Topic/Title: China and United States Geographical Comparison
Author:
Catherine R. Woods
Bixby Middle School
Bixby, Oklahoma
Audience:
7th Grade Geography
Standards:
PASS
1.2: Apply the concepts of scale, distance, relative location, latitude
NCSS
and longitude.
5.1: Identify and describe the relationship between the distribution
of major natural resources (e.g., arable land, water, fossil fuels,
and iron ore) and developed and developing countries.
III. People, Places, and Environments
A. Elaborate mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that
demonstrate understanding of relative location, direction, size,
and shape.
B. Create, interpret, use, and distinguish various representations of
the earth such as maps, globes, and photographs.
Objectives:
1. The learner will be able to relate the size of China’s landmass to the size of the
United State’s. The learner will analyze the amount of arable land in both
countries and make predictions about the sustainability of larger populations.
Time allotment: 55 minutes
Materials Needed:
1. Index cards
2. Masking Tape
3. Maps:
• China and the United States Superimposed (Handout #1)
• Population Density Map
• http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/maps.htm#3
Procedure:
1. Begin with a Set/Hook/Motivating activity:
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Before the students arrive –
•
-
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Divide the classroom in half using a piece of masking tape (one
half will represent the landmass of China, one half the United
States)
• Label the note-cards to represent China and the United States
populations: 20% of students in the class will receive an index
card labeled “United States.” 75% of the “United States” cards
will read “Urban” on the backside and 25% will read “Rural.”
The other 80% of the student’s cards will read “China.” 20% of
those cards will have “Urban” on the back, 80% will have
“Rural.”
As the students arrive, randomly hand them a card. Tell them if they
receive a “China” card, they should sit on the right hand side of the room.
If they receive a “United States” card, they should sit on the left hand side
of the room.
When all the students are seated have the “United States” citizens hold
their cards up. Next, have the “Chinese” citizens hold up theirs.
Tell the students to hold onto their cards for use later in the class.
2. Ask the students key question, what do you think is being represented by the
number of people who held up their cards for each country? (Answers may vary,
but should include population).
3. Explain to the students that this activity was to prepare them for a discussion
comparing the size (physical size and population) of the United States and China.
4. Show students the map of China superimposed on the map of the United States.
Explain that while landmass and latitude are fairly similar between the two
countries, the populations and arable land differ greatly.
5. Revisit the index cards. Ask the students in the “United States” and in “China” to
hold up their cards if they live in the city (Urban). What do they observe?
6. Next, have the students in the “United States” and “China” hold up their cards if
they live in the countryside (Rural). What can they discern?
7. Look at a population density map:
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/maps.htm#3.
• Explain to the students that while China’s urban population is
more than the United State’s total population it is still mostly
rural. Explain that 80% of China’s population is rural compared
with 25% of the United States’.
8. Read “Starvation,” an excerpt by a northern Chinese woman in 1887-1888
recounting how she lived through a famine. Next read selected pages from O.E.
Rolvaag’s Giants in the Earth, a fictional work about the hardship of settling the
Great Plains in the United States during the 1870’s-1880’s. The story gives an
excellent depiction of a family’s wheat crop being stripped by a plague of
grasshoppers and how they survived. Ask the students to list some similarities in
the hardships of 19th century lives in both countries. Explain the fragility of life in
agricultural societies. When populations spread into marginal lands and drought,
disease, or warfare occurs they can have devastating effects. Do students feel like
modern day rural farmers in either country can identify with either one of these
historical tales? This is a good time to introduce the major staple foods of the
United States and China in modern times (rice in China and corn and wheat in the
United States). Discuss the areas where the majority of agricultural production
takes place. Point out the differences in harvesting crops (mechanization in wheat
and corn, hand labor with rice).
Assessment:
1. Handout #2
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Answers are accurate
TOTAL
3 points Each
15 points
Teacher Resource List:
1. East Asia: A New History (Fourth Edition) by Rhoads Murphey.
2. Ning Lao Tai Tai. “Starvation.” http://afe.easia.columbia.edu
3. Rolvaag, O.E. Giants in the Earth. New York: Harper and Row. 1927
Handout #1: China and the United States Superimposed
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/maps.htm#3
1. Between which latitudes is China positioned? ______ and
_______.
2. Between which latitudes is the United States positioned?
______ and ______.
3. Which country is larger? ______________________.
4. Which country extends further south?_________________.
5. Which country extends further north?_________________.