Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

• make predictions about how their home is similar to, or different from, homes in Asia
• predict the effects of living in a given geographic setting on peoples' lives.
• write a detailed description of their home and what makes it special to them.
• sketch their home and other homes throughout Asia
• complete a Venn diagram about houses in America and houses in Asia
• use a variety of World Wide Web sites to gather information about Asian homes
• compare their home to homes in Asia
• choose and complete a student-directed project to reflect what they have learned about homes in Asia
• use and apply knowledge gained to describe, construct, sketch, and/or write about Asian homes.

Appropriate Grade Levels: 5 - 8

MSPP Outcomes:

Geography

• Predict the effects of living in a given geographic setting on peoples' lives.

Peoples of the Nation & World

• Investigate and gain appreciation for various cultures throughout the world.
• Perceive that human experiences, in other places, may be applicable to solving contemporary problems.
• Provide examples of technologies, institutions, languages and beliefs which link the different peoples of the world.

Materials Needed:

For the lesson, each individual student or group of students will need:

Parts 1 - 7

• pencils
• Internet access
• plain white paper (for sketches)
• copies of Home Sweet Home worksheets
• copies of My House - Your House" Venn diagram
• colored pencils (optional, for sketches)

Part 8
**Please note that in this part of the lesson student-directed projects may require additional materials. You may supply these materials, or have students bring them from home.

• ample supply of plain white paper
• colored construction paper
• colored yarn or string (to tie travel log pages together)
• staples
• tape
• scissors
• markers or colored pencils
• cardboard (lightweight and corrugated)
• balsa wood
• other "found" pieces of Styrofoam, thin wood, etc.
• paint & brushes
• newspaper
• paper mache paste
• white glue &/or wood glue
• small stones or gravel

Teacher Background Information:

By now you and your students may feel as if you are actually sailing with Pride II ! Leslie Bridgett's log, the Captain's logs, and all of the on-site photos bring the voyage to life. The excitement of a voyage to Asia should provide a great backdrop for this lesson.

This lesson is intended to be a brief introduction to Asian architectural and life styles. Your students will become part of a "virtual Asian architectural field trip" as they visit a dozen World Wide Web sites in China, Korea, and Japan. As they surf from Web site to Web site, your students will be gathering information (and creating sketches) of homes throughout parts of Asia. They will be using a Venn diagram to record their information. Finally, they will be asked to choose a student-directed project to show you and others how much they have learned about homes in China, Korea, and Japan. This lesson is very visual and will be a wonderful creative outlet for those students who may shy away from the printed text. It is suggested that you visit the Web sites in the lesson so that you will be familiar with the sorts of information and images that your students will be seeing.

Remember, this lesson is only intended to introduce your students to how students in Asia may live. It is by no means an exhaustive, complete study of life in China, Korea, and Japan! (But just as a warning - this lesson may leave you itching to save for a vacation in far-flung Asia!)

Teaching tips and options for this lesson:

You may feel the need to discuss what architecture is prior to beginning this lesson. It would be fun to gather pictures of prominent architectural styles in your community and throughout Maryland to have available on a bulletin board, or in a photo or video album. For the student who may become very interested in architecture or building construction, it would be helpful to have books on architecture, civil engineering, house design, etc., in your classroom library.

In addition, this lesson provides an opportunity to tie in architectural styles from different historical periods with which your students may be familiar. Additionally, several good travel books on China, Korea, and Japan would enrich this lesson. Appropriate pieces of art or music from these parts of the world would complete the mood!

• Introduction: This would be the perfect time to retrace on a world map where Pride II has been and where it is headed. Mark the ports of call through June.

• Part 1 - Home Sweet Home : In this part of the lesson, students will be reflecting on their home and writing a short description of it. It might be best if this part of the lesson is not shared with the entire class, so that students will not feel that their home is being compared to that of another student. Encourage students to write what makes their home special or unique, apart from just its physical characteristics.

• Part 2 - Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
  
• Part 3 - Next Stop: Shanghai, China
  
• Part 4 - A Peek at Hong Kong, China
  
• Part 5 - A Chinese House Tour!
  
• Part 6 - Moving on to Korea
  
• Part 7 - Sailing on to Japan
  Students will need to be given copies of the My House - Your House" Venn diagram included with this lesson. If students' handwriting is large, they may need two copies of the handout. This graphic organizer will be used for lesson Parts 2-7. If, in previewing the lesson, you feel that your students will not have the time to visit Web sites in China, Korea, and Japan feel free to assign, or let students select, on country to investigate. If your students wish to sketch houses, in addition to completing the Venn diagram, please have on hand plain white paper. Colored pencils would be nice to have, but are not necessary to complete several rough sketches. You may want to give your students some time limit guidelines as they study the various Web sites, in order to facilitate your class schedule. One Japanese web site was developed by school children, and they welcome responses from those who visit their web site. Please instruct your students about your school policy regarding responses at the end of the web site visits.

• Part 8 - Become an Architect!: In this part of the lesson, students will take the information that they have viewed and recorded, and apply the knowledge they have gained to create one of five different projects. These "projects" range from a simple written comparison of Asian homes to American homes to an entire mini-museum of Asian architecture to display in your classroom. You may only have time for students to complete the initial description of their home (Part 1), the Venn diagram (Parts 2-5, in entirety or selected portions), and project 1 or 4 (from Part 6). You may want your students to select one of the more involved projects to complete at home, or at another time in class. Perhaps you will allow students to earn extra credit for completing one of the longer projects.

Begin thinking about a special end-of-the-year celebration of your students' voyage to Asia with Pride! You could showcase work from each of the lessons from this on-line curriculum in an Open House. The class could plan the event, invite friends and parents (or another class), serve Asian food, and present an "Asia with Pride" program or series of displays. This would be the perfect opportunity to have some of the project work available for your students to show to others!

How will you know if your students have done a good job?

Part 9 is a self-assessment tool to aid students in reflecting on the quality of their work. You could use the same questions to develop a rubric, or other system, to evaluate and rate your students' performance.

Possible Extensions:

• Students who have access to a camera could create a photo collection of examples of local architecture, or interesting homes.
• Students could research to find out what a home comparable to theirs would cost in China, Korea, or Japan. (A study into if a comparable home even exists would be interesting, too!) Students could then create a table to show cost comparisons.
• Students who create a "dream home" (project #5 in Part 6) could approach local architects or builders to find out what their creation would cost to build.
• Students could research new and innovative building styles and materials that may become "the way of the future".
• Students who particularly like specific architectural styles could research the roots of that style, and create a collection of pictures from that time period or style.
• Students could research famous architects (such as Frank Lloyd Wright) and prepare a report or presentation on that architect's designs.
• Students could interview a local architect or builder to discover what education, skills, and/or talents are needed in those professions.

Photo Credits

• Introduction - Pride II from Pride of Baltimore, Inc.
• Shanghai and Hong Kong - from The Last Colonies: Western Architecture in China's Southern Treaty Ports by Tess Johnston and Deke Erh, Old China Hand Press, Hong Kong, 1997.
• Old and New China - from the Traditional Chinese homes Web site
• South Korea - from A Window on Korea CD-ROM, Korean Overseas Information Service, Republic of Korea, 1994.
• Japan - photographs by John Day, 1983.