Egypt+Classroom+Activities

=**Egypt Classroom Activities** =


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Objectives:

 * Analyze symbols on maps
 * Analyze map of Egypt
 * Create map using symbols to show land, lakes and rivers

Materials:

 * Maps of Egypt
 * Egypt boarder copies
 * Markers
 * Pencils

Lesson Procedure:
1. Look at and discuss the symbols and shading seen on different maps and what they stand for? 2. Then have students in small groups look at a map of Egypt and talk about the things they see represented on the map. 3. Each student in the group should get a piece of paper with the boarder of Egypt on it. Staying at table in small group each student will use markers and their paper to create a map of Egypt representing elevation lakes and rivers. 4. End the lesson with each student having the chance to share and explain their maps.

Late Elementary Activity:
Lesson ideas modified from the National Geographic Curriculum Guide: Earth 2U, Exploring Geography This activity is focused on density and distribution.

Objectives:

 * analyze physical maps and population distribution maps of selected countries
 * discuss the relationship between the physical landscape and the population distribution
 * interpret the cause-and-effect relationship between population distribution and the resulting regional density
 * compare the population density and population distribution of selected countries

Vocabulary:
toc
 * population density
 * physical landscape
 * population distribution

Materials:

 * internet access and computer or copies of world population facts data table
 * atlases with physical maps and population distribution maps of Egypt, the United States, Ethiopia, Germany and India
 * classroom chairs and blue yarn or long strips of paper to simulate the Nile River
 * world outline map copies
 * population density chart

Opening the Lesson:
To open the lesson discuss the terms and ideas of population distribution and density with students. Have students look up population density figures for Egypt, the United States, Ethiopia, Germany, and India. (You may also choose to give students a world population facts data table.) Remind them that these figures represent the average population density, that is, the number of people per square measure of land for the entire country. Which of these countries has the highest population density? Have the students rank these five countries by population density. Note that Egypt's density is 161 people per square mile.

Teaching the Lesson:

 * 1.** As a class, examine a physical map of Egypt. Discuss the country's physical features (river, desert,sea).


 * 2.** With a population of approximately 62 million people, where might the largest percentage of people in Egypt live? Ask the students to offer ideas on the actual distribution of Egypt's population.


 * 3.** Examine a population distribution map of Egypt. How accurate were their hypotheses? Explain that 99 percent of Egypt's population lives along the Nile River Valley and its delta because of the fresh water and fertile land they provide to this otherwise arid country.


 * 4.** To demonstrate the actual population distribution of Egypt, pretend that the classroom is the country of Egypt. Assuming that the front of the classroom is the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, and thus the Nile delta, have the students determine the location of the Nile River, using a line of chairs, blue yarn, or long strips of paper on the floor to depict its course.


 * 5.** Pretending that they are Egyptians, have the students distribute themselves evenly around the classroom. Explain that where each of them now stands represents one square mile of land, which they share with 160 other people (based of Egypt's population density of 161 people per square mile). Most Egyptians, however, have not remained in the arid regions of their country. All but 1 percent live near the Nile River.


 * 6.** To simulate the population distribution of Egypt, have 99 percent of the students (all but one if the class has 30 or fewer students) stand on either side of the Nile River that flows through their classroom.


 * 7.** Discuss why so many people choose to live in such a relatively small portion of Egypt. How does this distribution of people change the actual population density of the Nile River Valley in comparison with Egypt's more arid regions?


 * 8.** Based upon the population density figures of the United States, Ethiopia, Germany and India, can the students tell how crowded each country really is? Density figures do not indicate actual distribution.


 * 9.** Compare the population densities of all the countries. Give each student a world outline map and ask them to color in the countries following the chart below. (Have your students use an atlas to help them draw in the political boundaries of these countries.)


 * = 0-100 ||= White ||
 * = 100-200 ||= Yellow ||
 * = 200-500 ||= Orange ||
 * = 500-1000 ||= Red ||
 * = 1000 and above ||= Purple ||
 * = White ||= Brazil, United States, Australia ||
 * = Yellow ||= Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico ||
 * = Orange ||= Nigeria, China ||
 * = Red ||= India, Germany ||
 * = Purple ||= Bangladesh ||
 * = Purple ||= Bangladesh ||


 * 10.** Ask the students to decide in which of the countries listed and discussed they would like to live. Why?

Concluding the Lesson:
Refer to classroom maps or atlases for physical maps of two or three other countries. What can the students determine about population distribution based on the physical features of each country? Can they apply their hypotheses on a global scale? What can they tell about why people congregate in certain areas and not others?

Fine-art Activity:
Lesson ideas modified from the National Geographic Curriculum Guide: Earth 2U, Exploring Geography

=
This activity is focused on making geographic tools. This activity is done in two parts, the first is making a compass needle and the second is making a compass rose.=====

Vocabulary:

 * lodestone
 * compass needle
 * magnetic north
 * true north
 * compass rose
 * north
 * south
 * east
 * west

Objectives:

 * construct and use a compass needle
 * explain and demonstrate how a compass needle works
 * identify the four cardinal directions using a compass needle made in the classroom

Materials:

 * a compass
 * sewing needle
 * non-metallic bowl
 * tape
 * water
 * small piece of buoyant wood, styrofoam, or cork (less than 1 cubic inch)
 * any type of magnet (refrigerator magnet, cabinet door latch, note holder)

Opening the Lesson:
Explain that one of the first and most important tools used centuries ago was the compass. Like the early explorers and map makers, the students will make a compass needle to determine direction. Have a real compass available for comparison. NOTE: This experiment might be disrupted by nearby metal objects. To ensure complete success, try this activity outside, away from all buildings, cars and overhead electrical wires.

Teaching the Lesson:

 * 1.** To transfer the magnetic properties of a magnet to a sewing needle, draw the needle lengthwise across the surface of the magnet twenty times, always pulling in the same direction. (Otherwise the magnetic poles might become confused.) To see if the needle is magnetized, test it on another piece of metal. If it sticks, the needle has become a magnet.


 * 2.** Attach the needle to a small piece of wood or styrofoam with a small piece of tape.


 * 3.** Place the needle and its base gently in a bowl filled with water. Wait a few minutes for the float to stabilize its direction.


 * 4.** When the float stops moving, the pull of the earth's magnetic belt should cause the needle to point to the magnetic north pole.


 * 5.** Slowly turn the bowl so the needle points in another direction. Wait a few minutes to see what happens.

Objectives:

 * create and use a compass rose
 * demonstrate the relationship of cardinal and intermediate directions
 * explain how a compass and a compass rose work together

Materials:

 * paper
 * scissors
 * pencils
 * circular object for tracing (large coffee can top)

Opening the Lesson:
Where have the students seen a compass rose? Like the ancient mariners who used a compass rose to tell direction, the class will make one and use it in conjunction with a compass needle to indicate cardinal and intermediate directions.

Teaching the Lesson:

 * 1.** Have each student trace a large circle on paper and cut it out.


 * 2.** Fold the circle in half creating the north-south line of the compass rose.


 * 3.** Fold the paper in half again to make the east-west line.


 * 4.** Open the circle and notice it is now divided into four equal parts.


 * 5.** At the edge of the circle mark each fold line with the initial of one of the four cardinal directions, N (north), S (south), E (east) and W (west).


 * 6.** To create the intermediate direction lines, refold the circle into quarters, as it was in step 3. Fold the circle in half again.


 * 7.** Open the circle. The new fold lines, which are halfway between the cardinal direction folds, represent the intermediate directions of northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest.


 * 8.** Mark the new fold lines with the initials of the intermediate directions: NE, NW, SE and SW. The intermediate direction takes its name from the tow cardinal directions on either side of it. For example, the intermediate direction between north and east is northeast (NE).


 * 9.** Optional: To illustrate additional directions between the cardinal and intermediate directions, once again refold the circle and fold it in half one more time. Open the circle. These new fold lines are directions represented by three initials. The first initial is the closest cardinal direction. For example, the fold line between S and SW (south and southwest) is SSW (south southwest).

Concluding the Lesson:
Combining the use of a compass needle and compass rose
 * 1.** Place the bowl of water with the floating compass needle on a non-metallic surface.


 * 2.** Align the north fold of the compass rose with the compass needle. If the compass rose is larger than the bowl, it can be placed under the bowl and still have the direction lines and initials visible.


 * 3.** Use this compass combination to find cardinal and intermediate directions in your classroom or schoolyard. Students can take turns observing the compass and calling out the directions in which the other students must face or walk. Continue until the students become familiar with the direction names and their actual orientations.

References:
National Geographic Curriculum Guide: Earth 2U, Exploring Geography


 * Geography || History  || Culture  || Politics  || Economics  || Classroom Activities || Teacher's Page ||
 * Geography || History  || Culture  || Politics  || Economics  || Classroom Activities || Teacher's Page ||