Introduction
Students will learn about the geography and climate of the various countries that Latin-American immigrants experience on their journey to the United States, as described in the classic American novel, Enrique's Journey. By learning about the geography and climate of Central American countries, they will also simultaneously develop an understanding on how it impacts the quality of life of the immigrants in the native country, and how it affects their decision to come to United States, as well as their journey.
Task
You will work in groups of three to research climate and geography in Central American countries. You will complete two tasks, provided on handouts #1 and #2. Students are expected to take handwritten notes while completing the first task. The second task will be completed as a group; however, all group members are expected to participate in the presentation.
Process
Task #1:
You are expected to delegate each sub-task to among your group members. Each sub-task has suggested links to get you started, however, it is expected for you to find alternative resources to answer the questions accordingly. It is advised to preview Task #2, in order to get the best understanding of what information you should be looking for. Including images in presentation is encouraged! All students are advised to watch the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kwnOH0wIJI
One student will research the average climate in the summer time in the following countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Southern United States (New Mexico, Arizona, Texas). Also, any recent climate change (the past 20 years) is expected to be mentioned.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/climatico/climate-change-impacts-in-latin-america
The second student will look into general accessibility of potable water in Central America and the United States.
https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/struggle-clean-drinking-water-latin-america
The third student will research the the effects of high heat and low access to clean water.
https://familydoctor.org/condition/heat-exhaustion-heatstroke/
Task #2:
At the end of the provided research time, you are then expected to produce a PowerPoint presentation that exhibits on the compatibility between local climate and geography and the standard of living for Latin-American immigrants. Each student will have their own slide. You will also discuss how this may affect immigrants decisions to risk relocating to the United States by means of riding the tops of trains, as described in Enrique's Journey.
The presentation should address the following questions:
1. What are the average temperatures and general weather of the required countries? How does it affect standard of living (agriculture, country exports, and day-to-day activities)?
2. What percent of Central American people have access to potable water? What percent of Southern Americans have access to clean water? How does that compare the access to clean water in the Southern United States?
3. At what temperature do people experience heat strokes? How long can humans survive without water? What are the usual symptoms of dehydration/heat strokes/hyperthermia?
Evaluation
|
|
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Content Were all questions answered? |
Presentation had exclusively valuable information that addressed all question requested in Task #2. |
Presentation had an acceptable amount of information and answered most questions for Task #2. |
Presentation contained good information but overall did not completely answer the provided questions. |
Presentation lacked valuable material and did not fully answer the required questions. |
|
Collaboration Did the teammates work together? |
Teammates effectively communicated among one another fully develop an understanding in how the project relates to the class reading material. All members contributed equally. |
Teammates worked together well in creating the presentation, but it is apparent some members carried the group more than others. |
The teammates worked together partially. However, it is very obvious that some students did not do as much work as the others. |
Teammates did not work together to answer the final question. Very few members put effort into completing the presentation. |
|
Organization Was the presentation easy to follow and well-prepared for? |
The presentation was well organized, well prepared, and easy to follow. |
The presentation was well organized, however, the group appeared to be “winging” the presentation with little preparation. |
Presentation was disorganized and there was minimal to no preparation. |
There was little to no organization in the project, and information was difficult to follow and/or receive. |
|
Presentation Did presenters seem prepared and confident in their ability to answer all questions related to material? |
All presenters were confidents and effectively delivered the information on their slides. They were prepared to present and maintained the other students’ attention. |
Presenters seemed mostly confident while presenting, however did a poor job in engaging their classmates’ attention. |
Presenters did appear to be fully confident in their information, but did occasionally show confidence and/or managed to engage their peers’ attention. |
Presenters were hesitant, unsure, and lacked understand of material while presenting. |
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have now, with the assistance of two classmates, learned valuable information about climate and its relationship to Enrique's Journey!
Together as a group, and then in a class discussion, deliberate on how climate affected the life of immigrants from Central America, and how it indirectly or directly affected their decision to move to the United States. Also, discuss how this impacted the difficulty of their journey.