Canada and World Connections: Grade 2 - Features of Communities Around the World

Students in Grade 2 begin to develop awareness of physical and human geography by comparing their lives in their communities to the lives of other families in other communities around the world. They use maps and globes to locate places and countries of interest from different continents around the world. They compare the climate, animals, food, clothing, homes, recreation, culture, transportation, language, and land use in these countries, and investigate environmental influences on people's lives.

Overall Expectations (O.E. column below)

1. demonstrate an understanding that the world is made up of countries where people have both similar and different lifestyles;
2. use maps and globes to locate countries as part of a comparative study of families from countries from different continents;
3. describe how the environment affects the ways in which needs are met (e.g., influences of climate on food, clothing, and shelter).

Site Name	Online	O.E.	Description
The Climate- What A Difference A Degree Makes		3	This site describes how climate affects the lifestyles and needs of people in various areas of Canada.
Getting to Know You		1,2	This lesson includes an activity to encourage students to discover their similarities and differences from classmates.
Glentor Farm		1,2,3	A pig farmer’s life in South Africa with journal entries and photos of life on the pig farm. As well as life on the farm, the webmaster shows us a series of photos of South Africa with text for each photo. He also compares farming in South Africa to farming in America.
Hartley’s Creek Crocodile Farm		1,2,3	Everything you need to know about crocodile farming in Australia.
Navrongo and Lawra HomePage		1,3	This is an excellent website showing in photos and describing with easy to read text what it is like to live in in a village in Northern Ghana.
Paul’s Farming Diary		1,2,3	Visit Hemel Hempstead farm in England. View journal entries throughout the year of what it is like to live on this farm. The webmaster participates in a “Flat Stanley” project so the text is meant for students. Lots of photos of life on the farm.
"Where in the world is......"		1,2	The students will be able to transfer what they see on the globe to a flat map. They will be familiar with large or major land masses as well as major rivers and will be able to point out major countries of the world as well as major cities.
The World’s 50 Largest Cities		2	This is a table listing the 50 Largest Cities and a chance to explore each.
The Amish, The Mennonites, and "The Plain People"		1	An easy to read account of the Amish people: who they are, where they live, what they speak, and much more.
The Canadian Communities Atlas		1,2,3	The Canadian Communities Atlas offers a unique national network of geographic information by providing schools the opportunity to create an internet-based atlas of their community.
Carfree Cities		3	Carfree cities from the past, present, and future. Solutions to the problem of the urban automobile.
Celebrating Cultures With Tomie dePaola		1	Have you ever been to Ireland? How about Italy? Where in the world is the Nile River? What do you say we find out and let's have Tomie dePaola's books kick us off!
Christmas Traditions in France and in Canada		1,2,3	This imaginary exhibition introduces the Christmas traditions in Canada and France. Three differents aspects are presented: social and communal customs, family celebrations and religious ceremonies.
Flags of the World		1,2	This is the clickable map of the world portion of the FOTW web site. Zoom in to countries and provinces to provide pictures and a history of their current and historical maps.
Global Education: Lesson Plans Grade 3-5		1,2,3	Lesson plans are written for teachers about many countries and include mapping activities and games to help children learn about other cultures.
Korea and China		1	Here you will learn about Korea and China. On every page there will be two tour guides that will help you through this incredible trip!!
The Magic School Bus - What Do You See		1,3	This site allows the user to read responses from children around the world who wrote about their environment. The student can add up to 7 sentences about their own neighbourhood environment.
Social Studies Unit on Communities Around the World		2	Good hypothetical situations listed to use with students. Many Internet sites are listed for each activity but no links are provided with this site.
What Can You Learn From Maps?		1,2	This is a Treasure Hunt for information about reading, using, understanding and making maps. Maps can provide us with all kinds of information. We can use a map to find directions, to discover characteristics of the land, to study weather patterns or populations of a specific region, to locate rivers, mountains, and lakes, or to find the distance between two places.