7th Grade Social Studies Introduction

Ms. Finnegan’s Class

Where we will go…

• Asia• China, Japan, India, Korea, Vietnam,

Indonesia

• Middle East• Iraq, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia,

Turkey

• Africa• Egypt, Sudan, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria,

Democratic Republic of Congo

First Unit

• 8 Connecting Themes• Review of maps• Latitude/longitude• Themes of geography• Elements of economy

ASIA• Geography

• Do you know where the Ganges River is?• Impact of Location

• What things influence where people choose to live?• Government

• Do you know what kind of government China has?• Religion

• Do you know what religions started in Asia?• Environment

• What is the Asian Brown Cloud?• Economy

• Do you remember what a command economy is?• History

• Do you know what happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

MIDDLE EAST• Geography

• Can you find Iraq on a map?• Impact of Location

• Why do people live so far apart in the region?• Government

• Do you know what Sharia law is?• Religion

• Do you know what 3 religions originated here?• Environment

• What are the biggest environmental problems in the region?

• Economy • What made the Saudi Royal family one of the richest

in the world?• History

• Do you know why Israel and Palestine are fighting?

AFRICA• Geography

• What is the longest river in the world?• Impact of Location

• How does the unique geography of Africa affect people’s jobs?

• Government• Which country is governed by dictator?

• Religion• What is animism?

• Environment• How many oil spills does the Niger River average per day?

• Economy• What is one of the poorest countries in the world?

• History• What European country colonized South Africa?

3 Main Projects

• Travel Brochures of Asia• ABCs of the Middle East• Africa Cereal Boxes

**None of these projects require typing or any computer programs-only the internet**

Other Stuff

• We will learn about Money Management- Credit, Interest, Income- How to make a budget

• We will also be reading novels that take place in the countries that we will be studying

• We will have a guest speaker who has travelled to Kazakhstan

• We will have “show and tell” opportunities during each unit for you to bring in pictures and other stuff from the countries we are studying.

• Looking Forward to a great year!