MiniPage activities meet many state and national educational standards. This week’s

MiniPage activities meet many state and national educational standards. This week’s standards: Understand the physical and human characteristics of places. (Geography: Places and Regions) Understand how culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regions. (Geography: Places and Regions) Describe the effects geography has had on societies, including their development of urban centers, food, clothing, industry, agriculture, shelter, trade and other aspects of culture. (World History)

Activities:

1. Create an “Around China” poster. Divide a piece of paper into four sections. Label the sections: Central, Eastern, Northwest, Himalayas. Draw a picture that represents each section in that section’s block.

2. Select one of the areas from your poster. Find five items or pieces of equipment in the newspaper that would be useful in that area. Paste them on a piece of paper. Write a sentence next to each one telling how it could be used in that part of China.

3. Look at the different sports represented in the sports pages of the newspaper. Circle any stories about sports that are played by singles or doubles. Put a star by any story about an Olympics sport. How many different sports do you have? Which sport would you like to play? Why?

4. What destinations in China would you recommend to a (a) chef, (b) farmer, (c) botanist, (d) zoologist and (e) historian? Explain your choices.

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about a geographic area in China. Use these questions to guide your research: Where is the area? What is the weather like? How many people live there? What jobs or industries are available in the area? What are two historical events that took place in the area? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.