November 16-21, 2008
"Mapping the Americas"


Maunawili Elementary School is proud to participate in Geography Awareness Week. In partnership with National Geographic Society, Hawaii Geographic Alliance and thousands of teachers across the country, Maunawili recognizes and celebrates geography education.
As the theme implies, this year's program is about the America's, it's land, wildlife and people:

To commemorate Geography Awareness Week, Maunawili is participating in several different events:


"Question of the Day"
Click HERE to find your question of the day about "Extreme America".  You can use the map from the GAW toolkit, or challenge your students to use classroom and library resources and search for the answer on their own!

Geospy
Learn the countries of North and South America by playing Geospy on your Smartboard!


Stories of America
Stories are a great way to begin Geography Awareness Week. Books about America will be featured in the Maunawili library and will be available for teachers to read aloud to their classes.  A list of books as also available from the Hawaii Geographic Alliance.  Just click here.   What a great way to integrate geography with the Language Arts Standards!
 

 Music of the Americas
From Argentina to Northern Canada, the Americas are filled with music that reflects its diverse cultures and long and exciting history.  Listen to music from different regions in North and South America.  Make generalizations, listen for patterns or compare and contrast the style and design of music.

To access music samples or to download for a fee, visit the National Geographic World Music website.  Select the country or area you are interested in and you will find an excellent sampling of contemporary and traditional music. 


People and Places of America
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Explore the National Geographic Kids:  People and Places to examine photographs of countries in the Americas.  What conclusions can we draw from these photos?  What are the similarities and differences between the physical characteristics and human characteristics (such as landforms and architecture)?


Thursday:  Geography T-Shirt Day
Students are invited to wear a t-shirt that represents a place in the Americas.  Students can share where their shirt came from and what geographic features can be found at their place. This is an excellent opportunity to use your map skills -- locate the various places on a map!


Postcard Contest
Visit the HGA website for details.




Other Resources:

Hawaii Geographic Alliance: Geography Awareness Week 2008
Geography Songs
National Geographic Education Network

National Geographic Society & My Wonderful World: Geography Awareness Week
Lessons Plans from National Geographic
My Wonderful World

 

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