Aug. 19, 2005
Africa Unit Study
Posted in September Unit Studies
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Here is my ideal unit study for our first week of school. Later I'll break it up into 5 day sections. A few notes about this one: - doing the stripes on the zebras freehand is a pain to make a matching pair. I'd recommend doing it in a photo-editing program. The Sweet Potato cookies were very good. I was surprised. The kids keep scarfing them down. The homemade ginger ale......so-so. It had slightly too much of a ginger aftertaste for me, although I bet that could be remedied by adding more water or sugar or lemon juice. Don't use brightly colored cups for the African drums...the white tissue paper doesn't cover all that well, even after being stained. National Geographic Live WildCam in Botswana Geography Map of Africa to color look at Africa on Google Earth Animals to Study: Ostrich - Ostrich coloring sheet Hippo - Hippo coloring sheet Another one Cheetah - Cheetah coloring sheet Elephant - Elephant coloring sheet Zebra - Zebra coloring sheet Math Ostrich Eggs Make 20 copies of ostrich eggs. Number eggs from 1-20; laminate and cut out. Have her line the eggs up in order from 1-20, and then from 20-1. Ostrich eggs can weigh up to 3.3 lbs. Find an equivalent weight and let her see how heavy it is. Compare to a chicken egg. Jaguars' Spots Make copy of sheet of jaguars. Have her count the number of spots on each jaguar. Place an equal amount of dried beans on top of each jaguar. Print out the numeral equivalent to each jaguar, and have her match the number of spots to the numeral. Zebra Stripe Matching Game Print out blank Zebra image onto index cards. Draw different amounts of stripes onto each image - have 2 of each kind. Mix up the cards and let the her match the stripes. Cheetah running/measurement (Zoobooks activity) Science Animal Coverings Get a variety of different animal coverings such as hair, fur, feathers, etc. Play with pieces, talk about them. Have her cut images of animals out of magazines and match the animal to the type of covering. Talk about why God gave each animal the covering that it does - think about why a zebra with feathers (and other examples like that) might not work. Listen to sounds of the animals, either on cd or internet. 3 Hippo video clips, 1 audio Listen to different languages being spoken, either on cd or internet. Make a Habitat - Using finished elephants, make a habitat for them - go on a walk and find bark, grass, and leaves. Put in a box with some water. Cooking/Food Zimbabwe Sweet Potato Cookies 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons (7 ml) baking powder 1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) baking soda 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) salt 1/2 cup (125 ml) butter or margarine (1 stick) 1/4 cup (50 ml) sugar 1 tablespoon (15 ml) grated lemon peel 1 teaspoon (5 ml) nutmeg 1/4 cup (50 ml) honey 1 egg 1 cup (250 ml) grated, raw sweet potatoes Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium-size mixing bowl. Set Aside. Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the lemon peel, nutmeg, honey, and egg. Then, stir in the grated sweet potato. Blend the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture. Place rounded teaspoons of the cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. The cookies should be spaced at least 1/2-inch (1.25 cm) apart. Bake for 7 minutes. Cheetah Cookies (from Zoobook magazine) Ginger Root Beer Peel 1/4 lb of ginger root. Thinly slice. Put in a pan with 3 c. water - boil, cover and reduce heat and cook 20 min. Throw away root. Add 1/2c. lemon juice and 1/3 c. sugar. Stir until dissolved. Pour into a jar with a lid and refrigerate. To serve - fill glass 1/3-1/2 full with syrup. Add ice and cold water. Books to Read Zigby camps out / Brian Paterson E PAT Zebras / by Anthony D. Fredericks J 599.665 FRE Yellow Hippo / by Alan Rogers E R Hippos / Jenny Mary Markert J 599.734 M Africa / Malcolm Porter and Keith Lye JR 960 POR Ostriches / by Caroline Arnold J 598.5 ARN Big egg / by Molly Coxe E COX Cheetahs : fleetest of foot / by Eulalia Garcia J 599.74 G The cheetah : world's fastest land animal / Joy Paige J 599.75 PAI Aesop's Fable - The Lion and the Mouse Animals in camouflage / Phyllis Limbacher Tildes J 591.472 T Elephants : trunks and tusks / Adele D. Richardson J 599.67 RIC Elephants The giant animals series/ Johnston, Marianne J 599.67 J Saggy Baggy elephant : no place for me / by Gina Ingoglia E I Here we go, Harry / Kim Lewis E LEW Crafts Stamp with my giraffe, lion, and zebra rubber stamps Texture painting with animal shaped bath toys Rain Rhythm Sticks Materials: Description: Partially fill the tube with dried beans or rice. Close the other end with a cap. Then let them shake, shake shake. It sounds just like raindrops! African Drum Glue two styrofoam or plastic cups together, bottom to bottom and let dry. Tear off 4 to 5 inch lengths of masking tape and completely cover the opening at the top and bottom of the cups. Decoupage white tissue paper all over the outside of the cups and when dry, brush overtop with coffee or strong tea. Draw geometric or other designs around the top, middle and bottom of the drums with permanent markers. Salt Dough Elephants 2 c. flour 1 c. salt 1 c. water Mix and knead. Make figures, bake at 250 until brown. Music
I'd like to go to Africa (Point to self.) Where natives build straw huts like this (Join fingertips of two hands and form roof) Where elephants have big, gray trunks (clasp hands and swing arms in front like a trunk) Where natives arrow seldom miss (Shoot arrow in pantomime.) Where lions shake their manes and roar (Shake head & roar) I'd like to go to Africa. (Point to self) Get a CD from the library with african music on it. African drums Misc. Activities Play with felt animals from Betty Lukens flannelgraph Bible stories - The Felt Source Possibly take a field trip to a nearby Ostrich Farm Get a National Geographic (or similar) video on Africa Good Links Wildlife Safari Desert link National Geographic Coloring Sheets Unit Study planning page link Books I'm using: A to Z Math Games by Karen M. Breitbart (picked it up at a garage sale for $4!!!) Instant Science for Primary Grades by Sam Ed Brown (another yard sale find!) |
