Cross Culture Comparison of Asian Countries
Seventh Grade – Two one-hour lessons
Darrell Vandergriff
Tennessee Standard: Compare and analyze the geographic, political,
economic, social, and religious structures of several Asian countries
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Students will be able to identify and describe several characteristics
of East Asia including the physical, cultural, environmental,
economic, political, and cultural systems. .
Students will work in cooperative groups to become experts on their
topics and present this expert knowledge to their peers. Students will understand how comparing data can help give them a
better understanding of economic and geographic patterns of the
different countries in East Asia.
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LESSON ONE: ONE HOUR
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Using the above charts and a map of the world, identify different
regions and countries of East Asia. .
Ask for volunteers to identify the countries included in the region.
(China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan) .
Then, ask students, “What comes to mind when you think of East
Asia?” Encourage all responses at this point in the lesson. Record
student responses for use at the end of the day’s lesson. DEVELOPING THE LESSON
*Divide students into groups of three or four (one group for each of
the categories in the regions). Provide each group with copies of
the Country Profiles. Use these as well as the classroom
textbooks and any other electronic or paper resources to research
their topic. *Indicate that each group’s task is to become experts in their
assigned category for all the Asian countries included in your
study. Each group will be asked to present its research to the rest
of the class, with all group members participating in the
presentation. The topics can include as many or as few of the
following depending on the number of students in your class. That
will also determine the size of each group. Many of the topics can
be combined for one group as well. Topics: Religion, Population,
Age of Population, Government, School System, Entertainment
and Sports, Usable Land Mass, Agricultural Production, GNP,
Major Industry and Manufacturing, Literacy Rate, Unemployment
Rate. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list, but a good
overall study.
*Give each group about 20 minutes of class time to begin their
research so the teacher can help steer each group in the right
direction in case of any questions. Each group is to learn as
much as they can about the assigned category. Each group
member is to take part in the presentation. *Return to the list generated at the beginning of the lesson, in
response to the question: “What comes to mind when you think of
East Asia?” Ask the students if they have changed their minds about
what comes to mind in light of their started research. Ask if there are
any questions about their presentation. Each presentation should
last 4-6 minutes. It can be aided with visual aids, posters,
PowerPoint presentations, etc. The methodology of the report should
be left to each group to decide. Remind them each member must
take part in the actual presentation.
LESSON 2 – ONE HOUR
*Allow time for students to discuss some things they learned last
class period about Eastern Asian Countries.
* Have each group give their presentations
* Share the map on the next page reviewing some of the material
from the presentations and filling in any gaps not covered by the
student’s presentations.
 Show pictures/videos of the different areas either from
personal trips or online sources.
 Review for an assessment
Assessment:
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Ask students to write an essay and to imagine they are business
people interested in conducting business with China, South Korea
or Japan. How would you decide whom to work with? What kind of
information would you need? How could you compare the
economies of the three countries? What advantages are there in
each country for the families of the employees who will be
relocating there?
Sources:
www.infohio.org
http://web-japan.org
http://www.economist.com/node/21599567/print
http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2013/08/20-chinademographic-crisis-pozen
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CIA World Factbook
Culturegrams (must have subscription to use)
Internet World Stats
Library of Congress Country Studies National
Geographic Society Xpeditions National Geographic Society
EarthPulse Rubistar http://www.rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Education About Asia, Volume 16, Number 2. U.S., Asia, and the
World: 1620 – 1914.
Education About Asia, Volume 17, Number 3. U.S., Asia, and the
World: 1914 – 2012.
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