Country Report Night-Australia

Our Co-op had a fun 'Country Report Night' we participated in.  At first our kids picked the Czeck Republic because of a suggestion from Daddy. His ancestors way...WAY back are from there and he thought it would be cool to learn about his roots.  So we looked it up.  After not being able to pronounce most of the names and places and seeing how the history of that country would be really difficult to understand; the kids all threw up their hands and said 'Australia' !!!  

What a fun country to learn about.  We briefly covered the history of Australia and how the Europeans began settling there.  It is a bit of a sad history-much like America in how it treated the native cultures.  We also studied the things that make Australia unique to the rest of the world. It was an exciting study and all of our children really enjoyed it. 

 The covers of two lapbooks

 Most of the information is the same in each book. We made a map, covered the flag, the difference in our time zones, the boomerang--a really cool study in itself--and of course some of the unique parts of Australian culture. 

 Here is their coat of arms and a fun little 'treasure map' activity and a compass.

Here is one of the mini-books open (and sideways) 

Another little craft our 1st grader did--a mamma kangaroo and her baby joey.

 Some cool Aborigine art work too.

Their favorite part of the study by far was the animals.  We made some cool animal cards and read about each one and copied information on the back. 

Then at the end o f our study we had our Report night with our co-op. Each family did a report on their chosen country and presented it in front of the group. Our kids were the last ones to do theirs. Finally when their turn arrived, they presented their report and showed off their lapbooks to everyone.  Each family also brought a dish and dessert to share and we had a multi-cultural potluck.  We made Shearers Pie which is basically a combination of scalloped potatoes and shepherds pie. It was super yummy. Lammingtons was our dessert. You can't go wrong with cake dipped in chocolate and then rolled in coconut. WOW, that was G.O.O.D.!!  

Most of the components for our lapbook is from Teacher Book Bag that I purchased on currclick.com  Some are from homeschoolshare.com.