Geography Travels: Greece

Here are our lesson plans for our unit on Greece.  This is a geography unit about Greece as a nation.  So, while Ancient Greece was discussed, it is not the focus of this unit.  We did this last year when my daughter was in 3rd grade.

Week 1

Located Greece on world map and globe, found the capital and largest cities

Stamped passport, listened to the national anthem

Watched travel videos about Greece (follow link for a page with several videos)

Listened to the “Southern Europe Song” (Geography Songs)

Read about Greece in The Not-for-Parents Travel Book.

Started notebook page (Country Fact Sheet from Homeschool Creations)

Labeled a map of Greece—I don’t remember where we got our map to label, but here’s one from About.com Geography.  I usually have my kids label surrounding countries, bodies of water, the capital city, other major cities, and major land areas (mountains, deserts, etc).

Read from Geography from A to Z: mountains, peninsula, coast, islands, isthmus, strait, sea, hills, lakes, wetlands, peaks, canyon, gorge, bay, forest, plains

Week 2

Colored the Greek flag (the one we used has disappeared from the web—try the Greek flag printable at Coloring Castle)

Discussed government, currency, and religion

Looked at websites on Greece (see links below)

Talked about Greek history and historical places

Children Just Like Me, p. 33, notebook page (Homeschool Creations)

Week 3

Greek language

Read Look What Comes from Greece

Discussed Greek culture (music, dance, art, architecture, food, customs)

Snacked on tzatziki dip and pita bread

Discussed the Olympics

Week 4

Read An Island for a Pelican

Snacked on olives

Discussed Greek mythology and Greece in the Bible

Read from Around the World in 80 Tales story

Online Resources

Activity Village (Ancient Greece)

Activity Village (Make a Greek Vase)—We wanted to do this, but it didn’t happen.

DLTK Kids (Another pottery craft)

Greece 4 Kids

Greek Embassy (An Amazing Culture)

National Geographic Kids

Time for Kids

Travel for Kids

Travel Greece (pictures)

YouTube videos

Explore Greece with Travel Channel (Mainland)

Explore Greece with Travel Channel (Sea & Sun)

Explore Greece with Travel Channel (City Break)

Greek 101 (Common Words & Phrases)

Greek 101 (Greetings)

Greek 101 (Numbers & Days)

Greek Arts and Architecture

Greek Folk Dances

Traditional Greek Music by KAFENEION

Books We Used

Geography Travels: Czech Republic

I always enjoy choosing a little-known country (one that often gets skipped in most geography studies) and discovering all sorts of interesting things about that country.  Czech Republic is one of those.  Czech Republic is pretty cool.  (By the way, we did this unit last school year…I’m still plugging away at finishing up last year so I can start on this year’s!)

Speaking as someone who has loved studying other countries and maps since I was a tot, I have to say that I was sorely disappointed when Czechoslovakia split up.  While I understand the reasons they decided to split into two countries (Czech Republic and Slovakia), MY reason for disappointment is simply that they also split up the ultra-cool country name CZECHOSLOVAKIA!  I loved saying it.  I loved spelling it.  Anyway.

Let’s get on to the details of what we did during this geography unit.

Week 1

Located Czech Republic on the globe, map, and atlas; discuss capital city and other major cities.  Discussed Bohemia, which is in present-day Czech Republic.

See how amazing this country is!

Listened to Eastern Europe song (from Geography Songs)

Colored the flag of Czech Republic (Best Coloring Pages)

Listened to the national anthem:

Here’s another version of the national anthem.  This one is partly instrumental/partly choir and includes a slide show:  Czech Republic National Anthem

Watched YouTube videos on the capital city, Prague:

Read from Geography From A to Z  about features found in Czech Republic:  hills, rivers, basin, forests, mountains

Labeled a map of Czech Republic (Enchanted Learning)

Look HERE for another interesting map of the divisions of Czech Republic.

Learned some of the Czech language and listened to a Toy Story 2 song sung in Czech:

Discussed religion and also learned about the Moravian Church and Jan Hus.  Checked out this bio:  Jan Hus.  Read more about the Moravian Church.

Learned about the currency, government, and history

Week 2

Music Focus:  Antonín Dvořák (listened to some of his music)

Looked at Classics for Kids-Dvořák’s Biography

Czech Republic is known for its puppets and marionettes.  We watched a cool video on marionette carving in Prague (see below), and we tried making our own puppets.  I did this simply by giving the kids a box full of craft and recycled supplies and let them design their own.

Looked at Czech Republic’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites (you have to scroll through the listing of Eastern European sites, as they no longer have a listing of JUST Czech Republic on Wikipedia).

Learned about the story of the song “Good King Wenceslaus,” which was in reference to Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia.  Here’s an interesting version of the song:

Okay, so here is a version of the actual song we sing:

Focused on Czech Castles.  Oh.my.word.  Czech Republic has some pretty amazing castles…I mean LOTS and LOTS of pretty amazing castles.  I’ve been to all kinds of castles in England, Wales, and Scotland, but I really want to go to Czech Republic to see those castles! 

Did our notebook page (Homeschool Creations)

LINKS:

Travel for Kids-Czech Republic

Kids Culture Corner (Au Pair in America)

Fun Kids: Where in the World?

Czech Republic-Manors, Castles, Historical Towns

Castles of Czech Republic

Kids.Net.Au—Czech Republic

I’m linking this post to “History and Geography” at All Things Beautiful.

Geography Travels: Austria

Austria was the 9th country we studied last year.  Here’s what our unit study looked like:

Week 1

Located Austria on a world map and the capital, Vienna.

Began reading The Night Crossing (Karen Ackerman), a story about a Jewish family escaping Nazi Austria.

Made the Austrian flag out of construction paper.

Listened to the national anthem and watched YouTube videos about Austria and Vienna.

Discussed terms from Geography from A to Z (mountain range, river, foothills, basin, plateau, lowlands).

Labeled a map of Austria (Enchanted Learning), using a map from worldatlas:

Watched and discussed the movie Sound of Music.

Watched Salzburg videos on YouTube:

Salzburg - Austria

Top 5 Attractions Salzburg

Sound of Music Locations in Salzburg

Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg

Salzburg Classic – Lonely Planet

Austria has given us several well-known composers, including Mozart, Strauss, Haydn, and Schubert, so our study included learning about them and listening to some of their works.

First, we studied Mozart, a son of Salzburg:

Week 2

In week 2, we began our studies with Johann Strauss I and II (focusing primarily on the younger Strauss):

Then, we studied Joseph Haydn and listened to his music:

Finally, we learned about Franz Schubert and listened to some of his works:

Discussed Austria’s history, government, currency, language, and religion.

Pez candy was invented in Austria!

Austria is also famous for its Lipizzaner horses.  Check out these videos from YouTube:

The “World Famous” Lipizzaner Stallions (different from the one below)

The Spanish Riding School of Vienna

Filled out our notebook pages (Homeschool Creations).

Read Austrian folk tale from Around the World in 80 Tales.

We ate Wiener Schnitzel for a meal!  Wiener Schnitzel comes to us from Vienna and is the national dish of Austria.  Although traditionally made of veal, we made ours with chicken (it’s cheaper).   I used THIS recipe, which allows chicken or pork to be substituted for the veal.  For dessert, we had apple strudel, also Viennese and very popular in Austria.  However, I was lazy with the strudel and bought a pre-made one from the supermarket.

AND…we listened to the Vienna Boys Choir while we ate!

Links:

Travel for Kids

Classics for Kids (biographies of composers)

I'm linking this post to "History and Geography" at All Things Beautiful.

Geography Travels: Sweden

My interest in Swedish culture stems from my husband’s hometown in Iowa.  His town was founded by Swedish immigrants and retains a lot of Swedish charm.  Many of the houses have a Dala horse hanging up outside their doors.  Several years ago, we got to take part in the May Day festivities, complete with costumed dancers and the maypole.  Anyway, here’s what we did in our Sweden studies:

Week 1

Located Sweden on a wall map and globe, named capital

Colored the Swedish flag and listened to the national anthem (song with lyrics) and instrumental national anthem (with pictures).  The flag is from Coloring Castle.

Listened to and sang Christmas songs in Swedish (my husband learned these when he was in school).  We also discussed Saint Lucia Day (Dec. 13), which starts off the Christmas season.  (See A to Z Kids Stuff for more.)

Children’s author Jan Brett wrote a Christmas book called Home for Christmas.  It’s a book about a troll and based in Sweden.  I don’t have the book myself, but Brett has a page on her website with some interesting Swedish information related to her story and also a cookie recipe!  All About Home for Christmas (follow links for pages 2 and 3)

Read from Geography from A to Z these terms:  coast, forest, gulf, island, lake, mountain range, peninsula, sea

Labeled a map of Sweden (Enchanted Learning):

Week 2

Looked at websites on Sweden:

National Geographic Kids

A to Z Kids Stuff

Kids Konnect

Travel925

Discussed government, royalty, and currency

Talked about Dala (Dalecarlian) horses and read the book The Red Horse by Elsa Moeschlin.  The horse printable is from Making Learning Fun.  We colored, cut, and pasted our on paper.

We watched a nice YouTube video showing the hand-crafting of wooden Dala horses:

Discussed Sweden’s history (Vikings) and culture:

Traditional Swedish Dance (YouTube)

May Pole Dance (YouTube)

Midsummer festival:

Read some Maj Lindman books:

One of my favorite bands as a child was Abba, and they are from Sweden!  We listened to their music on YouTube and also some tracks I had purchased for my MP3 player.

Learned about important Swedish inventions:

Watched a YouTube video of Pippi Longstocking

Read Eric and the Little Canal Boat and watched a canal video on YouTube.

Learned a bit of Swedish language via YouTube:

More YouTube videos on Swedish language:

Colors

Numbers

Discussed the Sami people and reindeer:

Read Swedish folk tale from Around the World in 80 Tales

Prayed for the persecuted homeschool families in Sweden.

Other interesting links:

Icehotel—An incredible hotel made of ice in Swedish Lapland!

Channel 4 Learning—Has lots of links about Sweden

DalaHorse.com—More about this Swedish symbol

I’m linking this post to “History and Geography” at All Things Beautiful.