Countries of the World

From Afghanistan to Jamaica to Zimbabwe, the countries of the world provide home for humans and habitat for wildlife.

Sample some of the following activities to learn more about countries of the world.

Places To Go | People To See | Things To Do | Teacher Resources | Bibliography

Places To Go

The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out about the countries of the world.

Travel to the Greatest Places on earth: Amazon, Greenland, Iguazu, Madagascar, Namib, Okavango, and Tibet.

Visit the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador.

Russia is the largest country in the world. It is twice as big as the United States and covers 8 time zones and 2 continents! If you can't afford a plane ticket, virtually visit this beautiful country.

Journey to the country of Mali in west Africa. "Modern-day Mali evolved out of a long, illustrious history of vast and culturally rich empires centered around the lush inland delta of the Niger River. At its peak, the medieval Mali empire was the one of the world's chief gold suppliers. Tombouctou, gateway to the Sahara Desert, was a renowned center for trade, culture and Islamic learning. The fabled city was home to one of the largest libraries in the world." Then visit Honduras, Bolivia, and Madagascar.

Go to the Library of Congress and learn from their country studies. What is the climate like in Uganda? Is it similar to Utah?

Take a virtual tour of some countries of the world through the eyes of first grade students.

Go on a World Safari! Each month, this site focuses on a different area of the world.

Take a tour of Egypt. Ride a virtual camel.

Take a trip to the United Nations. Its purpose is "to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people." The United Nation has a kids' page called CyberSchoolBus which has games, quizzes, and learning units.

People To See

Interested in languages spoken worldwide? Ask-A-Linguist can help you.

Visit with ambassadors from other countries. Find information on all the foreign embassies in Washington, D.C.

Spend some time with heads of state and heads of government for worldwide countries.

Find a penpal or keypal.

Meet Colin Powell, the Secretary of State. He is an expert on the countries of the world.

Things To Do

If you wanted to say "hello" in every language of the world, you would have to learn at least 2,796 languages and say hello to about 5,720,000,000 people! Make a list of ways to say "hello". You might be surprised at how many you already know. (Everyone knows Hola, Bonjour, and Konichiwa!)

How do YOU celebrate YOUR birthday? Every family has their own traditions and practices.

Find out how far it is between countries of the world. It is 5485 from Salt Lake City to Tokyo, Japan. It is 7570 miles from Ogden, Utah to New Delhi, India. It's 7823 miles from St. George, Utah to Sydney, Australia.

Check out the flags of all countries.

Infonation is an interesting page that lets users compare statistical information between countries. It is part of the United Nations CyberSchoolBus site. From the main menu, select a country of your choice and up to 6 other countries. Then select "Data Menu". From this Data Menu, select your areas for comparison and then click "View Info".

Find official homes pages of worldwide countries.

Which country celebrates Carnaval? Which countries celebrate Boxing Day? Find out about worldwide holidays and festivals.

Find out about worldwide culture, museums, points of interest, and more at the Lonely Planet.

Convert some worldwide currency. Convert 25 drams from Armenia, 25 drachmas from Greece, and 25 talas from Western Samoa to United States dollars.

Have students bring in samples of foreign postage stamps or foreign currency that they may have. They are fun to use for a study of countries.

Use this multicultural calendar to learn more about holidays and celebrations in countries around the world.

Find information on all the foreign embassies in Washington, D.C.

Read an online newspaper in Spanish from Honduras, in Urdu from Pakistan, and in Malay from Malayasia.

One School One Country^TMis an official program of the 2000 Olympic Games. Schools from around Utah are paired with a partner country. The program offers schools the opportunity to establish links of friendship with peers in distant lands.

Teacher Resources

Online activities are a listing of internet sites with fun, interesting, and educational tasks attached to each one. (You can learn how to use this WWW Activities tool created by UEN for Utah educators).

Virtual Field Trips are teacher and student-created tours of curricular topics. (You can learn how to use this UEN Virtual Field Trip tool created by UEN for Utah educators).

Lesson Plan/Webquests/Activities

Bibliography

Boyle, Bill. My First Atlas. New York ; London : Dorling Kindersley, 1994.
Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. World Reference Atlas. London ; New York : Dorling Kindersley, c1998.
Hammond Incorporated. Atlas of the World. Maplewood, N.J. : Hammond Incorporated, 1999.
Howarth, Sarah. The Children's Atlas of the Twentieth Century : Chart the Century from World War I to the Gulf War and from "Teddy" Roosevelt to Nelson Mandela. Brookfield, Conn : The Millbrook Press, 1996.
Mason, Antony. Around the World in 80 Pages. Brookfield Conn. : Copper Beech Books, 1995.
Rand McNally and Company. Rand McNally The World : Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1996.
Steele, Philip. The Kingfisher Young People's Atlas of the World. New York : Kingfisher, c1997.
Wood, Jenny.The Children's Atlas of People and Places. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook Press, 1993.
Wright, David andWright, Jill. Simon and Schuster Young Readers' Atlas. New York : Simon & Schuster, 1993.