Objectives
- The students will locate and identify one country on each continent.
- The students will learn there is no country on the continent of Antarctica.
Vocabulary
continent, country, boundary, map legend, symbol
Materials Needed
World Political Map, globe, map marker
Lesson
Pull down the World Political Map and circle the map legend in the lower left corner of the map. Review with the students the definition of the word country. Also review the symbol that represents a country boundary. Have a student locate Brazil on the globe and have another student locate Brazil on the World Political Map.
Tell the students there are many countries in the world. Today they will use the World Political Map and the globe to locate at least one country on each continent except Antarctica. (There is no country on Antarctica.)
Have a student locate Antarctica on the globe. Ask why is there no country here. (The weather is so cold; few people live there.)
Review with the students that the United States is located on North America. Have a student circle the United States on the globe, making sure Alaska and Hawaii are also circled.
Prepare to make two lists on the board. One list should be labeled with the heading "continents." The other list should be labeled with the heading "Countries."
You have already identified the continent of South American and the country of Brazil. Write South America on the continent list and Brazil on the country list.
Review with the students that the United States is on the continent of North America. Enter the name of each feature in the proper list.
Have a student locate a country in Africa on the globe. Have another student locate the same country on the World Map. Enter the name of each in the correct list, emphasizing the difference between a continent and a country.
Follow the same procedure for the rest of the continents. Explain to the students there is only one country on the continent of Australia. The country of Australia has the same name as the continent.
Lesson .pdf file (Printable Lesson)