Goals and Objectives
Students will learn about the diverse physical features of China. Students will analyze the impact of China’s geography on the ability of the Chinese government to rule its people and protect its borders.
California State Content Standard/Common Core State Standards
7.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.
Vocabulary
Have students create a Picture Dictionary of the important geographic terms in the lesson.
Key Terms include:
Key Terms include:
- river
- mountain range
- plateau, basin
- plain
- desert
- depression
- sea
- ocean.
Lesson Introduction
Ask students to find China on a map of the world. Activate their prior knowledge by asking basic geography questions such as: What continent is China on? What ocean borders China? What countries are neighbors to China? Where is China in relation to the United States? Provide students with an outline map and have them write down their responses to the questions.
Content Delivery
Provide a brief overview of the basic geographic features of China. Use the students' picture dictionaries to show and discuss the characteristics of each key term. Project these images using a document camera or other projection device. Review how to locate geographic features and places on a map using cardinal directions and latitude and longitude.
After basic map skills have been reviewed, divide the class into pairs and provide each pair with a list of questions that asks them to search for and locate specific geographic features in China.
After basic map skills have been reviewed, divide the class into pairs and provide each pair with a list of questions that asks them to search for and locate specific geographic features in China.
Student Engagement
Have students complete the critical-thinking questions on the worksheet provided. Discuss with students where the best place to live in China would be for farming, for industry, for trade, and why. Discuss the difficulty of governing a vast and physically diverse country and how different people would contribute to the governing process.
After the class discussion, have students create a travel brochure depicting the geographic features of China. The brochure should include a description and image of each region and a discussion of the impact the geography has on the ability to farm, travel, communicate and trade.
After the class discussion, have students create a travel brochure depicting the geographic features of China. The brochure should include a description and image of each region and a discussion of the impact the geography has on the ability to farm, travel, communicate and trade.
Lesson Closure
Whip-Around
At a rapid pace, ask students the China mapping questions. Or, show the geographic features on the map and ask students to form a question about the feature.
At a rapid pace, ask students the China mapping questions. Or, show the geographic features on the map and ask students to form a question about the feature.