Oaxaca Geography Lesson

Oaxaca Culture
Day of the Dead Celebration

Flora and Fauna

Turtles

Create a Travel Brochure

Oaxaca Geography and the Climate

Objectives:

To learn how the country of Mexico and the state of Oaxaca are geographically diverse.
To understand how the geography of the state of Oaxaca affects its climate.
To draw maps showing the different climate areas.
To learn how to construct mental maps to organize information.

suggested Resources/Materials:

Paper and pencil
Detailed maps of Mexico and the state of Oaxaca showing its physical characteristics (soil, climate, vegetation, rivers, mountains)
Watercolors or tempera paints
Colored markers
Chart or heavy duty paper
Travel brochures and travel web sites (See Links below)

The lesson:

Before beginning the study of Oaxaca’s geographical features, have the students complete a KWHL Chart (K= What Do We Know; W= What We Want To Know; H= How Do We Find Out; L= What We Learned). This activity can be done as an entire class or in small groups. If done in small groups, the groups will share their charts with the class as a whole.

questions:

Describe how the country of Mexico is geographically diverse. What are some of the geographic highlights?

What bodies of water surround the country? What countries are along its borders?
Where do the majority of the people of Mexico live?
Describe how Oaxaca is a geographically diverse state. Describe how this affects the climate around the state.
What is an isthmus? Does your state or country have one?
What is a cloud forest? How does it help plants and animals?
Describe how the state of Oaxaca differs geographically from the state in which you live.
Describe how the weather and climate of Oaxaca differ from the state in which you live.
What other Mexican states surround the state of Oaxaca?
Where is the city of Oaxaca located and what is the climate there?

suggested activities:

Construct a map of Mexico showing its topography and different geographic areas (mountains, deserts, volcanoes, peninsulas, etc.)
Construct a map of the state of Oaxaca showing its topography and different climatic zones.
Create a travel brochure for the state of Oaxaca describing the different areas and why people should visit them.
Create a chart showing how the lives of the people who live in the mountains differ from the people who live at the beach. (What they eat, how their houses might be different, what they do for a living.)
Create a mural showing a cloud forest and what types of plants and animals might live there.

assessment:

In addition to paper and pencil tests, teachers could use individual or small group projects, oral reports, mental maps or structured overviews for assessment.

Vocabulary Search (search box)

Oaxaca web site links