A Trip to Thailand : an Integrated Unit aims to help teachers undertake a comprehensive study of Thailand in the upper primary classroom. It examines aspects of daily life, it explores the cultural diversity of the nation, and discusses key industries, occupations and the arts in Thailand. The kidcyberQuest sets the assignment for students as an imaginary trip to Thailand. The kidcyberQuest provides students with directed practice in key information gathering and research skills, such as formulating questions, reading for information, making notes, compiling a bibliography and writing a report.
The student information pages are organised into categories for students to undertake preliminary research to enable them to plan their trip and make their presentations.
Introducing A Trip to Thailand Undertake an introductory activity for students to establish what students already know about the topic and set guidelines for future instruction, classroom activity and research. Make lists: 'What We Already Know about Thailand' and 'What We Want to Know about Thailand'. This introductory activity will establish what students already know the topic, and will help students focus on the topic, collect data and determine what they need to find out.
After viewing a video or browsing through a collection of books, travel brochures and other resources, each student is given a sheet of paper and writes down 'facts' they know about Thailand. They then cut their paper into strips, one fact to each strip. The strips are all placed into a large container. The teacher pulls out one strip at a time and reads aloud the fact. Students decide collectively whether or not it should be categorised as: 1. True 2. False 3. Don't know yet
The fact strips in each category are taped together to form charts. One day each week during the unit the charts are reviewed, and the facts are re categorised, refined or corrected. At this weekly session, new facts are added. As the list of true facts grows, it can be categorised further under headings such as : Wildlife in Thailand, Food in Thailand, Industry in Thailand etc.
Following this activity, some of the following could be undertaken to further introduce the topic: display photographs, charts, posters and so on around the room; collect books from library resource centre; view videos from local libraries. students write letters to the Thai Embassy in your country, or Consulate offices in some capital cities to request information; search the internet at http://www.infothai.com and other sites (see kidcyberQuest). Display Thai artifacts or posters brought to school by students; survey students, teachers, friends and relatives to locate people with knowledge or expertise relating to the topic and invite them to speak.
Food Introductory tasting activity: collect recipes and adapt some for cooking at school as an introductory activity about food.The meal can be added to from the students' research, and fresh fruit should be available also. Students will make up their own menu for each day of their 'trip', find out about other Thai foods and their names, find the recipes for these and other Thai dishes. They can make comparisons between what they would eat at home and what they might eat on a trip to Thailand.
Agriculture and Industry For a total perspective of Thailand's industries, students should be directed to investigate other Thai crops and industries, such as food processing, jewellery making, gem mining, cotton manufacturing, petroleum industry. They need to use information such as this in their daily travel diary, for example: 'On the way to the beach in a tuktuk, we stopped at a coconut plantation....' and they insert information about coconut production and the making of palm sugar.
Sightseeing in Thailand Students will look at a number of brochures obtained from travel agents, the Embassy of Thailand and other sources. They can cut out pictures and paste them onto a wall map of Thailand, with arrows and labels. This can be added to as more attractions are researched.
Flora and Fauna of Thailand After researching this topic using a variety of resources, students are required to include information about some species of flora and fauna in their daily travel diary.
Preparations for a Trip Students must find out about passports, health, visas and related travel information. They could make a passport, and obtain blank departure documentation for their 'trip'. They will draw up an itinerary plan and a travel budget. They will complete a checklist for packing and will make a travel diary.
Students will also read Mind Your manners! as part of their preparation, finding out about ways to avoid offending people of a different culture. Some Useful Phrases for Travellers provides students with some basic useful phrases they need for their 'trip'.
Brainstorm with class and list all of the things that are needed to be done and taken for an overseas trip, such as: passport, luggage, money, visa, inoculations, tickets, cameras, books for plane trip, and so on. From the list, there will be a discussion about what we know and what we need to find out to prepare for our trip to Thailand, for example, where do we get a passport, how much does it cost, what does one look like, do we need a visa and how do you get one? etc.
Discuss how this trip will be organised: Will we all stay together (ie do you want the whole class to follow the same itinerary and research the same things)? Will groups visit different places after an initial stay in Bangkok, or will we tour as individuals? What will we produce as a record of our trip? How will we share our information with the rest of the class?
A few students can be delegated to contact health professionals to find out what immunisation is required and/or desirable for a trip to Thailand, and the time frame for immunisation. Students will find out about diseases such as cholera, malaria, hepatitis, typhoid,smallpox, rabies, tetanus. They need to find out about precautions such as drinking and brushing teeth using unboiled water, the dangers of dehydration, and so on.
Travel information and costing A few students can be delegated to contact travel agents to get details of flight prices, times, airlines travelling between your country and Thailand. Internal flights, hotel accommodation, food and tour costs can be found also. Packing Students should find out about climate and cultural expectations which will influence the clothes they take. They need to find out the maximum weight for a suitcase taken to Thailand and the dimensions of carry-on luggage.
Students could actually pack a case and a carry-on bag and bring them to school. They would show the contents of their cases and explain any choices that are queried by classmates, and make suggestions to others if they feel items have been omitted or are unsuitable.
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