Lesson 3- What are Continents and Oceans?
Grade Level: 2nd Grade
Objectives:
-Students will recognize that there are 7 continents and 5 major oceans in the world
Essential Questions:
-What is a continent?
-What are the names of the continents and oceans in our world?
-Where on Earth are the continents and oceans?
I) Standards Addressed:
Virginia SOLs:
Geography 2.5- The student will develop map skills by
a) locating the equator, the seven continents, and the five oceans on maps and globes
Living Systems 2.5- The student will investigate and understand that living things are part of a system. Key concepts include
a) living organisms are interdependent with their living and nonliving surroundings
Writing 2.11- The student will write stories, letters, and simple explanations.
a) Generate ideas before writing.b) Organize writing to include a beginning, middle, and end
Reading 2.8- The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of fiction and nonfiction.
a) Make predictions about content.
b) Read to confirm predictions.
c) Relate previous experiences to the topic.
d) Ask and answer questions about what is read.e) Locate information to answer questions
National Curiculum Standards for Social Studies:
- People, Places, and Environments
- Science, Technology, and Society
- Global Connections
II) Materials for Learning Activities
A) Student Materials (per student):
1. Interactive social studies notebooks
2. A world map handout (adapted from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/geography/label/world/) 3. Pencils
4. Crayons or colored pencils
5. Glue sticks
B) Teacher Materials:
1. Notepad
2. 1 pen
3. Whiteboard
4. Marker
5. National Geographic’s Our World book
6. Document camera
7. Interactive social studies notebooks
8. 1 copy of the world map handout
III) Procedures for Learning Activities (45 minutes)
A) Introduction (15 minutes)
1. Remind students that last time, they learned about things that are on our Earth and how those things are organized by creating a mind map. Remind them that they have also explored a few different maps and learned that maps can teach us different things about different places.
2. Tell students they will now learn about continents and oceans, by looking at some maps. Ask them to raise their hands to answer the question, what is an ocean? What is a continent? Call on a few students to share their thoughts.
3. Tell students to sit on the carpet, facing the easel whiteboard. Explain that an ocean is a large body of water on Earth. Explain that there are five major oceans on the Earth: the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. Hold up one of the world maps in National Geographic’s Our World book and point to the positions of these oceans.
4. Explain that a continent is sort of like a school and then draw a large rectangle to represent the school. Ask students, what is inside of a school? On the whiteboard, make a list of things inside the school. This list may include classrooms, hallways, libraries, gyms, desks, boards, chairs, rugs, flags, pencils, water fountains, food, etc.
5. Explain that just like a school, a continent is a huge piece of land with many things inside. Just like the Earth, continents have both living and non-living things inside of them. However, continents are the land on the Earth, where some people live, but people do not live on all of the continents. Tell students, soon, they will understand why.
6. Introduce National Geographic’s book titled Our World and begin reading it aloud.
7. After reading pages 8 and 9, write the following sentence on the board- “Land is not smooth like a sheet of paper.” Stop and ask students to explain what that may mean. Discuss the labeled land form illustrations on pages 8 and 9. Then, continue reading the book.
8. As you read the book, it will introduce students to each of the 7 continents and some of their important features. Stop and discuss some of the book’s illustrations with students and allow them to make comments or ask questions.
9. When you have finished reading the book, make a list of the 7 continents on the board and then ask students the following questions:
- Which continent is covered with frozen rivers of ice, called glaciers, so that no humans can survive or live on it? (Antarctica)
- Which continent is also a country? (Australia)
- Which continent has one giant and famous desert, with ancient pyramids on parts of this desert? (Africa)
- To which continent do famous places such as Italy, France, Greece, and Sweden belong to and which continent is the only one that does not start with the letter A? (Europe)
- Which continent can we find the Amazon rainforest in? (South America)
- On which continent can we find some of the wonders of the world, such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal of India? (Asia)
- Which continent do we live on? (North America)
B) Instructional Strategies (20 minutes)
1. After you have read the book, tell students to return to their desks and to take out their interactive social studies notebooks. Ask student volunteers to pass out the world map templates.
2. Once every student has map, ask students to recall the names of the 7 continents. Record them on the whiteboard.
3. Turn on the document camera and make sure that the blank teacher’s world map is clearly visible.
4. Ask one student to come up and point to the continent of Antarctica. Ask all other students to point to this continent. Discuss the location and shape of this continent.
5. Color Antarctica blue on the map under the document camera.Ask the students to use one of their crayons to color Antarctica blue as well.
6. Call up one student to point to one continent at a time and then ask all the students to color that continent using the same color crayon. Repeat this until every continent on the map is colored.
7. Once every continent on the map is colored, refer to the list of continents on the white board and label Antarctica on the teacher’s map using the black marker. Then, ask students to use their markers to correctly label the name of each continent and tell them that they may also use the list of continents on the whiteboard and the classroom map for reference.
8. As they label the continents, walk around and check to see if each map is colored and labeled correctly. Assist any students who may need additional help and then finish labeling all the continents on the teacher’s map.
9. After enough time, ask all students to put their markers down. Explain that any students who have not finished labeling the continents on their maps may do so later.
10. Ask one student at a time to come up and show the location of each of the 5 major oceans (the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Southern, and Indian). Demonstrate how to label one ocean at a time on the teacher’s map, and ask students to follow along to label theirs similarly.
11. Show the students the labeled teacher’s map under the document camera.
12. Under the document camera, point to the equator on the teacher's map. Ask students if they know what this line that divides the Earth horizontally is called. Explain that the line is called the equator and that it is an imaginary line that divides the Earth into northern (upper) and southern (lower) regions. Label it as the equator on the teacher’s map, spelling it aloud while labeling.
13. Hold up the globe and show students the equator. Explain that places closer to the equator get more sun rays and hold on or store more sun rays than other places, so they are usually much warmer than other places. The closer a place is to the equator, the warmer it is.
14. Point to the prime meridian on the teacher’s map while spelling aloud the word and ask students to label their prime meridians. Use the globe to show students that the prime meridian divides our Earth into east and west parts.
15. Tell students that together, the prime meridian and the equator divide the earth into four regions based on the directions of a compass rose. Tell them that they will review the directions of a compass to better understand this concept. Then, ask them all to stand up.
16.Lead the students as they point up, down, right, and left to review the directions of a compass- north, south, east, and west respectively.
17. Ask the students to have a seat again, and then demonstrate how to draw a compass rose on the side of the teacher’s map. Label all of the directions.
18.Tell students that they may now finish labeling or coloring any incomplete parts of their maps. Ask everyone to double check their work by comparing their maps with yours shown under the document camera once they have finished labeling everything.
19. As students work on their tasks, circulate around the room to check for understanding. Take anecdotal notes and assist students as necessary.
20. After enough time has passed, ask them to finish what they are working on and to glue their world map handouts into their interactive social studies notebook.
C) Summary (10 minutes)
1. Ask the students to turn to a partner to share 3 interesting things they have learned about world maps after today’s lesson. After 2 to 3 minutes, ask a few students to share one of their responses.
2. For the lesson’s reflection entry, ask the students to answer the following questions:
1. What is a continent and what do you think we can find inside a continent?
2. What is an ocean and what can we find inside an ocean?
3. Explain that students may answer their reflection entry questions by creating a web if they wish to do so.
4. Commend students for their hard work and remind them to keep thinking, reading, and learning about the Earth’s continents and oceans!
5. For homework, ask students to take home and share their interactive social studies notebooks with a family member or friend. For extra credit, tell them to bring 1 or 2 fun facts about a continent, an ocean, or the equator to share during their next social studies lesson.
6. Clean-up.
IV) Assessment
A) Teacher will observe and listen to students' responses throughout the lesson to see how they are able to locate different areas and how they label their maps.
B) Teacher will later collect students’ interactive social studies notebooks to check their world maps and reflection entries for understanding
V) Differentiation
A) Lesson includes opportunities for scaffolded expression through oral discussions, hands-on experiences, writing, and illustrating
B) Teacher may assign particular regions for students to analyze based on their abilities
C) Teacher may group and work directly with a group of students who need additional guidance or assistance
VI) Technology Integration
-This lesson requires a document camera to project an enlarged view of the teacher's world map handout.