Week One - Why Japan?

You may wonder, "Why did Mrs. Cottingham choose Japan for us to study?"

There are several reasons. First, I find it interesting! Also, Japan is a good case study of a society that is (1) different from ours (2) similar to ours (3) has changed drastically over the past decades...and many more! Also, when researching for this course, I found a plethora of resources available for our use.

You may also wonder, "What exactly about Japan are we going to study?"

For the first few weeks, we are going to be on a fact finding mission. Searching for, learning about, and remembering "stuff" about Japan. Then, we will use some of the knowledge we acquire to guide us through our learning journey of Japanese history, modern culture, changes, and people.

I have planned some really cool stuff for us! I am even working on a way for us to take a virtual field trip and actually see and talk to REAL students in Japan!

Let's get started!

First, I want you to write down everything you already know about Japan.
Then, write down everything you would like to learn about it.

We will come back to this later...

Take a look at this map. I want you to write down the FIRST thing that you notice about Japan.

Map One

Okay, take a closer look. Can you think of two problems that Japan or the Japanese might have based on what you see here? Write those down as well.

In Alabama, in average rain fall per year is

Based on what you already know, make a conclusion from this map and write it down.

Map Two

Now look at this map:

Map Three

Now we are going to use the information you wrote down and complete a problem solving task.