Chile,+South+America


 * Lesson Title:** Chile: One of the World's Longest Countries; Discover How its Unique Physical Characteristics Influence Culture


 * Instructor:** Miss Tara Hill


 * Subject:** 6th Grade Social Studies


 * Class Period:** 90 minutes


 * Location:** Chile, South America


 * Objective:** 2.01 Identify key physical characteristics such as landforms, water forms, and climate, and evaluate their influence on the development of cultures in selected South American and European regions.

As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:
 * Goals:**
 * Locate Chile on a map
 * Identify Chile's major physical characteristics and understand its geography
 * Describe Chile's diverse climate
 * Identify 8 indigenous communities living in Chile in 2002 (according to the 2002 census)
 * Analyze the influence of Chile's physical characteristics on the development of various indigenous cultures in Chile
 * Collaborate with other students in a group setting


 * Materials:**
 * Overhead projector
 * Prezi presentation
 * Pictures of Chile's land forms
 * Blank map of South America
 * Internet access in classroom
 * Laptops- at least eight- one for each group, if not one for every student
 * Personal notebook paper/pencils
 * Markers, colored pencils, crayons
 * Poster board

//1. Warm-up (5 minutes)//
 * Procedures:**
 * As students come in the classroom, they will find the lesson title on the board along with this writing prompt: Write down everything you know about Chile. Think about where it is located, culture, climate, physical characterisitcs, geography, etc. I will assure students that their response will not be graded for accuracy, but instead, its primary purpose is to get them thinking.

//2. Class discussion (5 minutes)//
 * I will ask students to share what they wrote down in response to the prompt. I will then explain that our lesson will be focusing on the things listed in the writing prompt.

//3. Minilesson on Chile (25 minutes)//
 * I will start off by giving a minilesson on Chile via Prezi. I will put up a blank map of South America and ask students if they know which country Chile is. I will then point out Chile on the map (if students have not already done so). I will inform students that Chile is known as one of the longest countries in the world and that is why it is easy to locate on a map.
 * Fun fact: Chile's width never exceeds 240 km (150 mi), making the country more than eighteen times longer than its widest point.
 * I will then describe the location, geography, and climate of Chile. I will put up pictures on the overhead including: The Andes Mountains and examples of volcanic activity, the Atacama Desert, Cape Horn, the Juan Fernandez Islands and the famous Easter Island, etc. I will also explain that Chile's climate is as diverse as its geography. I will provide an example of the extremity of climate change (climate in the Andes versus climate in the Atacama Desert).
 * Next, I will introduce the eight indigenous communities that were reported to be living in Chile in 2002 (according to the 2002 the census). I will explain that Chile is one of the twenty countries to have signed and ratified the only binding international law that concerns indigenous peoples (Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989). This is how I will justify the studying of indigenous cultures to be important in the context of Chile.

//4. Group Work (55 minutes)//
 * I will split the class into 8 groups. Each group will be responsible for researching an indigenous group. The 8 different indigenous communities will be listed on the board: Alacaluf, Atacameno, Aymara, Colla, Mapuche, Quechua, Rapanui, and Yamana.
 * Students will need to research their particular group's culture, location, and specifically how the group's location in Chile has influenced their cultural practices. In other words, students will need to make inferences and analyze how Chile's physical characteristics influenced the development of this particular group's culture. Each group with be provided with a laptop, and all students will have access to a laptop if possible.
 * Students will record their findings on notebook paper, then create a type of visual display of their research to present to the class (poster, PowerPoint, etc.)
 * Students will probably not have time to present to the class, so that will carry on to the next day's class period.


 * Assessment:** I will be able to assess students' knowledge from looking at their completed work, and also by observing groups working on their projects. Furthermore, I can especially assess what students have learned from listening to their presentations to the class on their findings. The group's grade will be based off of creativity, neatness, group collaboration skills, accuracy of information, and quality of students' inferences and conclusions--including how they justified their conclusions.

**Narrative Lesson Plan** Since I am student teaching in a 6th grade classroom, I knew that I wanted to do a lesson on either South America or Europe. I chose South America because personally, I am fascinated by the beautiful and breathtaking landscapes, waterfalls, mountains, and other physical characteristics of the continent. I would really love to have the opportunity to travel there one day! After I narrowed my location down to the country of South America, I had to choose a particular area or region within the continent. After looking at a map of South America, I decided to do my lesson on Chile. Ever since I learned about South America in middle school, I have been interested in the country of Chile. I remember thinking that it had a weird name, and I also remember knowing how to easily locate it on a map because of its extremely long and skinny shape. Chile always stood out to me on the map and I think it's an interesting country to learn about. It had been awhile since I had learned anything about this country, so I was looking forward to researching the country again after all these years! I decided to focus on objective 2.01 of the NC Standard Course of Study. This particular objective reads: Identify key physical characteristics such as landforms, water forms, and climate, and evaluate their influence on the development of cultures in selected South American and European regions. Since Chile has such an interesting and diverse geography and climate, I thought it would be really neat for students to learn about Chile for this particular objective. Therefore, it was easy for me to decide which aspect of Chile I wanted to focus on.

In this lesson, I want to make sure students first learn how to locate Chile on a map, which I hope will be fairly easy due to Chile's unique shape. Next, I would like students to be able to identify Chile's major physical characteristics and understand its geography. In addition, I want students to be able to describe Chile's diverse climate. Another big thing I want students to learn about is the culture of eight indigenous communities living in Chile, which include the Alacaluf, Atacameno, Aymara, Colla, Mapuche, Quechua, Rapanui, and Yamana**.** These eight indigenous communities were reported to be living in Chile in 2002 (according to the census). Lastly, I want students to be able to analyze the influence of Chile's physical characteristics on the development of various indigenous cultures in Chile (which refers the 8 groups I mentioned above). I really think that this last goal will tie everything together in the lesson nicely. Also, since Chile is one of the twenty countries to have signed and ratified the only binding international law that concerns indigenous peoples, I thought the studying of these eight indigenous communities would be quite appropriate. Also, his is how I will justify the studying of indigenous cultures to be important in the context of Chile. At the end of this lesson, students will also be able to successfully work in groups and collaborate on the assignment.

In hopes that my students learn all of the above information, I have organized a lesson that I think meets the stated goals and NC Standard Course of Study objective. I want to begin class with a warm-up. I think this always helps to get students focused and thinking about the topic that is about to be addressed. On the board, I will list the title of the lesson: Chile: One of the World's Longest Countries; Discover How its Unique Physical Characteristics Influence Culture. I tried to make the title catchy so it will grab students' attention right away. Also on the board, I will write down the writing prompt, which is: Write down everything you know about Chile. Think about where it is located, culture, climate, physical characterisitcs, geography, etc. Some students may panic when they find out they have to write about something they are unfamiliar with. I will make sure to ease their minds and assure them that it's okay if they do not have any prior knowledge about Chile. If a lot of students end up staring blankly at me or at their papers, I will tell them to write down what they would potentially like to learn about Chile. After students take 5 minutes or so to write down their thoughts, we will discuss what they wrote down as a group. I will ask for volunteers and if there is none, I will call on students. Discussing what students wrote will take another 5 minutes.

Next, I plan to give a minilesson on Chile. To do this, I will create a Prezi presentation. Before starting the Prezi presentation, I will put up a blank map of South America on the overhead and ask students if they know which country Chile is. If a student volunteers, I will have them come up to the overhead and point to where Chile is located. If no one knows for sure, I will point the location out myself. In order to help students remember how to locate Chile on the map, I will tell them to think of how long and skinny it is. Chile is one of the longest countries in the world. I will start off by telling students this bit of information, followed with a fun fact: Chile's width never exceeds 150 miles, which makes the country more than eighteen times longer than its widest point. After this, I will begin the presentation. In it, I will include Chile's geographical information, as well as climate. I will show students images on either the overhead or include them in my Prezi presentation. The pictures I show will include The Andes Mountains, Volcanoes, the Atcama Desert, Cape Horn, the Juan Fernandez Islands and Easter Island. I hope these beautiful images will keep students engaged and interested in learning about Chile. Also in my minilesson, I will introduce eight indigenous communities that I mentioned previously. I will also mention what I said about Chile being one of the countries to sign and ratify the only international law that concerns indigenous peoples. This way, students will understand why they are about to partake in the assignment and will understand that there is a purpose to the assignment. I think explaining why something is important to students is essential. This minilesson will roughly last about 25 minutes.

After I am finished with my minilesson, I will split the class up into eight groups. I will sort out the groups prior to the class period so that it does not take up a lot of time. Each group will have the responsibility for researching one of the indigenous groups. Students will need to research their particular group's culture, location, and specifically how the group's location in Chile has influenced their cultural practices. In other words, students will need to make inferences and conclusions about how Chile's physical characteristics influenced the development of their particular group's culture. Students will be analyzing information to make their own conclusions. Each group will be provided with a laptop and if possible, each student will have their own laptop. I will tell students to record their findings on notebook paper. Then, I will ask students to create a type of visual display of their research to present to the class. I will let students pick their way of presenting the information. I will suggest doing a poster or PowerPoint presentation, but if they have other ideas of their own, I will definitely consider them. I think it's important to let students have some freedom; I think they would appreciate being able to have a choice on at least one aspect of the assignment. Students will work in groups for the rest of the class period, so they will have 55 minutes to work on their assignments. Since it is definitely likely that we would run out of class time, students will be able to finish making and/or presenting their creations on the next day of class.

After putting my actual plan together, I have come up with a list of materials that I will need in order to carry out this lesson. First of all, I will need an overhead projector to display the map and pictures. With that being said, I will need to have the pictures of Chile's landforms ready either to put on the overhead or I will embed them within my Prezi presentation. I will need to have a minimum of eight laptops (one for each group) with internet access. Students will need to have notebook paper and something to write with. I will have markers, colored pencils, crayons, and poster board available for students who wish to use these materials for their group assignment.

I feel like I will have a good idea of what students have learned after this lesson is completed. I will be able to assess what students are learning by observing them when they are collaborating in groups. I will also be able to assess students' knowledge from looking at their completed work. Furthermore, I can especially assess what students have learned from their completed group assignment that they will present to the class. I will be looking for creativity, neatness, group collaboration skills, accurate information, and quality of students' inferences and conclusions.