. Students may make a pie graph showing the ethnic makeup of Brazil's population, using a drawing and painting application such as Kidpix. Here is a sample pie graph.

http://oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/world/Brazil/brazpeop.htm

This site describes interests of the Brazilian people.

http://brazilsite.com/ingles/edit001/mirror.htm/

This site includes slide shows with colorful photos and text describing Indian life in Brazil, and Brazilian culture in the various geographical regions of Brazil. A connection is made between the culture and the effect on the Brazilian people.

http://vivabrazil.com/brazilian_people.htm

At this site students may read about the arts, listen to music, see photos of celebrities, and learn about dance, and the language of the Brazilian people.

http://brazilsite.com/ingles/edit001/masterindios.htm

This site includes charts showing Brazil's population growth, population distribution and inhabitants, inhabitants in metropolitan areas as well as textual information about the language, religion, ethnicity, and history of the people.

The following questions may be answered from these charts found at the above web site

From the information obtained in the research phase of this lesson, oral and written reports will be produced and shared with class. These reports will include pictures and drawings as visual aids.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on their use of the Internet to find information about Brazil's people and synthesize that information to produce oral and written reports. Students should also be able to conclude that there is a relationship between factors like geography, economy, and history on the lifestyle of the people. Students will also be evaluated on their choice and use of visual aids, and their ability to communicate the information in their reports to the class in their presentation.

Follow Up:

A food tasting party can be held in which Brazilian foods can be tasted.

Students can play Brazilian style futbol as a physical education activity.

Students can read literature written by a Brazilian author.

Students can listen to Brazilian music.

Invite parents or family members of students who may be from Brazil to talk about life in Brazil.

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