Africa

NAME: Brittany Alexander

Grade Level(s): 3rd Grade

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/Geography
• Technology

Description: Students will be learning information about Africa within a month time period. The
unit will consist of the overall features of Africa: the countries, landforms, and animals. Toward
the end of the month, students will focus one to two weeks on Kenya. The learner will do various
art, technology, and research activities to help them focus on the concepts being studied.
Through the unit, the learner will be responsible for a country and an animal. The responsibility
involves finding facts and information on the item and then sharing this information with the
class. Students will view the website www.africam.com in order to view live footage of animals
and their surroundings in Africa. After viewing www.africam.com, students will access the
teacher’s blog and list four different qualities that they viewed. This can be a list of the types of
animals they viewed, what the grass and trees look like, if there were people, or if there was
water in the area.

Goal: Students will gain new information about Africa.

National Standards:

• Understand the physical and human characteristics of places.

NETS –S Standards:

• Use keyboards and other common input and output devices (including adaptive devices
when necessary) efficiently and effectively.
• Use telecommunications and online resources (e.g., e-mail, online discussions, Web
environments) to participate in collaborative problem-solving activities for the purpose of
developing solutions or products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.

Objectives:

1. The learner will gather information about animals, snakes, and birds of Africa.
2. The learner will appreciate the importance of preservation and beauty of animals, snakes,
and birds of Africa.
3. The learner will describe what they viewed in Africa by accessing the teacher’s blog.
Materials:

• pieces of paper with African animals listed on them

• books of different animals
• pictures of African animals to color
• report sheets
• toy animals
• encyclopedias
• basket
• example of toilet paper roll
• computer that is accessible to video feed, internet, and speakers
• data projector

Procedures:

Activity One

1. Prepare classroom environment for the activity and collect necessary materials for
students to use.
2. Develop instructional materials such as the report sheet to be handed to students.
3. Play the part of the movie "I can't wait to be king" by Lion King on a DVD player.
4. Gather the class at the reading rug.
5. Demonstrate to the class that they will pick an animal out of the basket. The animal that
they pick will be the animal that they have to find information about.
6. Demonstrate to the class how they will fill in their report.
7. Show class the material that they may use to help them locate information about their
animals.
8. Each student will pick an animal out of the basket.
9. The students may work with other students (only if they need to share the same book and
have the same animal).
10. The student will fill out the report sheet that the teacher distributes (5 facts relating to
their animals).
11. After the child has finished their report sheets, they will either draw or color a picture of
their animal.
12. Students will make a classroom presentation of the animal by discussing why they chose
their animals, explaining the 5 facts they collected, and show their drawings.
13. At the end of the period, show the class an example of a “toilet paper roll animal” that
they will make the following day.

Activity Two

1. Direct students to enter the computer lab.

2. Write www.africam.com on the board.
3. Instruct students to access the site and view the live feed.
 4. Inform the students to study the live feed and then list three qualities they observed on the
teacher’s blog.
5. The student will begin by viewing www.africam.com.
6. They will study the live feed.
7. They will access the teacher’s blog and list four qualities that they observed on the
website.
8. The teacher will conclude the lesson by loading the blog on the data projector.
9. She will hold a classroom discussion about the different qualities the students listed.

Assessment/Evaluation:

Activity One

1. The student will have to state 5 facts in front of the class individually or with another
student who did the same animal, explain why they chose that animal, and show their
artwork.
2. After the reports, ask the class which animal weighed the most? Which part of Africa do
a majority of the animals live? What type of food do the animals eat?
3. Collect the report sheets to see if each student completed the report accurately. This
activity will be worth thirty points total (20 points for the report and drawing, and 10 for
the presentation).

Activity Two

1. The teacher will ask the students to access PowerPoint, which they have previously used.
2. They are to create a PowerPoint presentation about the qualities they discussed about
Africa.
o They are to have a title slide.
o Four slides about the qualities they discussed in class. Two slides can talk about
what the student themselves viewed, and two other slides must talk about
something their peers wrote on the blog (the teacher can see if the student was
listening during the class discussion).
o They must include two forms of clipart.
o They must have an ending slide.
3. The teacher will view each student’s presentation.
o 50 points total
o 5 for title and ending slide (5 points)
o 10 for each slide about the qualities (40 points)
o 5 for clip art (5 points)