Students watch a clip from a classic US Sitcom: The West Wing and use contrast phrases to learn about the world and the limitations of maps.
This lesson has 4 main parts, but you may choose to do just one or two of them.
A speaking activity about where in the world students would like to live, travel, etc.
Watching a scene from the TV show with comprehension questions and follow-up discussion.
Practising contrast phrases to compare reality to common geographical misconceptions.
Looking at surreal cartograms and speculating about what they might represent.
Instructions
All the activities below are based on these PowerPoints:
They have the same structure, just with different language levels.
Optional warmer
Step 1
Display the world map on slide 1. Give each student 3 post-it notes and ask them to draw the following (one on each post-it)
Their dream house.
A mode of transport.
A celebrity they love to hate.
Then in pairs get them to discuss:
Where in the world they would like to put their house?
What epic journey would they make?
Where would they like to send their celebrity?
Obviously, encouraging students to describe, explain and incorporate whatever language you wish to focus on e.g. If I could live anywhere, I would have to go for Italy because... what's more...
Step 2
At the end of the discussion, each student passes their post-its to their partner before changing pairs. Next each learner explains their previous partners choices with their new partner, passing them the post-its.
Step 3
Finally, everyone goes up to the board and places the post-its they have been given in the correct place on the map.
At this stage I often take a photo of the map so we can turn it into a quiz in a future lesson. "I reckon the house in Australia was Jorge's because he loves kangeroos"
Main Activity
Pre listening
Slide 1 Does this map look familiar? Is it correct?
Slide 2: And this…? How is it different from the first map? (squashed/stretched, larger, etc.)
Slide 3: Show both maps together, students discuss which is more accurate.
Listening task
Explain that you're going to watch a scene from the TV show The West Wing in which a group of cartographers will make a petition to the US president's advisors (first video below). Ask the questions before each excerpt, then give students the opportunity to discuss in pairs before repeating or moving on to the next section as appropriate.
- If students struggle to follow the dialogue (which is pretty fast), try slowing it down for them using
You Tube's video settings.
What do the cartographers want?
0,00 - 1,00
What is the Mercator map? Why is it wrong?
1,00-1,36
At this stage it may be helpful to show a short section (0,00-0,43) of the video "Why maps are Wrong" (below).
What things are inaccurate?
1,36-2,18
Why should schools use the Peter’s projection map?
2,18-end
Post listening
Slide 4 Students discuss in pairs whether they think schools should teach using this map.
Follow up 1
Map myths and language of contrast.
Go through slides 5-11 eliciting the map myth using the target phrase displayed (this will vary depending on level).
Using contrast phrases with Although, however, while, etc. can have a huge impact on the complexity of spoken and written communication. Practice in this area is one of the most effective ways to develop language beyond the "intermediate plateau".
Follow up 2
Cartograms
Show these Cartograms taken from worldmapper.com:
Students have to predict what each map represents.