Where in the World am I?

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be in more than one place at once? Well, you are actually in several places at any given moment! Don't believe me? Get ready to have your mind blown! You are about to find out where you are in the world, and how you can be in more than one place at a time.

You are about to explore the world that we live in. You are going to complete several tasks that will help you discover your special place in the world. You will learn about your home, your city, your state, your country, and your continent. You will also explore other places in the world. As you explore, you must keep notes and drawings in your social studies journal. Your journal will the the documentation of your exploration. 

Part 1

Read the book, "Me on the Map," by Joan Sweeney. If you don't have the book, you may choose to listen to a read aloud of the book by clicking on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f7ebZMLn08 As you are reading, jot down 5 places that the girl in the story talked about. For example, her bedroom.Wow! That was an interesting read! It looks like I can be in many different places at once after all! In this story, the main character draws a map of her bedroom. This is the first place she talks about being on the map. In your notebook, draw a map of your own bedroom. Use color and be sure to label your furniture.The next place the character talks about being in is her house. Go to https://www.google.com/maps and type in your home address. Then, click on "Earth" to view your house from above. You may choose to zoom in and out to explore the earth around you. In your notebook, write down your address and three things that you noticed while viewing your house from above.The character then talks about her street, and then her town. What town do you live in? If you're not sure, you can use the Google Maps tool to zoom out of your house. As you zoom out, you will see your town name pop up. Write it down in your notebook. Each town has a special way of locating it - called a zipcode. Use this tool to find your zipcode: https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action. Type in your home address, along with your city (town) and state. Then click "Find." Write down your complete address in your notebook.Part 2 Now that you know your town, let's look at the next thing on the map: our state! We live in New York State. Here is a picture of New York State. 

Can you find Buffalo on the map of New York? That is the city that we live in! In your notebook, sketch New York State. Label Buffalo on your sketch.

Here is a picture of all of the states in our country. New York is shown in red. 

Can you count how many states there are in the country? That's right - there's 50!

Explore the following link:http://www.dos.ny.gov/kids_room/508/home2.html. It is all about our state. As you are exploring look for the following things: The state flower, the governor that was elected in November, 2010, and the county that was derived from a tribe of Indians living in Western New York. Write them down in your notebook.

Use the following link to play a game:http://online.seterra.net/en/vgp/3003. The game asks you to identify different states on the map. This will be difficult, but will help you learn where some of the states are on the map. Choose one state, besides New York, that you encountered in the game. Draw a sketch of the state and label it in your notebook.

Part 3 

Now that you know about our states, and can identify some other states in our country, we're ready to learn about our countries! Our country is the United States of America. We learned already that there are 50 states in our country. This is what our country looks like with all of the states labeled : 

What color is New York State shown in on the map? Write it in your notebook.

In our country we have many beautiful places. We have Niagara falls, and the Grand Canyon, among many others. Take a virtual tour of the Grand Canyon http://www.grandcanyonvirtualtour.com. It is located in Arizona and is one of the 7 wonders of the world. 

If we unrolled a globe, we would get a map of the world that looks something like this: 

There are 196 countries altogether in the world! They are all labeled on the map. Choose a country, besides the United States, to sketch in your notebook. Make sure you label it!

Once you have drawn and labeled your country, use this link to locate the country that you drew:http://www.factmonster.com/countries.html. Underneath your sketch, write 5 things that you learned about the country from the website.

Part 4

So far we have talked about our city, our state, and our country. Now, let's zoom out a little more and learn about continents! There are 7 continents in the world. Our country is located in North America. Here's a picture of all of the continents in the world: 

Can you find North America on the map? Sketch it in your notebook. 

Use this link to help you practice identifying your continents: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm. 

Watch this time-lapse video of our world from space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBQazOQfoE. As you are watching the video, write down anything that you noticed or are wondering about. You should have at least 5 things written down in your notebook.

Webquest Rubric

Where in the World am I?

 Total Points: ________

Now that you have learned about our world, where is your special place on the map? How could you find your special splace? First, you look for your continent, then you find your country, then you find your state, then you find your town, then you find your street, then you find your house, then you find your bedroom! Our town/city is Buffalo, which is in New York State, in the country of the United States of America, on the continent of North America, on the planet of Earth! There is still so much more to learn about earth, like climate, culture, and weather, but I hope this gives you a good idea of where we are in the world. 

Breathtaking Time-Lapse Video of Earth From Space. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBQazOQfoE
Countries of the World. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.factmonster.com/countries.htm
Google Maps. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://www.google.com/maps
Grand Canyon Virtual Tour. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.grandcanyonvirtualtour.com
Look Up a ZIP Code™. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://tools.usps.com/go/ZipLookupAction!input.action
Me on the Map Quicktime2.mov. (2009). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f7ebZMLn08
NYS Department of State Kids Room - Informative fun, facts and history about New York State. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.dos.ny.gov/kids_room/508/home2.html
Sweeney, J., & Cable, A. (1996). Me on the map. New York: Crown.
The U.S.: 50 States - Map Quiz Game. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://online.seterra.net/en/vgp/3003 World Continents & Oceans Games - geography online games. (n.d.). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/World_Continents.htm

All of the necessary resources for this webquest are embedded in the webquest and can be found through the credits page. This unit of study is a unit that I do with my 3rd grade students. I use the engageNY social studies framework, which can be found through https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-k-12-social-studies-resource-toolkit. The framework may include additional resources that relate to the unit. 

This webquest teaches the following New York State Social Studies Standard: