Lesson Plan #4
Duration: 3 days
Objectives:
Students will locate world's greatest deserts on map.
Students will research specific information about world's greatest deserts.
Students will orally present information from their research.
Students will create a travel brochure of a specific desert.
Materials:
Blank World Map
Atlases
Markers, colored pencils, paper
Microsoft Publisher, ClarisWorks or any other productivity software
Key Vocabulary:
Erg: continuous expanse of sand
Shael: narrow band of grassland that separates the desert from the grasslands of the central African plains
Shamel: northwesterly wind on Arabian Peninsula causing frequent sandstorms
Sinks: low areas that may hold water; they lie in valleys
Steppe: dry grassland in the Gobi Desert
Brochure: pamphlet or booklet, particularly containing descriptive or advertising information
Pamphlet: unbound booklet
Procedures:
1. Students will be given a blank map and will locate greatest deserts.
Arabian Peninsula, Australia, Chihuahuan Desert, Gobi Desert, Kalahari Desert, Mojave Desert, Patagonia, Sahara Desert, Sonoran Desert
2. Students will research specific information about each desert and record it. Students will use the library and Internet Resources for the information.
Each students must record: location, size, temperature, rainfall, and interesting facts.
3. Discuss travel brochures and assign students to make a travel brochure about a desert of their choice.
4. Create travel brochure using Microsoft Publisher, ClarisWorks, or similar program.
5. Students will present their brochures to the class and display them in the Media Center.
Assessment:
Teacher will evaluate students' map for accuracy.
Teacher will evaluate students' research.
Teacher will evaluate students' travel brochure.
Home Learning:
Complete World Deserts worksheet.