These classroom activities are designed to complement the Continents and Oceans topic on BrainPOP Jr.
Travel Fair
Hold a travel fair for the class. Allow each student to choose a country of interest and prepare a report and presentation. Encourage children to be creative: they may want to bring in a specific food that comes from the country, draw pictures of traditional clothing, play or sing music that comes from an area in their country, or share a craft that originates there. Are there any famous artists or inventors from their country who they can learn about? You may want to invite family members and friends to the travel fair and learn about the world! As students present, have them mark their countries on a world map or globe and share the continents each country is on and the bordering oceans. Do students notice similarities in the culture, climate, or landscape of countries within the same continent? How are they alike and different?
Hottest, Coldest, Windiest, Driest
What is the hottest place on the planet? What is the coldest? What is the wettest or driest? What’s the windiest city in the world? Challenge your students with different questions and record their predictions. Then have pairs find the answers through researching at the library or on the Internet, and sharing their findings with the class. Encourage children to think of their own question and research it for homework. Can they stump their classmates the following day?
