Geography is key to understanding the development of culture and civilization in any country. Students can create a spider map to demonstrate their knowledge about the geographic features of a particular country. They can use a spider map graphic organizer to keep track of information as they complete their research. Students should focus on climate and physical features such as mountains, deserts, oceans, etc.
To scaffold or differentiate, teachers can ask students to create anywhere from 3-10 cells, though students may need to adjust based on the country they research. Teachers can assign students to a specific country or they can have students choose their own as it can allow students to feel more invested in the project.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a spider map focusing on the different characteristics of the geography of a country.
Student Instructions:
Requirements: Minimum of 3-10 cells showcasing different characteristics of the geography of your country. Appropriate scenes to illustrate each cell. 1-3 sentence description for each cell demonstrating your understanding of the geographic features.
Collect and provide climate charts for the countries your students are researching. Visual data like temperature and precipitation graphs help students gain a deeper understanding of how geography impacts daily life.
Prompt students to identify similarities and differences between the physical features of their chosen country and another familiar location. This comparison builds global awareness and helps students connect new information to prior knowledge.
Demonstrate how to find accurate information using atlases, trusted websites, and library books. Modeling this process helps students become independent and responsible researchers.
Show students sample images of actual landforms, climates, and wildlife from their countries of focus. This supports students in crafting more accurate and imaginative spider map illustrations.
Arrange short presentations or gallery walks where students share their spider maps with classmates. Peer feedback and exposure to diverse countries broaden everyone’s geographic perspective.
A spider map is a graphic organizer that helps students visually organize key facts and features about a topic, such as the climate and physical features of a country, by creating branches from a central idea.
You can assign students to research a country and use a spider map to categorize and describe its climate, mountains, deserts, oceans, and other physical features, including brief descriptions and illustrations for each.
Examples of physical features to include are mountains, rivers, deserts, oceans, lakes, valleys, and plains—any significant landform or water body found in the country.
To scaffold the activity, adjust the number of required cells (3–10), provide country choices, offer templates, or assign partners to support varying skill levels and ensure all students can succeed.
Researching both climate and physical features helps students understand how geography influences culture, settlement, and daily life in different countries, fostering deeper global awareness.