At the point, the kids have a lot of information under their belts. Before they start to plan their own island, I wanted them to see some of the variety around the world. I chose a variety of geographically diverse islands around the world, put the name of each island in an envelope, and everyone got one.
They spent the next two weeks researching an island. I put together a comprehensive research outline that we’ll use in multiple ways throughout the year. For this project, they just used the first couple of pages, focusing on topics covered: land/water forms, location, and formation.
They spent most of the time both weeks on island research, but started making posters the second week. Whatever wasn’t finished after our second session they took to finish up at home.
If you are interested – here is a list of geographically diverse islands:
– Tuvalu (coral atolls)
– Guam (volcanic island)
– Barbados (formed by colliding continental plates)
– Madagascar (continental island)
– Iceland (volcanic island)
– Cyprus (tectonic plate motion)
– Malta (island group)
– Mauritius (volcanic)
– Cuba (tectonic plate motion)
Each of these islands has an entry in the CIA World Factbook, which makes a great research starting point for the kids.