Sessions

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Session 1: Mexico - Geography of Mexico

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define plateau, peninsula, irrigation, sinkhole

Students will examine how natural hazards and climate affect Mexico's heartland region.

Students will discover the differences between Mexico's four coastal regions.

Students will analyze how worldwide demand for gasoline affect the economy of the Gulf coastal plan. 

HOMEWORK:

Review the Regional Atlas for Latin American provided in class. Create a full-page magazine advertisement urging business owners to move their companies to Mexico. Your advertisement should point out how geographic conditions help support a variety of economical activities in Mexico. Be ready to share your advertisements with the class in the next session. 

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Session 2: Mexico - A Place of Three Cultures

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define:

haciendas, land redistribution, ejido, subsistence farming, latifundio, cash crop, migrant worker, NAFTA, maquiladora

Students will share the results of their Mexican business advertisements project with the class.

Students will identify how the Spanish conquest affected social structure in Mexico.

Students will examine the social conditions that cause many Mexicans to become migrant workers.

Students will discover why many factories are clustered along the Mexico - United States border.

HOMEWORK:

Use economic statistics from the Internet to make a graph on one of more of the following topics concerning Mexico: imports, exports, agricultural products and industrial products. Be ready to share your graphs with the class in the next session. 

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Session 3: Central America and the Caribbean

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define isthmus and guerrilla.

Students will share their graphs with the class. 

Students will identify the major landforms and climates of Central America. 

Students will examine the different culture groups found in Central America. 

Students will explain how social and economical conflicts have led to political conflicts in the nations within Central America.

HOMEWORK: 

Review the information on Central America's physical characteristics and the Regional Atlas that was presented in class. On an outline map, indicate the three landform regions and the climate in each region. Add arrows to show to show wind patterns and ocean currents. Write a brief paragraph explaining the climate variations between the two coastal regions. Be prepared to share your map with the class in the next session. 

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Session 4: The Caribbean Islands

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define archipelago, coral island, windward and leeward.

Students will share their maps with the class. 

Students will identify the major physical characteristics of the Caribbean Islands. 

Students will explain why Caribbean culture reflects a variety of different influences.

Students will examine the political and economical status of the Caribbean Islands today.

Students will discover why migration is so common among Caribbean Islanders.

HOMEWORK: 

Use Internet resources to plan a trip to the Caribbean Islands. Select at least ten specific locations to visit, including natural wonders, historical sites, and other points of interest. Prepare a travel itinerary. Illustrate your itinerary with a map and drawings or photographs of some the places you will visit during your trip. Be ready to present your itinerary to the class in the next session. 

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Session 5: Brazil - The Land and Its Regions

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define escarpment, sertao and favela.

Students will examine the environmental and economical challenges that exist in the northeastern region of Brazil.

Students will explain how urbanization has affected the southwest region of Brazil.

Students will explain why the Brazilian government encourages urban growth and economical development in the Brazilian Highlands. 

Students will identify the main characteristics of the Amazon River basin ecosystem.

HOMEWORK:

Search the Internet to learn more about favelas in Brazil. Identify the major issues that affect quality of life in favelas, such as education. Create a two column table. The left column should be titled Quality-of-Life Issue. The right column should be titled Impact of Issue. Be ready to present your table to the class in the next session. 

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Session 6: Brazil's Quest for Economic Growth

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define plantation, gasohol, deforestation and ecotourism.

Students will present their tables to the class. 

Students will identify the economical challenges that are faced by the urban and rural poor in Brazil.

Students will describe how the Brazilian governmental policies have affected the economy.

Students will examine the effect economical growth has had on the Brazilian labor force.

Students will describe how the Brazilian economical development has contributed to environmental change.

HOMEWORK:

Review the Regional Atlas for Latin America and the information that was presented in class. Then create a map that identifies the locations of Brazil's major economical activities. You may wish to use a combination of shading and symbols, depending on how the activities are distributed. Next, locate and label Brazilian cities discussed in this section. Write a caption for your map, pointing out which economical activities tend to be location near cities. Be ready to present your map to the class in the next session.

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Session 7: Countries of South America

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define mulatto, bauxite, llano, cordillera and campesino.

Students will share their maps with the class.

Students will explain how migration has made the Guianas culturally distinct from the rest of the nations in South America.

Students will examine how Venezuela's physical characteristics and climate regions influence the nation's economical activities .

Students will identify the problems of a one-crop agricultural system in Colombia.

HOMEWORK:

Find articles on the Internet on one of the following current events concerning a South American country of the northern tropics: government, natural resources, economic activities and conflict. Write a news report about your findings. Be ready to share your new report with the class in the next session.  

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Session 8: The Andean Countries

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define altiplano, paramo, timber line and selva.

Students will present their news reports to the class.

Students will describe how the physical characteristics of the Andean countries affect the people who live there.

Students will compare/contrast the economies of Ecuador and Peru.

Students will explain how climatic conditions affect the people of Bolivia and Chile. 

HOMEWORK:

Review the Regional Atlas for Latin America and the information you have learned in class. Plan a two week educational tour of the Andean countries that will introduce high school students to the physical characteristics, peoples, and economical activities of the region. Create an itinerary and write a brief descriptions of each place on the tour. Be ready to share your itinerary with the class in the next session. 

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Session 9: The Southern Grassland Countries

LESSON OBJECTIVES: 

Students will define estuary, piedmont, pampas and gaucho.

Students will present their itinerary to the class.

Students will identify the physical characteristics of the southern grassland countries.

Students will describe how political conditions in Paraguay and Uruguay have changed in recent years.

Students will explain how urbanization has affected life in Argentina.