DOCUMENT RESUME ED 468 588 SO 032 929 Fitzhugh, William AUTHOR A Geography of Korea for Elementary Students. TITLE 2001-00-00 PUB DATE NOTE 25p. Classroom PUB TYPE Guides Teacher (052) EDRS Price MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE DESCRIPTORS Class Activities; *Cultural Context; Curriculum Enrichment; Elementary Education; Foreign Countries; *Geographic Concepts; *Geography; *Geography Instruction; Learning Activities; *Social Studies; Student Educational Objectives; Teacher Developed Materials National Social Studies Standards; *South Korea IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This geography lesson about Korea is aimed at students in grades 2-4 and requires two class periods to complete. The students read an article about Korea using the five fundamental themes of geography to guide them. They use the information from the article to write about Korea and compare it with their own community. The lesson cites educational objectives; lists applicable National Council for the Social Studies standards; notes materials required; provides a rationale; outlines a detailed step-by-step procedure for classroom implementation; and suggests evaluation and extension activities. It includes resource sheets with background information about Korea as well as activity sheets and a world map. (BT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. A Geography of Korea for Elementary Students. William Fitzhugh U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND CENTER (ERIC) DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS This document has been reproduced as BEEN GRANTED BY received from the person or organization originating it. 9 _w_t2 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. ° Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES official OERI position or policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) BEST COPY AVAILABLE 1 A GEOGRAPHY OF KOREA FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS AUTHOR: William Fitzhugh GRADE LEVEL: Elementary Grades 2-4 SUBJECT: Social Studies TIME REQUIRED: 2 class periods OBJECTIVES: As a result of this lesson, students will: 1. Identify an example of a fundamental theme of geography relating to Korea 2. Write an article using the five themes in order to discuss the geography of Korea 3. Compare Korea and their own community using the five themes of geography APPLICABLE NCSS STANDARDS: I. CULTURE d. Compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions III. PEOPLE, PLACES & ENVIRONMENTS grid c. Use appropriate resources, data, sources, and geographic tools such as atlases, databases, systems, charts, graphs, and maps to generate, manipulate, and interpret information h. Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions MATERIALS REQUIRED: the following text, map of Korea, world globe, and webbing sheet RATIONALE: Students will be reading an article, which gives information about Korea using the five fundamental themes of geography. Students will highlight information and collect data using a web. Students will use the web in order to write to inform, giving a reader their own information about Korea, Lastly, students will compare and contrast their new knowledge of Korea with knowledge they already have about their own community. This social studies lesson integrates reading skills as well as creative writing skills. PROCEDURE: 1. Introduce artifacts from Korea. These may include baseball, flag, stamps, rice, pine trees, rose of sharon flowers, words written in Korean, as well as books about Korea. Ask prompting questions about why each was selected and how many are familiar from their own community. 2. Review 5 fundamental themes of geography with your students. Students list examples of these themes, which are found in your community. 3. Introduce Korea on your world map. Have students trace a path across the world in order to locate Korea. 4. Use resource sheets, which follow in order to read to be informed. Student's high light important information on their resource sheets. 5. After reading, discussing, and highlighting the resource sheets, students complete ACTIVITY 1. 6. Using information gathered in ACTIVITY 1 student work together in order to complete a web (ACTIVITIES 2 & 3.) Students use the web to write their own article about Korea addressing each of the fundamental themes. Remember to review correct set-up for writing articles. 7. In ACTIVITY 4, students will compare information from their web about Korea and their own community. They should write to inform the reader about at least 2 similarities and 2 differences between the two regions. 7. Students will draw a' picture on either a geo-cube or a geo-pyrainid. Each picture displays one concept foe each of the five themes. After coloring and labeling the illustrations on their geometric shape. Students cut-out and assemble their shape (Activity '5.) EVALUATION: The geo-cube in Activity 5 is both and extension activity and an evaluation. Each of the writing prompts can be assed as to how well students incorporate new knowledge into their writing assignments. EXTENSION ACTIVITY: 1. Students construct an alphabet frieze using one picture for each letter of the alphabet. Students draw and label their pictures. This can be completed as an' independent project or as a group display in the room. 2. Students use weather data sheets to construct graphs comparing rainfall and temperature in Seoul and Washington, DC (both national capitals.) 5 Resource Sheets for Korea: We can use the five fundamental themes of geography in order to describe Korea and compare it with our own community. Korea is a small country with a rich geography. As you know the five fundamental themes are location, place movement, human-environmental interaction and region. As you read about the geography of Korea, begin to think of similarities and differences between the geography of Korea and our own community. LOCATION Korea is located in eastern Asia. It is a peninsula. The Yellow Sea and the East Sea (Sea of Japan), both parts of the Pacific Ocean, wash its shores. China and Russia border Korea on the north. Japan is only 110 miles away across the Strait of Korea. The absolute location of Seoul, Korea (the capital city) is 37 degrees north latitude and 127 An interesting fact is that our capital city degrees east longitude. Washington, DC is located at 38 degrees north longitude and 77 degrees west latitude. If you were to draw a line straight through the earth, you would discover that Seoul is almost directly on the extract opposite side of the globe! Use the grid system on our world map to find the alphanumeric location of Korea. PLACE Koreans Korea's culture is different from our country's culture. reflect are proud of their traditions. Many sights we would see in Korea its culture and history. Due to the Korean War, Korea has been divided at the 38th parallel. You can travel to see this boundary between North and. South Korea. This is a heavily fortified frontier! The city of Seoul has been the capital city of Korea for hundreds of years. A wall People passed through gates in order to enter encircled once the city. the city. Today these gates are still standing. They remind visitors of There are markets located near some of these Korea's long history. gates. Some of Korea's people are Buddhists. They worship at temples. Some of these temples are painted a bright red-orange. You will also see tall towers called pagodas. Seoul is the tenth largest city in the world. You will see many Imagine all the people who live and work here. modern skyscrapers in downtown Seoul. People travel on busy streets and in underground subways. Large apartment buildings have been build as homes for Seoul's citizens. In 1988, the summer Olympics was The stadium built for the Olympics seats 100,000 held in Korea. people. The World Cup soccer matches will be held in Korea in 2002. Soccer is as popular in Korea as it is in our country. 7 MOVEMENT Years ago Korea was a rural country. Most of the people live on farms in the country. Today most Koreans live in cities. People have moved to the city in order to find jobs. They have also moved because they think schools are better in cities. One out of four Koreans lives in Seoul. Cities are important because of the jobs they provide. Manufacturing of goods Korea is no longer a farming country. such as televisions, electronic equipment, cars, footwear, video players, A good system of and ships are important to Korea's economy. highways and railroads helps the Koreans move raw materials and finished goods. Goods are exported from the harbors at Inchon and The United States and Japan are Pusan to cities all over the world. Korea imports oil, which is Korea's most important trading partners. used to fire the turbines, which produce electricity. Koreans have borrowed many ideas from other countries. Baseball In turn, other countries enjoy activities and soccer are popular sports. from Korea. Judo and Tae Kwan Do are popular in Korea and other countries. 8 HUMAN ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION As Korea's society changed so did the environment that Koreans live in. One large change was the movement to the city. Korean cities are densely populated. Many people live in tall apartment buildings. Seoul is lucky to have so many parks where people can enjoy the out-of- doors. As cities get bigger their problems increase. One environmental Exhaust from cars make is air problem Seoul faces is air pollution. This is called smog. Traffic moves slowly on busy days. hazy. Subways provide mass transit for many people. Traffic jams are common. Industry uses a great deal of energy. Oil must be imported to fire up the turbines, which generate electricity for homes and factories. Once the mountains were covered with forests. Wood was cut down for many uses including home heating. Koreans are now re-planting their forests. This is called reforestation. 9 REGION There are many ways to describe Korea as an important region. Korea is an important political region. As a result of the Korean War, South Korea is a Korea was divided into two separate countries. Citizens in Korea vote for their president and have many of republic. Korea is an rights and responsibilities of citizens in our country. important economic region. Many of the goods we buy in the US were Korean goods are well known for the quality of produced in Korea. their craftsmanship. Samsung, Gold Star, Hyundai, and Daewoo are important brand names we all recognize. Skilled labor, educated people, and investment from the United States and Japan have helped Korea become an important manufacturing region. Before manufacturing was important farming was the most important occupation for many Koreans. This best soil is found in lowlands. Rice is the main crop. It grows well during Korea's hot, wet summers. As a region Korea can be described in other ways as well. The climate of Korea is similar to our region's climate. Korea has four distinct seasons of the year. Summer can be hot and wet. Most of the Winters are cold and snowy. rain comes in summer. Sometimes typhoons cause much destruction. Culture defines a region, too. The Koreans are proud of their long The Korean language is nothing like history and distinct culture.. Japanese or Chinese. The writing system uses a combination of vowels This distinctive way of writing is called Hangul. and consonants. Koreans have developed their own ways of writing poetry, making music, and creating works of art.