Lesson Title: The Amazon RiverDay Number: 12

Author: Bradley StrathmeyerUnit: 3

Grade level: 3 rd

Background information:This lesson teaches the students about the Amazon River. In groups, students will compare and contrast the Amazon River with the Mississippi River using a Venn diagram. They will read an article online, and use facts and pictures to describe both rivers.

Duration of the lesson- 45 minutes Content/Concepts

o Mississippi Rivero Amazon River

Skillso Comparingo Contrastingo Using a Venn diagramo Collaboration/teamworko Making predictions

Vocabularyo River - A flowing, moving stream of water that usually flows into

another body of water (ocean, lake, river, etc.)o Source (of a river) - The original point from which the river flows

Integration of Learning Outcomes Students will collaborate on the information read in the articles by working

together on a Venn diagram. Students will learn about the Amazon River by reading an article online and

comparing it to the Mississippi River. Students will compare and contrast the Mississippi River and the Amazon

River.

Standards:PA Standards

Geography CC.7.1.3.B: Identify and locate places and regions as defined by physical and human features.Geography CC.7.2.3.A: Identify the physical characteristics of places and regions.

NCSSPeople, Places, and Environment NCSS.1.3.A: Enable learners to construct use and refine mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrates their understanding of relative location, direction, size, and shape.People, Places, and Environment NCSS.1.3.D: Help learners to locate, distinguish, and describe the relationships among varying regional and global patterns of geographic phenomena such as landforms, climate, and natural resources.

Anticipatory set:The teacher will put pictures of the Mississippi River and the Amazon River on the board. The teacher will then ask the students to write down a list of describing what they see in the pictures. This could include what they see in the river, what is around the river, the size or color of the river, etc. After seeing each picture one by one, the students will turn to a neighbor and share the characteristics they came up with. Once the students are done collaborating, the teacher will ask students to share what they see.

Procedures: The teacher will review the Mississippi River briefly, talking about the

purpose and importance of the river Next, the teacher will introduce the Amazon River and give background small

background information on it The teacher will model how to use a Venn diagram by drawing one on the

board. When explaining how to use the Venn diagram, the teacher will explain both the similarity section and the difference section. For an example, the teacher will use dogs and cats

The teacher will split the class into small groups of no more than 3 students per group, and give each group a large piece of paper and markers

The teacher will ask the students to pull out their iPads, and go to designated websites provided by the teacher

The students will read about the Mississippi and Amazon River on the websites provided

Once finished, the students will draw a Venn diagram on the paper Collaborating about the articles read on the websites, the students will

compare and contrast both the Mississippi River and the Amazon River on the Venn diagram

When each group is finished, the teacher will hand out a bag that contains pictures of both rivers. The students will have to try and match each picture to the designated river

Differentiation:Upper level- the teacher will give a list of items that the students will compare, like length, major cities it flows through, etc., not just any facts from the article, which is what the rest of the class will be doing.

Lower level- the teacher will provide a sheet with key words and phrases, to help the students in deciding which part of the Venn diagram to place each fact.

Closure:The class will come together at the end, and share the facts of each river based off of their Venn diagrams. The teacher will ask one group at a time to give one fact in each section of their Venn diagram. Once the class is finished with the descriptions, the teacher will go over the answers to the picture-matching portion of the activity.

Formative/Summative Assessment: Formative

o The teacher will walk around the room during the small group activity, making sure the students comprehend the activity while participating with their group members (learning objective 1 and 3).

o The students will turn in the Venn diagram at the end of the activity for a grade based off of correctness (learning objective 2).

Summativeo No summative assessment

Materials/Equipment: Projector White board Dry erase markers Tablets (iPads) Large pieces of paper Colorful markers Bag of pictures Reading material

o Amazon River- http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/amazonriver.htm

o Mississippi River- http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/mississippiriver.htm

Technology: Projector Tablets (iPads) Websites (links above)

Reflection on Planning: Don’t forget to ask for predictions, promote reference of Mississippi in

comparison to Amazon Walk around classroom during small group time and ask why students put

each fact in specific column, or ask why they matched a picture in the specific column

Have website links at the ready for kids, and directions on how to get to the sites if the link doesn’t work

Have extra bags of pictures in case more groups are needed

Content Outline:a) Land of the Amazon

i) Ancestor – relative who was born long ago ii) Generation – people born and living at the same timeiii) Brazil is largest country in South Americaiv) Natural Resources: coffee, sugar, soya beans, timber, and metals such as gold, nickel and platinumv) Culture

(1) The culture of Brazil is very diverse like the US, there were massive Portuguese settlements in the 16th 17th and 18th centuries, thus leading to the main language being Portuguese, bug importance of family and religion, majority Roman Catholic (http://www.brazil.org.za/brazil-culture.html )vi) Landscape

(1) Rain Forests: covers 60% of Brazil, biggest is the Amazon Rainforest, Brazil is home to of the world’s rainforests, ⅓home to 1,700 bird species, 695 amphibian species, 578 mammal species and 651 reptile species (2) Amazon River: Like St. Louis, Brazil has one of the most extensive river system in the world, making transportation easier in the 1800s because one could easily travel by boat  (3) (http://www.brazil.org.za/rainforests-of-brazil.html)

Cut out the pictures below. Decide where each picture goes by placing it on the Venn diagram. The pictures are of either the Amazon River or the Mississippi River.

Compare and Contrast these specific items: What nationality were the explorers who found the rivers

Where the name of the river comes from The source of the river Where does it fall on the list of longest rivers in the world? For example, the

Nile is the #1 longest river in the world When were the rivers first encountered?

***** This is the differentiation for the UPPER level students