Reinforcing+Activity

Wonderful Houses Around the World Reinforcing Activity

This book does not fulfill any other standards in the fifth grade curriculum.

Objectives:
 * 1) 1. Students will be able to describe how climate can affect the materials a house is made from.
 * 2) 2. Students will be able to hypothesize what materials houses will be made of in different climates.
 * 3) 3. Students will be able to create a house and describe the materials needed due to the climate and land.

Materials:
 * 1) 1. The book “Wonderful Houses Around the World”
 * 2) 2. White printer paper/construction paper
 * 3) 3. Colored pencils

Allotted Time:
 * 1 class period of 50 minutes

Procedure:

First, begin by reading aloud the book “Wonderful Houses Around the World”. Make sure students are shown all the pictures as you are reading so they can see what the homes look like. Answer questions if there are any, but otherwise, read the entire book—occasionally relating back to modern society.

Discussion:

After reading the book completely aloud, ask students what they observed about the different types of houses. Ask them questions like:


 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Why do you think that house was built differently than that house?”
 * <span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“Why do you think they used those materials?”

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Help students understand the concept that the climate effects people’s culture, and additionally their way of life. In cold environments, houses are made of drastically different materials than people who live in hot arid environments.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Project:

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Have students each take a piece of plain white paper. Have them create a house of their choosing, and explain the materials they would use to create it. Have them also explain the environment and climate that would contribute to their choice of materials. They may design the climate and house as they want—so long as it holds the concept that the climate can affect the people living in that region.

<span style="font-family: Calibri,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">If time permits, students should be allowed to present their pictures to the class as a sort of ‘show and tell’.