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1.01 Describe the absolute and relative location of major landforms, bodies of water, and natural resources in the United States and other countries of North America.

1.02 Analyze how absolute and relative location influence ways of living in the United States and other countries of North America.

Language Arts:

Competency Goal 1	The learner will apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.
	1.01 Expand and refine vocabulary through knowledge of prefixes, suffixes, roots, derivatives, context clues, and etymologies (word origins) to assist comprehension. 1.02 Select key vocabulary critical to the text and apply appropriate meanings as necessary for comprehension. 1.03 Increase reading and writing vocabulary through: wide reading. word study. word reference materials. content area study. writing process elements. writing as a tool. debate. discussions. seminars. examining the author's craft. 1.04 Use word reference materials (e.g., glossary, dictionary, thesaurus, online reference tools) to identify and comprehend unknown words. 1.05 Read independently daily from self-selected materials (consistent with the student's independent reading level) to: increase fluency. build background knowledge. expand and refine vocabulary.
Competency Goal 5	The learner will apply grammar and language conventions to communicate effectively.
	5.01 Consistently use correct capitalization (e.g., names of magazines, newspapers, organizations) and punctuation (e.g., colon to introduce a list, commas in apposition, commas used in compound sentences). 5.02 Demonstrate understanding in speaking and writing by using: troublesome verbs. nominative, objective, and possessive pronouns. 5.03 Elaborate information and ideas in speaking and writing by using: prepositional phrases. transitions. coordinating and/or subordinating conjunctions. 5.04 Determine the impact of word choice on written and spoken language. 5.05 Spell most commonly used words accurately using a multi-strategy approach to the learning of new spellings. 5.06 Proofread for accuracy of spelling using appropriate strategies to confirm spelling and to correct errors. 5.07 Edit final product for grammar, language conventions, and format. 5.08 Create readable documents through legible handwriting (cursive) and word processing.

INTRODUCTION

Great news! You and your partners have a new summer job working for a travel agency. You have been hired to create a brochure and other materials for a presentation that will persuade travelers to visit a specific geographical biome. The boss has told you that it is important to be informative and creative to help draw potential customers into the office.

Working in groups you will choose one of the following major biomes on the North American continent: Aquatic, Desert, Forest, Grassland and Tundra. Below is a table illustrating some of the specific ecosystems and habitats within each of the main biomes.

You and your partners will organize the information into a brochure that highlights your chosen biome to present to the travel agency board of directors. You will also create a ‘Biome in a Box’ model that can be shown to potential customers that are interested in that biome as part of their travel plans.

TASK

Your task is to sell your biome to the travel agency and then to the consumer.

Your task will consist of several parts. You and your design partners are assigned the following responsibilities:

· Research a specific biome to North America and collect specific information.

Geographical Location of your biome
Climate and Weather
Flora (Plants)
Fauna (Animals)
Natural Resources
Landforms specific to your biome
Places of interest that would attract tourists

Create a ‘Biome Dictionary’ for your group.
Create a tri-fold brochure about your biome.
Design a ‘Biome in a Box’ model
Each partner will select different animals of your biome and create a food web specific to the animals and biome
Present your brochure and model to the board of directors of the travel agency.
Be sure to document your sources. (GUIDE TO PREPARING BIBLIOGRAPHY / WORKS CITED AVAILABLE)

PROCESS

Phase 1: Research

Make sure to collect quality information on the following topics concerning your biome:

Geographical Location of your biome
Climate and Weather
Flora (Plants)
Fauna (Animals)
Natural Resources
Landforms specific to your biome
Places of interest that would attract tourists

***REMEMBER*** If you were planning a vacation to an area within this biome what would you want to know.

Phase 2: ‘Biome Dictionary’

As each group members are introduced to biome vocabulary, your group will create a 4x6 card for each word. This card will have the word, pronunciation, definition in your own words, a sentence using the word correctly, and a picture/image of the word. All cards will be kept on a ring file for quick reference.

Must Words: biome, flora, fauna, habitat, niche, aquatic, desert, grassland, tundra, forest, food web, elevation, precipitation, natural resources, climate, producer, consumer, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore , and decomposer.

You may include additional words.

Phase 3: Brochure Design

You are going to create a tri-fold brochure that highlights the best of what your biome has to offer to a tourist.

You will need to include the Travel Agencies business name, address and other contact information. See example below:

CCS Travel Agency

650 West Hollywood Blvd

Louisburg, NC 27549

1-800-123-4567

email: ccstravel@whereami.com

The following must be included in your brochure:

Eye catching Title
2-4 eye catching graphics
Typical climate and weather
Make sure to include the best times of year to travel to that biome
Geographical Location of your biomes
Interesting Plants and Animals from your biome
Places of Interest (you want this information to really spark the interest of the consumer)

Photograph

Phase 4: Create a ‘Biome in a Box’

Build a three-dimensional model of your biome in a box (larger than a shoebox) using everyday materials. Included in the model should be representative examples of flora and fauna, and it should show the terrain (mountainous, flat, shoreline, etc.). The inside walls of the box should be decorated (painted, collaged with photos, etc.). Taped onto one side of the box should be a written description of all of the characteristics of the biome (elevation, precipitation levels, temperature , flora, fauna, etc). Taped onto the other side of the box is a world map indicating (by color, outline, etc.) the locations of this biome.

possible food web

Phase 5: Create a food web poster

Select an animal that lives in your biome. Create a poster displaying the food web and explain where add how your animal fits into the food web. Be sure to label who the consumers, producers, and decomposers are.

Phase 6: Presentation of Biome Proposal Materials (Brochure & ‘Biome in a Box’ Model)

You will present your promotional materials to the CCS Travel Agency Board of Directors for evaluation. During this presentation the board of directors will be using several tools to evaluate you on presentation, teamwork, and material design.

Rubric #1 - This rubric will be used to evaluate your presentation to the travel agency board of directors.

Group Members ________________________________________________________________

Category

Excellent

(12-10 pts)

Good

(9-7 pts)

Satisfactory

(6-4 pts)

Needs

Improvement

(3-0 pts)

Presentation

Well-rehearsed

with smooth

delivery that

holds audience

attention.

Rehearsed with

fairly smooth

delivery that

holds audience

attention most

of the time.

Deliver not

smooth, but

able to

maintain

interest of

the audience

most of the

time.

Delivery not

smooth and

audience

attention

often lost.

Attractiveness

Makes excellent

use of font,

color, graphics,

effects, etc. to

enhance the

presentation.

Makes good

use of font,

color,graphics,

effects, etc.

to enhance the

presentation.

Makes use of

font, color,

graphics,

effects, etc.

but

occasionally

these detract

from the

presentation

content.

Use of font,

color, graphics,

effects etc.

but these

often distract

from the

presentation

content.

Requirements

All requirements

are met and

exceeded.

All requirements

are met.

One requirement

was not

completely met.

More than one

requirement was

not completely

met.

Mechanics

No misspellings

or grammatical

errors.

Three or fewer

misspellings

and/or

mechanical

errors.

Four

misspellings

and/or

grammatical

errors.

More than 4

errors in

spelling

or grammar.

Content

Covers topic

in-depth with

details and

examples.

Subject

knowledge is

excellent.

Includes

essential

knowledge

about the topic.

Subject

knowledge appears

to be good.

Includes

essential

information

about the topic

but there are

1-2 factual

errors.

Content is

minimal OR there

are several

factual

errors.

Organization

Content is well

organized using

headings or

bulleted lists

to group

related material.

Uses headings or

bulleted lists to

organize, but the

overall

organization of

topics appears

flawed.

Content is

logically

organized for

the most part.

There was no

clear or logical

organizational

structure, just

lots of facts.

Oral

Presentation

Interesting,

well-rehearsed

with smooth

delivery that

holds audience

attention.

Relatively

interesting,

rehearsed with

a fairly smooth

delivery that

usually holds

audience

attention.

Delivery not

smooth, but able

to hold audience

attention most

of the time.

Delivery not

smooth and

audience

attention

lost.

Originality

Product shows a

large amount of

original thought.

Ideas are

creative and

inventive.

Product shows

some original

thoughts. Work

shows new ideas

and insights.

Uses other

people's ideas

(giving them

credit), but

there is little

evidence of

original

thinking.

Uses other

people's

ideas, but

does not give

them credit.

Rubric #2 - This rubric will be used to evaluate your brochure and model.

Group Members __________________________________________________________________________

Category

Excellent

(12-10 pts)

Good

(9-7 pts)

Satisfactory

6-4 pts)

Needs Improvement

(3-0 pts)

Writing-

Organization

Each section in

the brochure

has a clear

beginning,

middle, and

end.

Almost all

sections of

the brochure

have a clear

beginning,

middle and

end.

Most sections of

the brochure

have a clear

beginning, middle

and end.

Less than half

of the sections

of the brochure

have a clear

beginning,

middle and end.

Content-

Accuracy

All facts in

the brochure

are accurate.

99-90% of the

facts in the

brochure are

accurate.

89-90% of the

facts in the

brochure are

accurate.

Fewer than 80& of

the facts in the

brochure are

accurate.

Spelling &

Proofreading