Australian travel adventure

Students will learn information about each of Australia's states and territories by researching information from Internet sites. They will then take what they have learned and decorate the outline of a car with symbols and pictures that represent information gained from their research.

A lesson plan for grade 7 Social Studies

By Courtney Flynt

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Related topics

• Learn more about Australia, culture, project-based learning, social studies, states, and territories.

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Learning outcomes

Students will receive a quick introduction to life in Australia’s states and territories.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2 weeks

Materials/resources

• Poster Board
• Art Supplies: Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils, Construction Paper, Glue, Scissors, and Index Cards
• Transparency of a car outline to be traced on poster board
• Internet information printed out and categorized by state or territory

Technology resources

• Computer with access to the internet
• Color Printer with plenty of paper!
• Overhead Projector

An Earth Friendly way to do this project if your school environment allows would be to take your class to the computer lab and let them read straight from the web. You will need to bookmark sites for each group and be prepared for them to research for at least 4 days to take notes on what they see and want to tell their classmates about. This would save much paper and give the students experience on the web — if only we all had an extra computer lab in our schools!

Pre-activities

Have the students complete a map study on Australia so that they will become familiar with the states and territories prior to working on the project. Also, have them read the chapter in their textbook on Australia to get background information on the formation of the country and a taste of the overall culture.

Activities

1. Divide your students into cooperative groups. I have mine draw a slip of paper from a cup that has the name of a state or territory printed on it. This ensures a well balanced group most of the time.
2. Provide them with a folder that is filled with the printouts from their state or territory. Make sure that each folder has a wide variety of information. Include things that you know will grab their attention. I found things like Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Skateboarding Parks, Movie Theaters, and other things that I mixed in with the traditional museums and educational sites. These kept their interest.
3. Instruct students to begin reading through the information and taking notes on the most memorable things that they read.
4. Once they have completed their research, they may use the overhead transparency to “blow-up” the picture of the car and trace it onto their poster board.
5. At this point, they are ready to begin to decorate their car with symbols and “souvenirs” from their imaginary trip. Encourage them to be creative, perhaps even to make up bumper stickers with slogans. This part of the project will take them several days to complete.
6. Once their car is decorated, have students complete an index card for each decoration on their car. On this index card needs to be an explanation of what the picture symbolizes and any information from that site that they would like to share with the class. Have them tape or glue these index cards to the back of their poster.
7. Display the cars in your room or the hallway; you’ll be amazed at how much ownership students will take of their artwork and their imaginary souvenirs.

Assessment

Each group should have between 13 and 20 “decorations” on their car and an explanation to go with each one. Evaluate the amount of time and energy that each group put into decorating the car, and how completely they explained each of their symbols. I usually do this unit at the end of the year, and I am not concerned with a hard-core numerical grade. I evaluate how involved students were in class and how they followed through with the final product.

Supplemental information

Comments

This is a great end-of-the-year project for kids to work on during end-of-grade testing time. My students loved this, and even my slow learners found a way to be involved and feel successful.