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Friday, April 21, 2017

LEGO Landmarks- Exploring Countries and Cultures


This past year we turned my boys' Lego obsession into another avenue of learning.  

Our third grade study was a tour around the world, using My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.  For each country, we studied their culture, flags, ecosystem, and landmarks.

You can use this list and make your own "Around the World" Study.  Look up books on the country at your local library, and have a ball!  If there wasn't a specific landmark that jumped out at us, we made a few animals that we studied in that country's ecosystem. Some were my idea, and some were the boys' ideas. Use your imagination, and your kids will probably come up with their own fun creations!

Lego Landmarks can be added anytime during your trip around the world. In MFW ECC our routine was one or all of the following:

  1. Build the flag the same day we introduced the country (same day as flag notebook page).  This could be a substitute if your kids don't like to color. 
  2. Build an animal on the day we study the animal ecosystems
  3. Build a landmark at the end of studying each country.  Use a picture book about the country for your model


TIP:  Don't worry about perfect accuracy, this is a fun activity to give your kids a hands-on learning experience.  My boys didn't pick always pick right colors for each landmark, but had fun figuring out how to build each shape.



Introduction
  •  Map of your room
  •  Map your house
  •  Map your neighborhood.  

North America

United States
  • Buildings- Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument, or White House
  • American Flag

Mexico
  •  Buildings- Mayan Ruin Pyramid Chichen Itza and an Adobe House
  • Mexican Flag


Canada
  • Maple leaf
  • Ecosystem- Northern forest and tundra animals

South America

Brazil
  •  Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janerio
  •  Ecosystem- Rain forest Animals

Europe
Norway
  • Reindeer shepherds and their homes (after watching a video on nomad reindeer shepherds)

 France
  • Building- Eiffel tower
  • French flag
Germany
  • German flag


Africa
Kenya
  • Crocodile int he Nile River
  • Watering  hole with animals, on Savannah 
  • Kenyan flag

Asia
Saudi Arabia
  • camel 
  • Arabian flag (use green lego board for back, and white blocks for design and sword)
India
  • Building- Taj Mahal (after reading 'T is for Taj Mahal')
  • elephant
  • Indian flag


China
  • Building- Great Wall of China

Japan
  • Japanese Building with traditional rooftop
  • Ninjas and Samurai Warriors

Russia
  •  Russian flag
  • Saint Basil's Cathedral

Antarctica
  • Penguins 
Australia
  • Building-Sydney Opera House
  • Different types Coral Reef

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