This week we explored how maps can tell us about history and changes in the world. We looked at two different maps of Europe and discovered that country borders have changed and country names have changed. We looked at an old map of Oman and found out that Oman used to be called Majan and that the capital city used to be in Zanzibar! Ms. Fatma, Noor, Maryam, Mohammed, and Tayma helped us to read the old map of Oman and told us some history of Oman. We really enjoyed looking at all the changes that have happened over time. We had a very good discussion as to why country borders change and talked about which countries are still fighting over land. We talked about Taiwan and how the Taiwanese believe they are in independent country but how the Chinese think that the island belongs to them. Sometimes Taiwan is the same color as China on a map, depending on which map you look at. Maps can tell us so many things!
We also looked at a whole bunch of maps and made a human timeline to try and put them in order from the earliest to the latest map. Some maps were easy to tell they were made long ago because of the style of the map. Cartography has also changed lots and this led us to a discussion about GPS and Google Maps. Almost every student shared a personal story of Mom and Dad getting lost because the “GPS told them the wrong directions.” It was very amusing ha ha! We then decided to see what Google Maps was all about. After some time exploring the different settings and views, we went on a virtual Sohar scavenger hunt! Students learned to navigate using Google Maps to find various places and roads in Sohar. We then practiced putting in longitude and latitude coordinates to find places around the world. Has your child asked you to go find treasure in Sohar yet? Or told you about the modern day treasure hunters? Well these treasures and treasure maps do exist in the form of Geocaches. We looked at the website www.geocaching.com and discovered that people (from ABIS!) have hidden geocaches in Sohar and that one geocache is super close to us! If you don’t know what geocaching is I suggest you look at the website with your child and watch the video. I would really like to be able to take the class geocache hunting, however due to the weather I don’t think it’s a great idea, however it may be something that you would like to do in the evening when it’s cooler with your child. Geocaching is a great way for your child to practice their navigation skills with Google Maps!
In writing students published their descriptive writing piece and started writing directions to hidden treasure based on a map they drew. In math students were given an assessment which I will be using to individualize their summer math homework. I will also send home the assessment next week for parents to see as well. We also got to watch a musical performance by Grade 6 this week, and the hip hop dances from Secondary students.
10 school days left! Yes I am counting!
Have a lovely weekend.