Eastern Europe PDF

Eastern Europe is the fifth unit in the Mapping Our World geography course. This unit begins by learning about transportation systems, how they are mapped, and how they are necessary for economic prosperity and individual well being. Students will learn about the countries of Eastern Europe with a focus on Romania, Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

Each Mapping Our World unit includes a skills lesson about maps and map making followed by a focus on a specific region of the world. By the time you complete the entire four year cycle of Layers of Learning Geography you will have covered the entire world and learned the skills and knowledge needed to analyze and understand maps, cultures, people, governments, and the planet all over the world.

This unit is a guide for the mentor to use in creating lessons and directing discussions and learning. It is not a textbook for the student.

This unit includes sections on:

• Transportation
• Russia
• Romania
• Georgia
• Azerbaijan

This is an activity based curriculum. You pick activities to do as you read books and watch videos about countries and the countries of Eastern Europe. Here are some of the activities found in this unit:

• Make a notebooking page about the three major types of map projections
• Use a string and a globe to compare distances on a sphere it distances on a flat map
• Color and label a map of all eleven Pacific Island countries
• Make a craft of the national flower of Fiji
• Learn about the importance of the coconut palm and make coconut cookies
• Make an advertisement for a business in Micronesia to learn about the challenges of economic development
• Cut wand color a paper chain Micronesian family
• Make a grass skirt and try a Tongan dance
• Plus much more!

See Inside

This is double page spread of the inside of the Eastern Europe unit:

In the image above you can see a two page spread from the Eastern Europe unit. This page shows the final exploration about Azerbaijan and then the beginning of the final Show What You Know section. Show What You Know is found in every Layers of Learning unit and takes the place of traditional testing. It includes several ideas for assessing student learning such as writing a summary (narration) of what you learned, using writing prompts that coordinate with your Writer’s Workshop unit to write about your new geography knowledge, craft a polished final project such as a poster or map to present to an audience, and using the Big Book of Knowledge to create custom quizzes for your students. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, which means we can’t and don’t want to write tests. Instead you assess your students in more creative, fun, and targeting ways to show off what they have learned.

Each Layers of Learning Geography unit includes library lists of books, a family read-aloud suggestion, hands-on activities, printables and paper crafts, sidebars for extra learning, and tools to help you assess student’s progress and mastery. Learn more about how Layers of Learning works.

Flexibility

This unit was written to be used for a month but contains plenty of content for many more weeks of learning if you choose. This is a pick-and-choose curriculum, meant to be cycled back to in the future when your child is older. As such, it intentionally includes far more material than you can possibly cover in a month.

Eastern Europe is also part of the overall Mapping Our World, the second Year of the four-year Layers of Learning Geography cycle. If you use the program in order, it will take you though the geography of the world from continents and the physical planet in Year One, to mapping skills in Year Two, then to cultures in Year Three, and finally, to government and society in Year Four.  Every year is also a tour of the whole planet, making stops on every continent. However, each unit stands alone and can be used independently of any other unit.

Printable Pack

This unit comes with a downloadable Printable Pack that includes all the student worksheets. The printables can be copied as many times as needed for your family or class.

You can download the Printable Pack from your receipt or from your account at Layers of Learning.

Extra Resources

This unit comes with extra weblinks and a YouTube video playlist on the Mapping Our World Resources page.