Second Trip-South America/longitude & latitude

For our very first globe-trotting trip, we grabbed our newly processed and completed passports, buckled up in my magic van that can fly, and travelled to South America. Before departing however, we did locate the continent on the globe and the map. We noted some of the countries we would be visiting: Brazil, Bolivia, Guyana, Venezuela, Columbia, Peru, Ecuador.

While in South America, we enjoyed an activity to help us learn about latitude and longitude.

First, I had the kids stand in a circle and I tossed them a ball with a sticker dot on it, asking them to describe where that sticker dot was. They soon figured out that this was a bit difficult, just as it would be to describe where on earth you were if you were lost at sea and needed to communicate your exact location so you could be rescued. Thus, we need to have imaginary lines on our maps and globes: latitude and longitude.

I handed the kids some yarn. Two at a time, they laid across the sanctuary (we moved there to create our imaginary globe-just more room!) different colored strings of yarn to represent the Equator (red yarn), the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn (orange), The Arctic and Antarctic Circle (blue). Then we laid out purple yarn running up and down to represent the Prime Meridian/International Date Line. Tips I gave your kids to help them remember which imaginary lines go across the globe and which go up and down around the globe, were to think of latitude as (F) latitude and it is a LONG way up to the Empire State Building, hence LONGitude goes up and down.

Since South America is a producer and grower of many things such as vanilla, chocolate, pineapples, avocado, corn, peanuts, tomatoes, and potatoes, I brought in a few samples: I cut up some pineapple, some avocado, and after getting our passports stamped, we enjoyed some yummy food, including a piece of chocolate. :)

Our 10:30 class had a bit of a treat. Miss Susan, a friend, and fellow OBX parent, had recently travelled to Nicaragua, so she offered to come in and share her experience and knowledge, especially with chocolate.:D First she showed us some pictures of the cocoa plant-it's kind of orangy/pinkish red-that was a surprise! Susan explained the process of how cocoa beans become chocolate. She even brought us some raw cocoa beans, and let the kids take turns grinding them! (See pics!) She even brought the kids in some beans to taste (they were a bit bitter for most of the kids), but she also brought in some yummy fair-trade chocolate and explained the difference between fair-trade chocolate and Hershey's chocolate. :)

Either way, our class trip ended with chocolate! YUM! Special thanks to Susan for taking the time to come share with us and feeding us delicious chocolate!

Next week, it's off to France!

First Globe-Trotting -Obtaining Passports

To get to know each other a bit and to break the ice on our first day at co-op, we played a game of "Hi, my name is Rosemary and I like Raspberries," with each one of the students going around the table but having to say the name and favorite food/thing of all the people who spoke before, so that when we got to the last person, he/she not only had to tell us their name and favorite food or thing that starts with the same letter as their first name, but everyone else's as well! They did great! Good memories!

At the beginning of each class, we play a game I made, "Where in the World is...?" (France, Mozambique, Australia...?). I have a giant laminated World Map which I have learned the kids enjoy best while it is on the floor! They gather round it, pointing and talking about all the places they have been, want to visit, etc. Each child has a turn of reaching their hand into the "mystery" bag and grabbing one of the nearly 200 index cards, each labelled with a name of a country . They may ask for help from their classmates in the form of a clue or a hint: "It is yellow" or, "It's on the the continent of Africa." Once found, they choose a sticker to place on their country. We always talk about where this country is in relation to others, what countries border it, which continent it is on, and so on. Everyone gets a turn and the kids LOVE this game. A simple, but very effective, fun way to get the kids loving geography and learning without knowing it! My favorite way to teach!

Before we Globe Trotters could go gallivanting around the globe, however, I asked the children what they would need. Some mentioned suitcases, clothing, and food. Yes, we would need all those things, but first, we had to obtain passports before leaving the country! We talked about why one needs a passport, saw what a real one looks like, discussed the information a passport contains and why, and we also learned that most people obtain a passport at their post office!

So, our first trip: a drive to the local post office, where I morphed from Miss Rosemary the teacher, to Miss Rosemary the Post Office worker. We hopped in my magic van (that will be able to fly on future global travels, but for today, only needed normal driving capabilities), buckled up and drove a not too far distance to our local post office. The kids take turns being the "driver." One drives us there, another drives us back. They are most excellent, safe drivers for their age. :) (btw, I issue temporary, one-time special driver's licenses that only work in my magic van-just so they won't be asking you why they can't drive home from co-op).

The kids stood in line. I handed them some information to fill out-this would be why I was asking for your children's DOB, place of birth, etc. The kids worked hard filling in all of their personal information on their own. Lots of questions and discussion arose from this activity, such as "What does 'nationality' mean?," "Where was I born?" :); and "What does "expiration" mean?" The kids learned that their passports, as children, would be good for 5 years, versus the 10 that an adult's would be.

I snapped each of their photos, explaining that for security reasons, they were not allowed to smile. Most took this to heart (as you will see-the cutest little mug shots I have ever seen-they were so serious! and so cute!).

We wrapped up by finishing our passports with an official US seal (smiley face stamp and US flag sticker :)) and I explained that I would have the photos and passports all ready for next week's adventure around the globe! (OH, and we almost forgot to drive back to class!) Vroom! Vroom!

The kids are very eager to show you their passports, but I will be hanging on to them for safe-keeping until the end of the semester when they will have a keepsake full of pages of where we have travelled, complete with their photos, stamps, and stickers.

Your children were a delight and I look forward to Trotting around the Globe with them!