This multi-day course is the fourth in a series on Middle School Geography, which focuses on physical and human geography.   Part 4 is designed to help middle schoolers apply their map reading  and analytic skills to the culture rich region of the Middle East, today.  Part 4 will introduce new skills and vocabulary to address physical, political, economic and cultural aspects of this region, from North Africa in the West to Southwest and Central Asia in the East.  Students can  succeed in this Part 4  course even if they have not taken previous classes in this series.  We do build foundation concepts in the previous classes but will refresh understanding in in each part of this series.   After finishing Part 4 students will be able to  demonstrate their familiarity with the map of the Middle East, identify physical features, compare some political, economic and cultural features of selected locations and evaluate information on a current event.  The goal of this class is to provide students with skills and challenge them to apply these skills to increase their understanding of today's world beyond their own experience.  At the time of enrollment, students are provided with a set of vocabulary and defined concepts.  We encourage students to review these each week if they want to finish our Week 4 Kahoot with a mighty splash 😊. 
NOTE:  A popular class feature, I encourage our students to send school appropriate geography jokes via the Outschool Classroom.  We will share appropriate jokes, puns & cartoons in class and enjoy a 'geography guffaw.'  My goal is to draw students into our discussions using humor, interactive games/techniques and student choice.

COURSE OUTLINE

WEEK 1:  Physical Features  & Political Boundaries Over Time
WEEK 2:  Major Regions - The Power of Place 
WEEK 3:  Political, Economic and Cultural Features, Today vs. The Past
WEEK 4:  Standard of Living & Current Events Analysis, Student Projects & Kahoot Challenge
With this small class we are able to present concepts and guide students to apply ideas and draw conclusions about what the maps, primary sources, illustrations and almanac data sources show them.  We love the academic goal of expanding our students' thinking by helping them  evaluate sources, make comparisons, create questions and evaluate what they learn.  This learning will be a good foundation for understanding future middle school  and high school geography classes about world locations, cultures, economics and political history.  

Independent Projects.  We encourage students to complete the independent projects assigned. Students will choose topics and formats from a menu of activities.  Projects build on research and analytic skills presented in class and  are supported with specific resources and project instructions. Students will have a choice of using technology to build their projects or relying on non-digital resources (paper/pencil, art materials).  When possible, students may start their project before the end of class, giving them an opportunity to clarify their ideas and form a good project plan.  We will share student projects at the beginning of the next class session to help the students deepen their understanding and improve long term memory of class topics.  These projects will also serve as  artifacts suitable for a student's learning portfolio. 
As an Outschool teacher, I encourage students to use the communication window in our classroom to ask clarifying questions about concepts we discuss in class or the details of an assignment. I am routinely available between classes to communicate via our classroom.

When students complete the 4 class sessions in this course they will receive a certificate of course completion,  referring to all completed project work.

National Geography Standards addressed in this course:
  Students will demonstrate thinking skills:  chronology, picture analysis, statistical analysis, source analysis and writing to support a hypothesis using evidence..

4	The physical and human characteristics of places	Places and Regions
5	That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity	Places and Regions
9	The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface	Human Systems
11	The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface	Human Systems
13	How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface	Human Systems
15	How physical systems affect human systems 	Environment and Society
18	How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.	The Uses of Geography

Related courses on Outschool, now:
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 1 Mapping Skills (4 sessions)
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 2 Europe Landforms & Culture (4 sessions)
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 3 Russia @ Heart of Eurasia (4 sessions)
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 4-Middle East-Land & Culture Regions  (4 sessions)
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 5 - South Asia Society & Economy (4 sessions)
Middle School Geography of the World: Part 6 - China and South East Asia  (4 sessions)
Geography Bee: Map Skills Vocabulary - Let’s Kahoot It! (1 session)
Geography Bee 2: Landforms in Europe - Let’s Kahoot It (1 session)
Geography Bee 3:  Russia - Places and Things - Let’s Kahoot It! (1 session)
Geography Bee 4: Middle East - Culture, Economy & the Map - Let’s Kahoot It! (1 session)
Geography Bee 5: South Asia - Locations, Trade and Society - Let's Kahoot It! (1 session)
Geography Bee 6: East-SE Asia Geography & Thinking Skills-Let’s Kahoot It! (1 session)
Geography Bee 7: Australia/Oceana Ecosystem, Location, Movement-Let's Kahoot It!
Geography Bee World Series (1)  - Let's Kahoot It!  [All 7 Geography Bees in this series are bundled in one sign up] (7 sessions)