Hobbies And Interests
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Have students create small, simplified versions of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, using shoe boxes and artificial plants. Though controversy exists over whether the gardens were real or not, descriptions portray them as a human-made series of terraces on which lush gardens grew. Give children small boxes of various sizes that they can stack and then tape together, forming terraces. Then help them glue on artificial plants to form the gardens. Or, find big boxes and have everyone work on a single project together, which you can keep in your classroom or home as a display piece.
The Taj Mahal
After teaching a lesson about the Taj Mahal, ask students whom they would design a monument for. Then, give them paper and crayons or colored pencils and let them draw pictures of their monuments. Have them write a short essay on why they chose the person they chose, and what they hope other people will experience when they visit the monument.
The Great Pyramid of Giza
After teaching a lesson about how ancient Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza, have each student research a historical figure from Ancient Egypt, or an aspect of the culture, and teach other students a mini-lesson about that subject. Give them time to use computers for Internet research, encouraging them to find pictures to show the other students. Teach a lesson on using the Internet for research first if necessary.
The Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon became one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 1997, says the IPL2 website. A National Geographic lesson plan shows how you can spark children's curiosity in this natural wonder. Show them a picture of the Grand Canyon, preferable on a large projector, and ask them why they think the canyon has distinct layers of rock. Then, divide the class into small groups and have them brainstorm on how these layers formed.
The Panama Canal
In an article featured on the University of Delaware's geography department website, high school teacher Tom Baker provides a lesson plan for teaching about the Panama Canal. This canal is considered one of the seven human-made wonders of the world. In this lesson, students discuss together why people created the Panama Canal, and then they produce a magazine about it together. Have them each write their own article about it, or work in pairs or small groups. Topics might include obstacles, Teddy Roosevelt's role and a discussion of positive and negative effects, Baker suggests.
Voting for New Natural Wonders
Take a virtual "field trip" to each of the prospective new seven wonders, such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Galapagos, showing children a slide show of captivating images. Talk about why each place is special. Then, have children vote on which sites they think should become the new seven wonders. They can vote online on the New 7 Wonders website. Emphasize that by voting, they're helping to make history.