Unit Overview
The US/Canada is our first chance as a class to head out and explore the world. Canada and the United States will be featured within this unit and the 8th grade geographers will be honing their geographical skills and digging deep into both the cultural and physical landscape of this vast land. (Note: Mexico, Caribbean & Central America…which would combine with Canada/US to for North America, will be a part of our Latin America Unit) It is a 3 week experience that contains 2 maps of the region (Political & Physical), an Activity Packet, 2 Unit Projects, and an end of the unit quiz. Below you will find a "download" list of items used in class and a detailed description of all the activities within this unit. Please click the "Schedule" tab to the left in order to view the daily happenings & the event schedule for our North America Unit...happy trails!
Click on Titles below for a downloadable PDF...
North America Activity Packet
US/Canada Discussion Notes
Political & Physical Mapping Rubrics
North America Greatest Places
School to Home Mapping Project
Great Lakes Region Textbook Link
5 Themes Collage Project
North America Regions/Neighborhoods
Official Geography Paragraph Rubric
EPIC Road Trip Rubric
Scenic ByWay Rubric
Important Unit Web Links...
NA Unit - Basic Water Terms Quizlet
http://show.mappingworlds.com/usa/ (NA Tech Assignment)
The US State Song - Animaniacs
Tour The State - Song & Drawing
Rise & Fall of the Great Lakes (GeoTV)
US/Canada Border (GeoTV)
Polar Bears/Arctic (Geo TV)
Yosemite (Intro to El Capitan Virtual Field Trip Video)
El Capitan, Yosemite (Google Trek/Virtual Field Trip Site)
Alaska Imax Film
Denali Climbing Video
North America Video Links…
How America Got It’s Name - Mr. Middleton Minute
Robot Hitchhiked Across Canada - Great Big Story 2:06
Canada’s Positivity Police - Great Big Story 2:45
Canadian Arctic: The Frozen Road (Biking Film) - Ben Page Films 24min
USA: The City of LAX - Vimeo 3:56 (Time Lapse Video of a Modern Working Airport)
North America Project #1 -
"5 THEMES" State/Province Collage
You will be creating a collage (collage = a series of pictures and/or drawings that tells a story or follows a common theme) that explains a US State (or Canadian Province) using the "Five Themes of Geography". Your collage will have 5 photos that represent each theme using specific information from your assigned state/province. Please be creative and use images that are unique to your state/province. Collage can be created using hand drawn pictures/images, cut out pictures from magazines/personal photos or created on your laptop with images from the internet. Have fun and good luck. Please follow the checklist below in order to receive the grade you are looking for.
Note: if you are creating this collage on your laptop you MUST have access to a printer AND your final project MUST be colorful…& all project information must be clearly displayed on the front of the project sheet. (nothing on backside)
5 Themes Collage Must Include…
____ 15pts - Neat and Colorful (Effort is Evident!)
____ 5pts - Title, Author, Date
____ 5pts - Labels (Label Themes)
____ 25 All 5 Geographic Themes Included
____ Bonus 5 pts Optional Presentation to Class (explain project)
Final Grade: _______ / 50 points
***Final Collage Project must be displayed on an 8 1/2 x 11 Sheet of Paper***
REFRESHER - the 5 Themes of Geography...
1) Location
2) Place
3) Movement
4) Interaction
5) Region