UNIT COVER PAGE

Unit 3
School District: / BHSD 228 / Department: / Social Studies / Course: / Geography
Unit Title: / Latin America / Grade Levels: / 9
Topic Areas: / Introduction to Latin America
Time Frame: / 3 weeks / Date Created: / 2/08 / Date Modified:
Unit Designer(s): / Gary Andruch, Chris Hennessy, Pete Luby, Chris Vitt

Link to State Standards

17.C.4b 17.D.5 17.B.3b
17.C.2b 17.C.1a 17.B.3a
17.C.3b 17.C.1b 17.B.4a
17.C.4c 17.C.1c

Summary of Unit

The student will learn about the causes and effects of a city’s rapid growth and the spatial inequality that is resulted from the city’s expansion. The student will examine the causes and effects of hurricanes and discover the ways in which people cope with extreme weather. The student will earn what the various groups want and examine possible solutions to land use conflict within the Amazon Rainforest.

Resources

Geography Alive – Chapter 9, 11, 12, 13
World Geography – Chapter 9-13

Key Words

-  Rural decline - Carbon-oxygen cycle
-  Spatial inequality - Deforestation
-  Standard of living - Sustainable development
-  Urbanization - Tropical rainforest
-  El Nino - Snow line
-  Extreme weather - Terracing
-  Meteorology - Tree Line
-  Natural disaster - Vertical Trade
-  Altitudinal Zonation
-  Tropical cyclone
-  Bio-Diversity


STAGE 1: IDENTIFY DESIRED RESULTS

Enduring Understandings

Students will understand that
1.)  The existence of spatial inequality in urban areas reads to differences in wealth.
2.)  Extreme weather poses challenges that the people in Latin America must deal with.
3.)  Conflicts exist over land use in the Amazon Rain Forest.
4.)  How people adapt to the 4 main elevation zones in the Andes?

Essential Questions

1.)  Why does spatial inequality exist in urban areas?
2.)  What causes extreme weather and how do people deal with it?
3.)  How should the resources of rainforests be used and preserved?
4.)  How do people adapt to living in a mountainous region?

Knowledge and Skills

Students will know
1.)  That spatial inequality exists in Mexico City
2.)  That extreme weather is a part of island life in Latin America.
3.)  That there are differences of opinion of how the Rain Forest should be used.
Students will be able to
1.)  Explain the growth of Mexico City and the problems of rapid urbanization.
2.)  Describe the different types of extreme weather.
3.)  State the different options of the uses of the resources of the Rain Forests.
Students will be familiar with
1.)  History of Mexico City.
-  How rural decline causes urban migration.
-  New problems created by urbanization.
-  How Mexico City became a city of “Haves” and “Have Not’s”
2.)  Natural forces that are at work in the Caribbean.
-  The causes and effects of hurricanes.
-  El Niño’s impact on world-wide weather.
3.)  The ecosystem of the Rain Forest
-  What native Amazonians, rubber tapers, loggers, settlers, cattle ranchers, environmental want with the Amazon Rain Forest.
-  Ideas for reducing land use conflict.


STAGE 2: DETERMINE ACCEPTABLE EVIDENCE

What evidence will show that students understand?

Required Assessments (brief description)

-  Geography Alive workbook/processing 13 p.100

Other Assessments (brief description)

- Geography Alive interactive student notebook- Processing 12 p. 95
- Letter to Brazilian government explaining your ideas about how to best preserve and use the resources of the Amazon Rainforest.
-  Geography Alive student interactive notebook – Processing 11-p. 88
Pamphlets that will help teach people about hurricanes.

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PLAN LEARNING EXPERIENCES AND INSTRUCTION

What sequence of teaching and learning experiences will equip students

to develop and demonstrate the desired understandings?

Learning Activities

W
/ How will you ensure that all students know where they are headed in the unit, why they are headed there, and how they will be evaluated?
-  Overview of the unit
-  Chapter tests
-  Introduction to performance assessment
-  Over crowding/natural disasters can impact the world from a global level.
H
/ How will you hook students at the beginning of the unit?
-  With a bell ringer that will illustrate the critical balance that exists between resources and space.
-  Set class up with class divided with pens, paper, and other half has more desks but no pens and paper- where are they going to sit?
E
/ What events will help students experience and explore the big idea and questions in the unit? How will you equip them with needed skills and knowledge?
-  Internet
-  Book research
-  Performance task
-  PowerPoint
-  Presentations
R
/ How will you cause students to reflect and rethink? How will you guide them in rehearsing, revising, and refining their work?
-  Journal reflections
-  Homework
-  Quiz
E
/ How will you help students to exhibit and self-evaluate their growing skills, knowledge, and understanding throughout the unit?
Develop a plan that will help ensure that the actions of others will not negatively affect society.
T
/ How will you tailor and otherwise personalize the learning plan to optimize the engagement and effectiveness of ALL students, without compromising the goals of the unit?
-  Design lessons for multiple learning styles.
-  Give students options in designing assessments.
O
/ How will you organize and sequence the learning activities to optimize the engagement and achievement of ALL students?
Explain the interaction between people, natural disasters and resources available. Show patterns of human behavior that show how they negatively impact the environment.

Required Performance Assessment

Goal: Understand mountainous regions of the world

Role: Write a story on a mountainous region of your choice.

Audience: Students and teacher

Situation: Geographer studying mountainous regions

Product: You will create a summary of a mountainous region in order to compare it to the Andes.

Standards for successful completion: Teacher designed rubric

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