Learn Something Different With Samoa Culture and Samoa Geography!- A Great Geography Culture Lesson Plan

Samoa is found in the South Pacific Ocean, close to Tonga and the Cook Islands. It is roughly 1300 kilometres from New Zealand, and is also close to Australia. It lies below the equator and above the Tropic of Capricorn.In the same region are Vanuatu, Fiji Islands and the Solomon Islands.

In total there are ten islands which make up Samoa, although some of these are uninhabited. Samoa itself is divded into two separate nations - American Samoa and Samoa. The capital city is called Apia, and it is the only major sized town in Samoa. The total land mass of Samoa is about 3000 square kilometres.

A lovely resource for teaching students at around 4th grade level is the newly reprinted book by Allan Kirk 'Samoa - The Blue Pacific Series'. It is published by Capital Letters Publishing and retails for $16.95 New Zealand (around $13USD depending on exchange rate). This neat little non fiction book for children contains text divided into sections, including History, Weather, People, Government, People, The Flag, Education and Culture. This book could be a little hard to get your hands on, but it is a useful resource if you can track it down.

As a project at around 4th grade level, learning about Samoa makes a great introduction to the South Pacific region as a whole. Samoa is a fascinating place, with an ideal tropical climate and average temperatures ranging from 21 to about 32 degrees Celcius. Because it is in the tropics, Samoa is prone to cyclones which tend to travel through the South Pacific region during the November to about March period.

For a 4th grade geography project, try some of the following ideas and prompts:

• Use Google Earth to locate Samoa and compare its size with that of your own home state and country.
• Create a three dimensional model of Samoa's islands.
• Prepare a short talk for class mates about an aspect of Samoa's geography such as climate, volcanoes, beaches or climate change.
• Research how climate change may affect Samoa and other South Pacific islands over the next few years.
• Plan a fictional research trip to Samoa from your hopme town - include information about distances, flights and towns seen along the way.
• Do an online search for information about Samoa using keywords such as 'Samoa + geography.'

Remember that as a teacher, it is up to you to instill an interest which is genuine and leads students to ask their own questions and find their own answers. Role modelling skills such as asking verbal questions aloud and looking for information online or in books and magazines will help your students develop their own natural curiosity in Samoa and its geography.