Africa

NAME: __Sarah Snuggs__________________________

Grade Level(s): 2nd Grade

Subject(s):

• Social Studies/Geography
• Technology

Description: Students will be learning information about Africa within a month time period. The
unit will consist of the overall features of Africa: the countries, landforms, and animals. Toward
the end of the month, students will focus one to two weeks on Kenya. The learner will do various
art, technology, and research activities to help them focus on the concepts being studied.
Through the unit, the learner will be responsible for a country and an animal. The responsibility
involves finding facts and information on the item and then sharing this information with the
class. The student will do research on Africa using a specified website: www.africam.com, about
the different types of animals in Africa. The students will create a concept map of the animals in
Africa.

Goal: Students will gain new information about Africa.

National/State Standards:

NSS-G.K-12.2 PLACES AND REGIONS

As a result of their activities in grades K-12, all students should:

• Understand the physical and human characteristics of places.

NETS –S Standards:

• Work cooperatively and collaboratively with peers, family members, and others when
using technology in the classroom. (2)
• Demonstrate positive social and ethical behaviors when using technology. (2)
• Practice responsible use of technology systems and software. (2)

Objectives:
 1. The learner will gather information about animals, snakes, and birds of Africa.
2. The learner will appreciate the importance of preservation and beauty of animals, snakes,
and birds of Africa.
3. The learner will discover the different types of animals in Africa
4. The learner will discover how the animals in Africa differ from the animals in their
location by exploring africam.com.

Materials:

• pieces of paper with African animals listed on them

• books of different animals
• pictures of African animals to color
• report sheets
• toy animals
• encyclopedias
• basket
• example of toilet paper roll
• a computer with Internet access using www.africam.com
• Kidspiration
• Data sheets

Procedures:

Activity One (notice that the first part include the Teacher’s procedures/actions and the second
part consists of Students’ procedures/tasks to complete the activity)

1. Prepare classroom environment for the activity and collect necessary materials for
students to use.
2. Develop instructional materials such as the report sheet to be handed to students.
3. Play the part of the movie "I can't wait to be king" by Lion King on a DVD player.
4. Gather the class at the reading rug.
5. Demonstrate to the class that they will pick an animal out of the basket. The animal that
they pick will be the animal that they have to find information about.
6. Demonstrate to the class how they will fill in their report.
7. Show class the material that they may use to help them locate information about their
animals.
8. Each student will pick an animal out of the basket.
9. The students may work with other students (only if they need to share the same book and
have the same animal).
10. The student will fill out the report sheet that the teacher distributes (5 facts relating to
their animals).
11. After the child has finished their report sheets, they will either draw or color a picture of
their animal.
12. Students will make a classroom presentation of the animal by discussing why they chose
their animals, explaining the 5 facts they collected, and show their drawings.
 13. At the end of the period, show the class an example of a “toilet paper roll animal” that
they will make the following day.

Activity Two

1. The teacher will prepare the environment for the students to use during activity 2.
2. The teacher will divide the students into groups of 2.
3. The teacher will distribute the data sheets to each group.
4. The teacher will explain to the students that they will be viewing animals in
Africa through www.africam.com.
5. The teacher will explain to the students that they will access Internet Explorer and
will explore Africam.com.
6. After the students have accessed Africa.com, they will clink on the link for the
videos available to watch and discover the different African animals.
7. The students will record their data on the data sheets.
8. The students will then discuss their findings with another group to see it they saw
the same animals.
9. The students will explore the Internet to see where animal lives, is known for,
what they eat, and who their enemies are.

Assessment/Evaluation:

Activity One

1. The student will have to state 5 facts in front of the class individually or with another
student who did the same animal, explain why they chose that animal, and show their
artwork.
2. After the reports, ask the class which animal weighed the most? Which part of Africa do
a majority of the animals live? What type of food do the animals eat?
3. Collect the report sheets to see if each student completed the report accurately. This
activity will be worth thirty points total (20 points for the report and drawing, and 10 for
the presentation).

Activity Two

1. The students will access Kidspiration.

2. The students will make a concept map of the African animals.
3. The students will label the main bubble Africa, and will fill in the outside bubbles with
the information they record on their data sheets about their animals.
4. After the concept map is completed, ask the students to discuss the favorite animal they
saw.
5. Collect the data sheets and the concept map from each group to ensure their completion.
This activity will be worth 20 points total (10 points for the data sheet, and 10 points for
the concept map).