Our first Geo Treckers EVER was over the country of Brazil. I had two sessions of Geo Treckers, one during the day for homeschoolers and one after school.  Here are the plans that I used for both groups.

Geo Treckers – Brazil

Welcome

Talk about Brazil —

• Flag of Brazil  – show a picture of the flag and talk about it. It is green for the forests, it has stars that stand for each of the states and it also says “order and progress”.
  

• Country Shape — find on map/globe/atlas.  Brazil is the largest country in South America, 5th largest in the world, Its name comes from a tree called the Brazilwood, Speak Portuguese (only country in South America to speak Portuguese), Capital is Brasilia, Amazon River goes through Brazil — 2nd largest river in the world, around 60% of the Amazon Rainforest is located in Brazil.

• Some words: Hello (ola), friends (amigos), school (escola), soccer (futebol), thank you (obrigado), Goodbye (adeus). (I had a person who was from Brazil come to this first meeting. She spent a lot of time giving the kids a mini-language lesson.)

Read “Count Your Way Through Brazil” by James Haskins.

Play Brazilian game:

Luta de Galo

Talk about Soccer (futbal). Read “Young Pele, Soccer’s First Star” by Lesa Cline Ransome.

Use rolled up socks to try to make “goals”. Let kids take a turn.

Talk about Amazon River . . . rainforest facts, animals (use pictures to show some of the animals of the rainforest).

Read “The Dancing Turtle” by Pleasant DeSpain.

Music — World Playground #10.   Make Maraccas using taped together paper cups. Tape the cups together with colorful duct tape and let the kids decorate them. Then use them as you listen to Brazilian music.

Have a mini dance lesson! Find samba lessons here:

http://fitforafeast.com/dance_lessons-samba-dance-lesson-kids.htm

Make Brazilian Brigadiers.  Tell story behind them. Find that story here.

Note: We had a bit of trouble with our Brigadieros. They just didn’t go how they should have . .. in fact it was a pretty big mess! We did have fun, however, and the kids still enjoyed eating the chocolate . . . which got all over everything!!

At the end of the time together, I send home a list of additional activities, as well as a booklist containing books from our library that the kids could use for further study. I also send home copies of coloring pages or other activity pages that the kids can do on their own if they choose. Here are the suggestions for additional activities that I gave the kids this month.

    Additional Activities:

Play Soccer!

Make your own rainforest! http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Animals/rainforestdiorama/rainforestdiorama.html  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVPIQHsmL7s

Read about the daily life in Brazil then write a story about the typical day in the life of a Brazilian child. http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/brazil/day-in-life

Research and make your own Brazilian meal.  http://www.frombraziltoyou.org/brazilian-food-recipes/quick-easy/

Make your own carnival costume. http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Wearables/masquerademask/masquerademask.html

Learn how to dance the Samba. http://fitforafeast.com/dance_lessons-samba-dance-lesson-kids.htm

Brazil is the leading coffee producer in the world. Research how coffee is made. Do you think kids should drink coffee? Write a persuasive essay sharing your findings. http://www.kidzworld.com/article/17060-kids-and-coffee

Learn some Portuguese!