Objectives

• Students will work in small groups to use online resources to search for information about the assigned continent.
• Each group will use project materials, such as colored markers, sticky notes, and animal stickers, to design a poster that presents information about the continent, including climate, geography, and animals.
• Students will combine all the continent posters to form a map of the Earth and discuss the map.

Required Project Materials

• Laptops and iPads with Internet access
• GoodNotes app on iPads
• Poster paper with the outline of a specific continent
• Sticky notes
• Colored markers
• Animal stickers
• Tape

Multimedia Resources

• Ella Cane. Continents in My World. https://www.amazon.com/Continents-My-World-Ella-Cane/dp/1476531234/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=continents+in+my+world&qid=1587670112&sr=8-1
• Dr. Binocs from Peekaboo Kidz. The Dr. Binocs Show - Climate Zones of the Earth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tC8OOxOFEk
• Online books related to different continents on myon.com
• Online books and educational videos about different continents on getepic.com

Optional Multimedia Resources

• CleverBooks augmented reality world map

Before the Lesson/Background Information

• Divide the students into seven groups of four
• Prepare poster papers with an outline of a continent on each one

The Lesson

Part 1: The Seven Continents and the Three Climate Zones (10 minutes)

1. The whole class reads Ella Cane’s read-to-me online book, Continents in My World, to develop a basic understanding of the seven continents.
2. Discuss: How are the seven continents different? 
3. The whole class watches The Dr. Binocs Show – Climate Zones of the Earth on YouTube.com to develop a basic understanding of the three climate zones.
4. Discuss: How do we use different temperatures to represent each climate zone? How do the three climate zones affect the animals that live on the seven continents? 

Part 2: Researching a Continent (10 minutes)

1. Students are divided into groups of four. Each group is assigned a specific continent.
2. Students use laptops to access different online resources, such as myon.com and getepic.com, to search for information on their assigned continent. They take notes using the GoodNotes app on their iPads.
3. Discuss: How can you help other groups understand your continent, including climate, geography, and animals? The climate information should include the temperature on the continent in Fahrenheit. The geography information should include the continent’s area in square miles. The animal information should include the animals’ appearances and behaviors.
4. Students brainstorm their notes and select useful information for their continent assignment.

Part 3: Creating a Poster about a Continent (20 minutes)

1. Each group is given colored markers, sticky notes, animal stickers, and a poster paper with an outline of their assigned continent.
2. Each group uses the project materials to create a meaningful and informative poster that shows their understanding of their assigned continent, including climate, geography, and animals.
3. After the students spend ten minutes designing their posters, each group sends two students to look at other groups’ posters. Students exchange their design ideas among groups.
4. After exchanging poster design ideas, students spend five minutes improving their poster designs.