Instructional Goals:

1. Students will learn geography of South America

2. Students will learn some important facts about each country in South America

Learning Objectives:

1. Students will use atlas, almanac, encyclopedia, maps and globe to find facts about countries.

2. Students will navigate www.countryreports.org website to find facts about countries.

3. Students will identify South American countries on a map.

4. Students will identify specific countries from factual clues given about individual countries and identify individual countries on map.

Motivational Goals:

1. To interest students in people and places around the world.

2. To promote interactive learning among all students and the instructor.

3. To increase students' confidence by allowing them to teach one another.

1. Atlas

2. Encyclopedias

3. World almanac

4. Maps

5. Globe

6. Any other country related reference resource

7. Internet connection to www.countryreports.org

8. LCD projector or means to demonstrate to class how to navigate countryreports.org

9. Worksheet/overhead for demonstration purposes

10. Overhead projector/Chalkboard or whiteboard to demonstrate how to utilize worksheet

11. A model to demonstrate how to present clues from hardest to easiest.

12. Timer

13. Student Worksheets

14. Answer Key:

Country 1: Venezuela

Country 2: Columbia

Country 3: Ecuador

Country 4: Peru

Country 5: Bolivia Country

6: Chile Country

7: Argentina Country

8: Uruguay Country

9: Paraguay Country

10: Brazil Country

11:French Guiana Country

12: Suriname Country

13: Guyana

The LMS will have a large map of South America as a backdrop to the lesson. Each student will be given a worksheet with three facts about a particular country, but will not be given the specific name of the country. The students will be told that they have been given three clues about a single country in South America. The student's mission is to determine what country the clues are from. The student's must keep their country a secret as they will have to provide three additional facts about their country to classmates to use as clues to identify their particular country.

Students may work in groups of two to five students according to class size, structure and teacher preference. The LMS will explain to students that they have been given three research clues to identify a specific country in South America. The LMS will then ask students what resources are available in the library that can help them identify the country from the facts they have been given. The LMS will review/introduce the encyclopedia, world almanac, atlas, map, globe and any reference resources specific to country research available. Additionally, the LMS will introduce the students to the website www.countryreports.org as a credible site to engage in online research about countries. The LMS will demonstrate how to use each resource by taking the facts given for a particular country and using the resources to find out what country is identified by the given facts. The LMS will remind students to keep the identity of their country a secret, as classmates will be required to identify the country in a game at the end of the lesson. The LMS will also demonstrate how the resources can be used to find additional facts about countries. Students must find three additional facts about their country to use as clues about their country's identity.

Throughout the lesson the LMS will be available to guide student's research as they use the different resources. The LMS should make a point to touch base with each group to make sure they have identified the correct country from the facts given on the worksheet. Once students have correctly identified their country, they may proceed with research to find three additional facts about their country. When students complete their worksheets they will be ready to share their research with classmates in a game. The class will be asked to identify the country based on student research clues. Each individual/group will present the six clues about their country (the three clues they researched, plus the three initial clues they were given to start the assignment). The students should be asked to give the clues to their classmates in order from most difficult clue to easiest clue (a simple organizer on the student worksheet can help student complete this task).

This allows the class to learn a number of facts about the country before being able to identify the country. The LMS can model this technique for students by using an unassigned country and presenting a list of clues from hardest to easiest. If there is not an available country, the LMS can model the technique using one of the 50 states and listing clues about the state from hardest to easiest. The students can then try to identify the state from the clues given, as they will be asked to identify countries from given clues. Each group of students presenting clues to their classmates only has 2 minutes to share their clues with the class. The group presenting clues must present all their country clues before the class may begin to guess what country the clues identify. It is suggested students raise their hands if they think they know the answer and wait to be called on.

After the country is correctly identified, the student group presenting must indicate to the class where their country is on the map and also show the location of the country's capital (it is suggested that one of the initial clues students are given to start their research is their country's capital). Students will be given an additional worksheet that will require them to list each country that is presented by the student groups as well as write one specific fact they learned about the country presented. The two worksheets will be handed in to the LMS for learning evaluation. The worksheets may also be graded by the classroom teacher.