Social Studies

In this unit students will "visit" Ecuador and be introduced to a multitude of flora, fauna, people and traditions. Students will enjoy the differences and richness among the landscapes and people while building Spanish vocabulary. This contains 14 days of lessons but can be expanded or shortened as much as preferred.

This comprehensive unit consists of one lesson with 6 activities to complete in order to complete the unit. The emphasis is on the country of Ecuador and how the five theme of geography including location, movement, human/environment interaction, place and region all come together in the Latin American country. Email our Outreach Coordinator Clea Conlin at cconlin@email.arizona.edu for the full lesson and materials.

Students will listen to a song called "Visa for a Dream"" which describes the sentiments of Dominicans waiting in line at the United States Consulate to obtain a visa. The song also touches on how Dominicans will falsify records to obtain this ticket into the United States. Three short articles give students more information about the methods used to enter the United States illegally through Puerto Rico and about some of the accidents that have occurred in the attempts to cross. The students perform a sit to illustrate to the entire class the reasons people have for leaving the Dominican Republic.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to a new social image of Latin American women as pictured in this tale.

In this lesson, students will be introduced to alternative forms of celebrating a major holiday. Climate, economy, customs and foreign influence all have a role in shaping the way we celebrate holidays. Students will read a description of how Christmas is celebrated in the Dominican Republic in order to gain a good understanding of this.

In this lesson, students will read quotes from an interview with balseros who made the trip from Cuba to Florida. In addition, students will examine Coast Guard statistics showing the increasing numbers of people leaving Cuba. Overall students will understand the migration patterns between Cuba and the United States and why people migrate from Cuba.

In this lesson, students will investigate life on the Colombian Orinoco Plains through the exploration of Joropo music. Activities include Spanish attentive listening, cultural enrichment and musical interaction through singing,playing and moving. Note: Music used in lesson will need to be purchased from Smithsonian Folkways website.

In this lesson, students will portray on a bulletin board or classroom wall the story of the banana. Students will learn how the history of the banana and how it is cultivated, transported and distributed.

This packet has an activity sheet per each Central American country within Latin America. Each sheet gives a map of the country, background information and fun activities to do in order to test knowledge of specific country. Email our Outreach coordinator Clea Conlin at cconlin@email.arizona.edu for materials.

In this lesson, students will learn some specific aspects of slavery and will also discover the role slave women played in shaping Caribbean culture and the struggle for abolishing slavery.