Teacher Notes & Standards

Teacher Notes & Standards Addressed

Lesson Objectives

1. Promotes critical thinking and problem-solving.
2. Seeks information from diverse sources, contexts, and disciplines.
3. Accesses information efficiently and effectively.
4. Uses technology as a tool to achieve goals.

Background
"Mexico is the southern-most country in North America. To the north, it borders the United States. This border is 1,429 miles long. To the south, it touches the countries of Guatemala and Belize. Mexico's landscape has great variety. It is filled with jungles, deserts, and many beaches." Richardson, Adele. Mexico. Creative Education, 1999.

On a scaled map, you can estimate that Mexico could fit more than three times inside the United States. The Sierra Madre Mountains extend halfway down the length of Mexico. They are an extension of the Rocky Mountains in the United States. Mexico City has one of the largest population in the world with over 8 million people.

Mexico's climate varies, depending on where you are in the country. The dry deserts in the Baja Peninsula may receive only two to four inches of rain a year. Jungles along the southeastern part of the country can receive as much as 216 inches of rain each year.

Information Literacy Standards

Standard 1: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.

Recognizes the need for information.

Formulates questions based on information needs.

Identifies a variety of potential sources of information.

Develops and uses successful strategies for locating information.

Standard 2: The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.

Determines accuracy, relevance, and comprehensiveness.

Selects information appropriate to the problem or question at hand.

Standard 3: The student who is information literate uses information accurately and creatively.

Integrates new information into one's own knowledge.

Indiana Academic Standards: Grade 3

Standard 4 WRITING: Writing Process:

Organization and Focus

3.4.3 Create single paragraphs with topic sentences and simple supporting facts and details.

Research and Technology

3.4.5 Use a computer to draft, revise, and publish writing.

Evaluation and Revision

3.4.6 Review, evaluate, and revise writing for meaning and clarity.

3.4.7 Proofread one’s own writing, as well as that of others, using an editing checklist or list of rules.

3.4.8 Revise writing for others to read, improving the focus and progression of ideas.

Standard 5 WRITING: Writing Applications:

3.5.2 Write descriptive pieces about people, places, things, or experiences that:

develop a unified main idea.

use details to support the main idea.

Link to Indiana DOE Standards
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