Where in the world is Israel?

Objectives:

Students will

Locate Israel on a world map and a globe.

Identify Israel as small country.

Compare Israel to other countries in the region and in the world.

Describe physical geography of Israel.

Relate size and physical geography to need for developing innovative ideas.

Find maps in an atlas

Use an almanac to find facts about a country

Materials needed:

Globe

Atlas

Almanac

2005 CIA map of the world can be found at

Meets the following state and national standards:

National Social Studies Standards: III. People, Places, and Environments: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places and environments:

EARLY GRADES

  1. construct and use mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate understanding of relative location, direction, size, and shape;
  2. interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs;
  3. use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information;
  4. estimate distances and calculate scale;
  5. locate and distinguish among varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, and oceans;
  6. describe and speculate about physical system changes, such as seasons, climate and weather, and the water cycle;
  7. examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions;

MIDDLE GRADES

  1. elaborate mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate understanding of relative location, direction, size, and shape;
  2. create, interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs;
  3. use appropriate resources, data, sources, and geographic tools such as aerial photographs, satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), map projections, and cartography to generate, manipulate, and interpret information such as atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps;
  4. estimate distance, calculate scale, and distinguish other geographic relationships such as population density and spatial distribution patterns;
  5. locate and describe varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, rain forests, deserts, and oceans, and explain their relationships within the ecosystem;
  6. describe physical system changes such as seasons, climate and weather, and the water cycle and identify geographic patterns associated with them;

HIGH SCHOOL

  1. refine mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrates understanding of relative location, direction, size, and shape;
  2. create, interpret, use, and synthesize information from various representations of the earth, such as maps, globes, and photographs;
  3. use appropriate resources, data sources, and geographic tools such as aerial photographs, satellite images, geographic information systems (GIS), map projections, and cartography to generate, manipulate, and interpret information such as atlases, data bases, grid systems, charts, graphs, and maps;
  4. calculate distance, scale, area, and density, and distinguish spatial distribution patterns;
  5. describe, differentiate, and explain the relationships among various regional and global patterns of geographic phenomena such as landforms, soils, climate, vegetation, natural resources, and population;
  6. use knowledge of physical system changes such as seasons, climate and weather, and the water cycle to explain geographic phenomena;

California State Standard Chronological and Spatial Thinking: Students use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through a map's or globe's legend, scale, and symbolic representations.

Two 30 minute lessons

Where in the world is Israel?

Find Israel on a world map or globe. Answer the following questions:

  1. Israel is in the ______hemisphere.
  2. The continent where Israel is located is ______.
  3. Israel’s neighbors are ______, ______, ______, ______, and ______.
  4. Three other countries in the Middle East are ______, ______, and ______.
  5. What is the area in square miles of each of the following:

Israel ______

Syria ______

Egypt ______

Saudi Arabia ______

United States ______

Where in the world is Israel?

Label the major geographic features such as rivers, lakes, mountains, and deserts on this map of Israel:

  1. What is the lowest elevation in Israel? ______. Locate it on the map.
  2. What is the highest elevation? ______. Locate it on the map.
  3. Use an atlas to identify 5 major cities in Israel. Locate them on the map. What is the population of these cities?

City: ______Population:______

City: ______Population:______

City: ______Population:______

City: ______Population:______

City: ______Population:______

  1. Use an almanac to find out the average temperature and rainfall in Israel: Temperature: ______Rain: ______
  2. Which month has the most rain? ______Which month has the least rain? ______
  3. Make a chart showing average rainfall in each month of the year.
  4. Where in Israel is it the coldest? ______
  5. Where in Israel is it the hottest? ______

EXTRA CREDIT: Write a paragraph telling how these physical characteristics of Israel might influence the development of Israel’s need to rely on technological innovations to provide for its people.