culture research project elementary

Teach with Holly Rachel

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How to Teach a Country Research Project

February 17, 2022 By Holly Rachel

I love teaching a research project on a country. They are so much fun and students gain so much from studying them in your social studies curriculum. I have found that students find them fascinating and love learning interesting facts and recognising the similarities and differences between the country they are learning about and their own way of life.

What is a country research project?

In simple terms, as part of social studies, students create a report on a country by researching facts about it. Their country report could be a wide range of presentation mediums such as a written project, an oral presentation, a poster, worksheets, a performance or even a video, you can be as creative as you like! Student can use a range of methods to research their chosen country. This could be through books, the internet, interviews or from teaching presentations and information sheets.

Why are country research projects important?

It is so important that we teach students about different cultures to their own and to accept and respect differences, as well as to look for the similarities between us all. This is especially important in the interconnected world we live in today.

There are so many benefits to teaching a research project on a country. These include:

-Gaining knowledge about new places and different culture

-Sparking curiosity and a love of learning

-Understanding and accepting differences

-Recognising that even though cultures may have differences, we all share similarities

-Gaining a deeper understanding of their own culture as they learn about others

-Because they are so much fun!

How to do a country research project

A research project on a country may be part of your curriculum, or you may teach the project as part of a whole school cultural week. Alternatively you could set the project as homework for your class. It’s also a great idea to use the project to support learning across other subject areas. For example, students could use the knowledge they gain from their country study and use it in their writing, such as a story setting or an information text. Students could recreate art from the country or develop map skills.

What to include in a country research project

This is the fun part! You may wish your students to lead their own research and report on the areas that interested them, or you may wish to give some guidance. Some great ideas for your research project on a country could include:

Identify the particular country on a map of the word. Where is it located? What continent is the country in? What is the capital city? You could look for physical geographical features such as mountains and rivers. Does the country border any seas? What are the neighbouring countries?

Research the country’s flag. What does the flag tell us about the country? What is the population? What sort of climate does the country have? Students could use graphic organizers to help them record the information they find.

Food is such a great way to learn about a country. It really tells us a lot about the sort of flora and fauna that can be found the country. It can also tell us a lot about the climate of the country. Is it common to preserve food in a particular way? For example through pickling or using spices? Why might this be?

This is such an important skill. As we become more globally connected, learning an additional language is such a valuable skill. You could start with some key phrases and greetings.  Maybe choose certain activities where you could speak in language, such as greeting each other first thing in the morning, or asking. ‘How are you?’ after lunch.

Sight seeing

Learn about the iconic landmarks of the country. When, how and why where they built? What do they tell us about the country and the people who live there?

Recreate art from the country. This could be a study of a particular artist or art movement. Students could recreate a particular painting. What does the painting capture? What can we learn from it? Or perhaps use a painting from the country as inspiration for students’ own work, this could even span different subjects. Create a bulletin board of the students’ own work!

Teach students songs from the country. This is also a great way to learn a language. Listening to and singing songs can really help students gain a valuable insight into the culture.

Sweden Country Study

If you’d like to get started with a country research project, check out my FREE Sweden country study when you subscribe to my email list. These are perfect for your Social Studies 2nd Grade curriculum.

Included is a PowerPoint presentation with 10 slides packed full of information to teach your students all about Sweden. Slides include a map of Sweden, the Swedish flag, basic Swedish phrases, Swedish foods, Swedish landmarks, the Northern Lights and Dala horses, a traditional Swedish craft. That’s right, I have done all the research for you, so it is NO-PREP and ready to go!

Teach the topics as part of your social studies weekly lesson. Alternatively, allow students to complete the project at their own pace or assign out as homework.

Along with PowerPoint slide is an associated social studies worksheet for 2nd Grade students to complete with the information they have learned from the slide show. So this means no trawling the internet finding a worksheet to match a PowerPoint and spending hours making your own. It is all done for you!

Not only that, the activities are differentiated on two levels to support a range of ability levels in your class.

Do you spend hours prepping work for early finishers? Well, I’ve got you covered with a wordsearch all about Sweden!

Also include are summary activities about the project. This includes a worksheet for students to record their favorite facts and a postcard template. Students imagine they have visited Sweden and write postcard home about their travels!

Finally it comes with a super cute cover sheet so your students can make their own booklet with the worksheets. Did I mention this is all FREE? Grab your FREE Sweden Country Study today!

If you’d like to check out my other country studies, I have a whole range of countries available:

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National Geographic Education Blog

Bring the spirit of exploration to your classroom.

Strategy Share: Celebrating World Cultures in the Elementary Classroom

Our Strategy Share series features innovative ideas, projects, and approaches from our community of educators. This post was written by educator Julie Yeros.

Hi! I’m Julie Yeros, an elementary educator and creator of Globe Trottin’ Kids —a global learning website for students and educators. While my home base is in the beautiful state of Colorado, I have family scattered across three continents.

Last spring, I wrote a blog post about how to celebrate world cultures over the summer . Now, with a new school year upon us, it’s important to create a classroom that inspires children to become invested in their world. Integrating global learning experiences throughout the year and across the curriculum allows students to explore their world and understand their place in it.

Here are some ideas for celebrating world cultures in your classroom this year:

Keep an eye on the calendar.

Introduce children to a variety of cultures through holidays, festivals and current events taking place around the world. Share the history and traditions associated with the celebrations and be mindful to avoid stereotypical representations. Allow time for discussion and questions, and encourage further investigation for the class, small groups, or individuals to conduct and share.  

Choose several events to feature throughout the year, and plan activities for deeper exploration. Gather a variety of resources (books, videos, art, music, clothing, etc.), schedule guest presenters (parents, staff members, cultural groups, etc.), and invite other classrooms to join in the fun, so students can share what they learn.

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• For the Chinese New Year , retell the legend explaining how the 12 animals on the Chinese zodiac were chosen, discover the meaning behind popular symbols and traditions of the holiday and try a variety of festival foods . In 2020, the Chinese New Year falls on January 25th.
• For Songkran , Thailand’s New Year Festival (April 13-15), learn about the importance of water in the Thai culture and its role in the celebration. (A good water fight is always a fun activity to include at the end of the day!)
• For World Read Aloud Day (February 5), connect with others to enjoy tales from other countries.

Explore places near and far with traditional or virtual a field trip.

Did you know October is National Field Trip Month? Integrate experiential learning (real or virtual) into your curriculum now and throughout the year.

• Plan a local field trip to learn more about your community. Meet with elected officials, businesses, and community leaders. Visit a museum, library, or senior citizen center to learn about the history and culture in your own backyard.
• Take a virtual field trip to investigate a famous landmark in a country across the globe or to observe an underwater ecosystem that is under threat. Get inspired with a variety of National Geographic’s Google Earth resources .
• Join a live video event or expedition with National Geographic Explorer Classroom . Each month a new theme is featured and supporting resources for educators are provided. The full archive is also available on YouTube .  

Develop a geographic perspective.

Provide consistent opportunities for students to learn, practice and apply geography skills. Understanding cardinal and ordinal directions, locating continents and oceans, and navigating a map using a compass rose, map key and scale are essential to learning about our planet.

• A globe or world map in the classroom makes a great reference tool for locating the setting of a story, identifying where historical events took place, or calculating the distance between cities.
• National Geographic’s mapping resources make it easy to create and view interactive maps. You can easily customize one-page maps and assemble large-scale maps. There’s even Giant Maps , large enough for your students to walk on, that your school can order!

• Puzzles, interactive games and activities make engaging workstations for practicing and reinforcing spatial reasoning skills.

Join me in setting our young students on the path to being informed, caring, and responsible global citizens by using these easy ways to bring world cultures into your classroom this school year.

Julie Yeros is an elementary educator from Denver, Colorado. She is founder of Globe Trottin’ Kids and a National Geographic Certified Educator.

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10 thoughts on “ Strategy Share: Celebrating World Cultures in the Elementary Classroom ”

This is really interesting blog ! I am Thanks to you for sharing such as great Blog !

Thanks for stopping by. Keep exploring!

This is a great article about how to incorporate multiple cultures in the classroom. At Elk Grove Unified School District we are currently celebrating African American history month to appreciate other cultures and I think this article has great suggestions we can incorporate the rest of the year.

Thanks Abby! There are so many great opportunities for raising cultural awareness and celebrating diversity. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Some times you found something interested just because you are exploring the new thing on the internet and looking for something else and you found more interesting then you found. Thanks for sharing such a great content .!!!

Hey Julie, thanks for sharing this blog post. I was looking for such a post to get some ideas to celebrate world culture in Alpine Union School, now my research is completed. Thank you once again. Keep sharing more posts in the future.

Hi Bob! Thanks for your feedback. National Geographic and Globe Trottin’ Kids are great resources for world cultures all year long. Happy Exploring!

You’re most welcome.

Introducing children to a variety of cultures through holidays, festivals and current events taking place around the world can actually turn to fruitful results as children will get to know about different cultures around the world which will help them develop an unbiased overview of the world. Thanks for sharing the amazing piece of your thought, Kudos!

Thanks for your reply. The benefits are truly endless. 💟

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Fun with Mama

Toddler and preschool activities

Written by Nadia T • Mar 7, 2024 • 2 Comments

15 Cultural Diversity Activities For Elementary Students

Check out these 15 Cultural Diversity Activities for Elementary Students to teach children about children of the world.

The world is so large that it can be tough to teach children about places that exist outside of their own immediate physical world. There is so much to learn about other countries and people.

We live in America and we also spent 10 years in South Africa. I was fascinated by the cultural differences and daily norms that were each so very different from the life I lived in America.

Different cultures from around the world have so much that could and should be celebrated.

From music, languages, and food to school, dressing and sports there is so much of beauty and excitement that each country and culture brings to our world.

I am a blog ambassador for Lakeshore and am compensated for my work. I received product free of charge, but all thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

What is cultural diversity?

Cultural diversity is about creating equity, respect, and understanding between people from different cultures..It’s about understanding that each of us comes from a specific culture, which has its own history, language, norms, values, and beliefs. It is about inclusion.

When we talk about cultural diversity in the world today, it encompasses many things – race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and skills are just some examples.

Why do we need cultural diversity?

Cultural diversity makes a community stronger. It helps create better ideas, more creativity, innovation, and forward-thinking.  It allows for better problem solving because it brings together a wider range of perspectives, experiences, and knowledge.

Cultural diversity is important to everyone – regardless of culture or background.

Let’s Celebrate Diversity

Add these activities to your lesson plans to promote inclusion.

Choose one country a week and do a small “trip around the world” each week. These cultural activity ideas are great for the classroom as well as for home too.

You could make it even more fun by choosing one particular day a week that you would be ‘flying’ out to this country to experience some of their cultures.

Here are my favorite activities to teach children about diversity.

15 Cultural Diversity Activities for Elementary Students

1. Celebrate holidays and traditions from around the world

My kid’s calendar includes a variety of holidays. Make sure to acknowledge and celebrate these dates in your classroom. You could even decorate the classroom for different cultural holiday celebrations like Christmas, Eid, Hannukkah, etc.

For educators seeking comprehensive guidance on incorporating Ramadan into the classroom curriculum, and parents seeking ways to explain Ramadan to kids, I highly recommend this Ramadan Guide For Teachers and Parents + FAQ. It provides valuable insights on how to respectfully and inclusively engage students during Ramadan, along with addressing common questions that may arise.

You can also download this FREE Printable Ramadan Activity Pack For Kids filled with vocabulary words, math activities, tracing, and more!

See my post on Ramadan Decorations Ideas For Kids . You could set up a book area that incorporates these books during that week of celebration too. Learning experiences are enhanced through fun decorations, especially in young children.

2. Read books about other countries and their special cultures.

We really love the Lakeshore Children of the World Book Set . The books contain interesting facts, more about the spoken language, what the money looks like and wonderful discussion questions to ask students.

More Diversity Books

3. Do a craft activity

How are we each the same? How are we a little different? What makes us unique? Do a craft activity that would encourage a child to focus on the different physical features of people from different countries. The People Shapes Project Kit was perfect for this!  It included tacky glue and everything you see below minus the trays.

The paper doll set comes in a variety of skin color options so kids can create and celebrate every ethnicity. They are also gender-neutral so can be adapted to a child’s own creativity.

We were focusing this week on India and Mexico. So she set out to create an Indian and Mexican little girl. She noticed that the Indian girl was wearing a lot of sparkly sequins on her outfit and added these to her paper doll puppet. 

My 8 year old really enjoyed this project. It was definitely a little tough for my three year old to do, as she needed a lot of help with gluing and cutting small parts and pieces. This activity is perfect for elementary aged students.

This would be a wonderful classroom activity. You could have each child build a ‘puppet’ from one country and then stick them around the room.

We may have a few different physical characteristics, but what about on the inside? How are we different? Are our emotions any different? Check out my feelings and emotion chart for kids

4. Print out a world map or use a globe

Show children where each country is located. You could even talk about how many hours it would take to fly to that country.

4. Bake or cook a special recipe from other countries.

6. Go visit a restaurant that has authentic food from other countries .

Sample cuisine from these countries. For example, have curry at an Indian restaurant. Try a dish that is special to that country. Just be careful because some cultural foods incorporate a lot of spice!

7. Listen to music from other countries –

Ask students what they think of the music. Does it make them feel like dancing? Does it make them feel happy?

8. Spelling the country names – 

We used Lakeshore’s Sweet Treats! Letter Molds to bake these little cakes together. Once we were done decorating the cakes, we would spell out each country’s name before eating them all up. I’m always trying to weave spelling and hidden learning into all the activities we do together.

9. Listen to a recording of a person speaking that language.

It would be interesting to see if the children can understand any of the words the person is saying.

10. Cultural Greetings

Learn how to say hello and goodbye in each language.  

11. Talk about animals that live in each country.  

Children always love learning more about animals.

12. Discuss stereotypes, prejudices, and racism

If it is age-appropriate, then discuss this further. What are stereotypes? Are you defined by a stereotype too? Is that fair? Talk about how each individual can self-define who they are. Build understanding.

15. Create Multicultural Decorations

Do art projects that incorporate cultures. This will be a beautiful classroom decoration and will also serve as a reminder of the inclusive and celebratory nature of the classroom.

13. Expand the resources found within your classroom

Build a culture of celebrating diversity in your classroom. Bring in special toys, music, posters, videos, and even movies. Children will love seeing their own culture represented within their classroom.

14. Have a multicultural day, also known as Heritage Day

Have each student dress up in a cultural outfit. Then, have each student talk about some of the special things they love about their own cultural heritage. They can bring in specialties like special toys, books, music, and even cultural foods and desserts. This. is a great way to encourage diversity in the classroom and even in the school.

16. Sing the Celebrate Our Differences song.

More cultural activities.

• Learn how to celebrate multicultural days and holiday’s with Coffee and Carpool Blog
• Make DIY Multicultural Peg Dolls with Barley + Birch.
• Celebrate differences and diversity using the rainbow colors of me with Cofee and Carpool Blog .
• Learn Black History Month facts and get a printable timeline at Mamasmiles .
• Check out this Martin Luther King Jr. Lesson Plan at The Purposeful Nest.
• Learn more about. theAll People Are Beautiful Book at Kellys Online Classroom.
• Do a painting activity with Crafty Mom’s Share that showcases different skin tones – All the colors of us.
• Create a multicultural handprint wreath with Little Bins For Little Hands .
• Do a fun All About Me unit at Pocket of Preschool .

Cultural diversity activities for preschoolers, toddlers, and really, for all ages is such a fun and adaptable activity. It is always filled with beautiful colors and a lot of interesting facts and learning. Let’s create a classroom filled with love and unity.

Nadia is a mom of 4, with a passion for making childhood education fun through play. She encourages parents to spend quality time with their kids through fun kids activities and enjoys art, traveling, and doing activities with her children.

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6 Fun and Engaging Activities for Your Country Research Project

Country Research Activities

Country research projects can be a powerful tool for helping students understand the diversity of cultures and the world around them. This type of project offers a unique opportunity for students to immerse themselves in another culture, learn about different customs and traditions, and broaden their perspectives. To make sure that your students are enjoying the process while they learn, it is important to incorporate fun and engaging activities into your country research unit. Here are six ideas to get you started.

I really like this project because it is an easy way to introduce students to different people, cultures and countries. Not a lot of people get to experience travel to other countries when they are young – this is the next best thing!

Virtual Tour

Take your students on a virtual tour of the country they are researching. Use Google Earth or other virtual tour tools to give students a visual experience of the country. I have used National Geographic on oculus. Here are some other resources to get your students excited and learning about the world.

Cultural Presentation

Have students present what they have learned about the country’s culture, including traditional customs, music, and food. Create a museum tour, where each student has a display on their desk representing their country and their research. Invite family to the event.

Music & Dance

Play traditional music from the country and have students learn and perform a traditional dance.

Arts & Crafts

Encourage students to create art projects related to the country they are researching. This could include creating traditional clothing, designing flags, or painting scenes from the country.

Have students learn a traditional theater art form or perform a traditional skit from the country that they researched.

Geography & Tech

Create an interactive map for students to use as they learn about the country’s geography and location. Have students mark important landmarks, cities, and geographical features.

These activities are designed to keep your students fully engaged and having fun while they learn about different cultures and the world. By integrating these activities into your country research unit, you will not only make the project more enjoyable for your students, but you will also increase the likelihood that they will remember what they have learned.

Incorporating a mix of hands-on activities, creative projects, and interactive experiences will help keep students motivated and interested throughout the project. Whether they are creating a virtual tour of the country they are studying, designing a cultural festival, or cooking a traditional dish, students will be learning in an engaging and memorable way.

If you are looking for more direction on how to plan and execute a successful country research project , be sure to check out my country research project for kids packet. This comprehensive resource includes everything you need to get started, including a student introduction letter, a detailed rubric for assessment, and a step-by-step guide for conducting research. Whether you are a seasoned teacher or a beginner, this packet will help make your country research project a success.

I used this during the World Cup for my students to become more engaged! We worked on our country project while we played the world cup in the background. Students got to choose a country that was currently still in the running, and we made a bracket to see whose country would win!

Such an engaging resource that was seamlessly integrated into our curriculum! Very little hassle, but with great outcomes! Thank you!

This resource was amazing. I needed something to connect to our curriculum for writing about countries and this was it. It matched up perfectly, but honestly presented better writing than what would have come from just our curriculum.

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Country Research Project

Our Country Research Project is ideal for older elementary students and middle school students. Before tackling this Country Research Project, we introduce, review, and solidify basic map skills with our FREE Printable World Maps & Activities . By the time my students reach 4th grade, they do one of these projects a year for the next two years.  In this project, you can implement research, writing, reading, and more into your homeschool. Our FREE Country Research Sheets & Maps make teaching and learning about different countries around the world easy!

*If you teach in a school setting or would like to download all of our Country Research Project Printables at once, check out our shop . For those of you looking for more free social studies resources , check this post out!

*Be sure to have these on hand when starting to teach geography. Do you have a  globe ? Check. Do you have a world map ? Check? Do you have an  atlas ? Check. Then, you are all set!

As a Christian Book and Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support. As always, we only recommend items that we truly feel will benefit your homeschooling experience. We appreciate it.

What is included in our Country Research Project?

Country research sheets.

Our Country Research Project always starts with one of these country research sheets. There are two options to choose from. Years ago, my oldest did his research using a brainstorming sheet. We made it work, but it was much harder to organize his notes since they were random. The Country Research Sheets give students focus and guide them to information that would make a solid research paper. From experience, these research sheets make it easy to organize information for a 5 paragraph essay.

DOWNLOAD COUNTRY RESEARCH SHEETS

Blank continent maps with outlines.

This set of Blank Continent Maps with Outlines coincide perfectly with the FREE Country Research Sheets. Whatever country your student is studying, print the corresponding continent map out. Your student can then locate, label, and color their country within its continent. The worksheet then instructs the student to label the countries bordering countries and oceans. This map is an excellent addition to the Country Research Project.

The second version includes the outlined map, but has no instructions written at the top. For those you wanting to use these to color all continents rather than one, then you can!

DOWNLOAD BLANK CONTINENT MAPS

Research paper.

Once my student completes the country research sheet, it is easy to sit with them and discuss what facts should go into each paragraph of their essay. We literally looked over the facts, and then wrote a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 next to them. This was an easy guide for  my student to follow when he sat down independently to write his country project paper. If the fact had a 1 next to it, that meant he was to include that fact into his first paragraph. 2 meant second paragraph and so forth. When I teach my kids to write a 5 paragraph essay, I like to break it down into an introduction paragraph, 3 body paragraphs, and then a conclusion or closing. Each paragraph should include at least 3 sentences, but 5 sentences are encouraged. You might be interested in checking out our  5-paragraph graphic organizers . They make creating an essay outline easy!

DOWNLOAD COUNTRY RESEARCH PAPER

Project visual.

Creating a visual for the Country Research Project is one of the last pieces of this assignment. Some kids will love this aspect of the project and this is where their creativity will shine. Other students will not enjoy this part of the project. No matter, encourage them to write notes and facts about their country, add a title, draw pictures, color it neatly, display a flag, and so much more. We choose to create a poster display. Your student may create a PowerPoint presentation, a hanging mobile, or a cardboard display. There are several options to choose from.

Country Project Presentation

End the Country Research Project with a presentation. For those of us who  homeschool, this can be easily down at the dinner table. Allow your student to present to the family before dinner or after dinner. Encourage them to share their visual and what things they learned about their country. Some of my kids have read their paper out loud. In a classroom setting, presenting their project is a must. Public speaking is a skill that should be encouraged when possible. Some kids will really shine when presenting, while others will struggle. Regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, it is always a good rule of thumb to give your child the opportunity to share.

OTHER FREE HOMESCHOOL RESOURCES

Looking for a more Permanent Curriculum?

For the first few years of homeschooling, I created and put together my oldest sons curriculum. On one level, I enjoyed this. It was fun to look at all of the free options and ideas on the web. On the other hand, I got overwhelmed and distracted like a kid in a candy store. As I had more children, life became busier too. It became evident to me that ordering workbooks and textbooks to guide us was ideal for our schedule and life. I still create interactive units to supplement and meet individual needs, but I have found that the workbooks give us  a sense of direction and consistency.

For me, compiling engaging curriculum for each of my kids became time consuming and daunting. It is a huge blessing being able to buy math and grammar workbooks. It gives me a piece of mind to know that I am not skipping around or leaving gaps in their education. Some of you may scoff at this. I am not condemning those that go it wholly on their own. Personally, it was just too much. If I was unable to purchase these books, then of course I would change my strategy to use more readily accessible materials. If you are interested in checking out some of the most popular and effective homeschool curriculum available, follow the link below. Happy homeschooling…

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Using Culturally Responsive Project-Based Learning to Teach Core Skills

One school used a PBL unit that combined science, math, and cooking dumplings to explore the many cultures that make up their community.

Like many educators, we hold ourselves to high expectations for engaging our students in projects that are culturally relevant, build community, and apply their learning in a real-world context. Last year, we had students work on a single project that aspired to all three of these goals.

Over the course of eight weeks, our students used hydroponics to grow herbs that were used to make dumplings. Why dumplings? When defined broadly as “dough that encases a filling” or “dough that sits on top of a filling,” this food is found and loved in cultures around the world. As such, our project celebrated the diversity of our students and opened the door for cross-cultural exchange.

Our school is located in Winooski, Vermont, a city with only 8,000 residents, but it’s the most densely populated and most culturally diverse city in northern New England. The district hosts students from 25 nationalities representing 19 languages , which include, but are not limited to, English, Nepali, Swahili, Vietnamese, Karen, Somali, Mai Mai, and Arabic. Most of these cultures and languages were represented among our 40 sixth graders last year.

The project was supported by a grant from the Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont and involved close collaboration with three faculty members: Dr. Eric Roy, Dr. Leon Walls, and Tricia Brown.

Project Features

We started by asking students to notice and wonder about a “ heat map ” of projected global food production in 2050. Students’ noticings helped to frame the hydroponics project as a local solution that was part of a global puzzle. But why grow food? What could we use it for? How about dumplings?! Hence began our challenge for students to grow herbs for the Great International Dumpling Challenge, a friendly competition in which students used rates and ratios to develop the tastiest dumplings with cilantro, basil, and parsley.

From students’ naming and then caring for their plants to choosing their own dumpling recipe, student ownership was a through line of the project. 

Students measured the heights of their plants each week, and they stopped in during lunch and passing periods to show friends their herbs. The plants were a highlight of family conferences, and several students gave their seedlings to friends who weren’t in our science class.

Student ownership was also a feature of the cooking process in math. Students chose a dumpling recipe, and many selected one from their family’s culture: samosas, momos, potstickers, perogies, and empanadas. One student called her Bosnian grandmother for a family recipe. 

Students designed experiments that investigated how manipulating light impacted the growth of parsley, basil, and cilantro.

An incidental benefit was changing the ambience of the learning environment from the purple lights, gigantic herbs, and sinuous root systems. Students got their hands dirty when planting seeds, measuring plant growth, and carefully cutting the plants.

Our rooms were filled with the smells of herbs as they grew and when students chopped them to prepare for cooking. And of course, we enjoyed the delicious aromas and flavors of dumplings. 

A Celebration of Diversity and Community

Author and journalist Michael Pollan once said, “ Food is not just fuel. Food is about community, food is about identity. And we nourish all those things when we eat well.” Pollan’s words beautifully capture our experiences in this project. Family members came in to help cook. Our students learned about and enjoyed foods from each other’s cultures, which enabled the deepening and extension of connections among students and adults. 

Even if schools don’t have a great deal of cultural diversity, foods (especially dumplings!) can be an entry point for learning about different cultures and building community. 

Further enhancing the connections among our community members, our school district’s cultural liaisons were judges and taste testers at a culminating event where we also sampled all of the dumplings.

The winning group made vegetarian Nepali momos and received a cabbage as the winning trophy. When a chant of “Eat it! Eat it!” ensued, a beloved student took a bite out of the raw vegetable on behalf of the winning team, causing the whole crowd to erupt into fits of laughter.

All of our dumplings were vegetarian, but we made sure the “meat” of standards-aligned math and science content and skills were centered in the project, which meshes with author and national education consultant Zaretta Hammond’s conceptualization of culturally responsive teaching . Specifically, we sought to (in Hammond’s words) “improv[e] the learning capacity of diverse students who have been marginalized educationally.”

Students measured the heights of their plants each week. In math, they calculated the mean, median, and mode of these measurements and then “handed them back” to science class, where patterns were analyzed and growth of herbs under different conditions was compared .

With each week, students improved their analytical skills and developed greater independence as scientists, mathematicians, and chefs. Dumpling recipes were reviewed for ratios to produce the best flavors. Costs for ingredients were calculated using unit rates, and each dumpling had a unit price.

To finish the project, our students completed a reflection similar to KQED’s Engineering for Good curriculum. Zulie wrote that the project was “soooooo cool. It inspired me to be an environmentalist.”

Whatever students’ feelings about the Great International Dumpling Challenge, we doubt they will forget the towering fragrant herbs, the delicious multicultural food, and the sense of community and connection. We look forward to improving the project this year and extending the integration of disciplinary perspectives to English and social studies.

Elementary Lesson Plans & Activities

General introduction to africa.

• Are there any animals in Africa? Who has seen them? A lesson & poster that brings real people’s voices to weigh in on these questions. The goal of the lesson is to push back agains the frequent images of exotic animals are used to represent Africa in the media, literature, and in our schools. This is a dangerous mischaracterization and is very unrepresentative of the continent. In fact, most Africans see wildlife in zoos! We have produced an elementary-appropriate poster and accompanying lesson plans to help teachers combat this stereotype (Kindergarten-6th grade).
• Bingo: U.S. – Africa Connections Game T his activity is designed for middle school students who focus on finding peers who can answer ‘yes’ to many of the Bingo sheet questions, and then uncover how elements of their daily lives–food, music, language, games, etc.–are all connected to Africa and/or the African diaspora. It is an excellent way to ‘bring Africa home’ for most students (3rd-6th grade).
• Using Visuals to Teach abo ut Africa

Visuals are key for student learning—more important for learning about Africa than perhaps for any other region of the world. This resources includes two lessons plans for recognizing bias through photos and for highlighting similarities across cultures. 

• Teaching about Africa through Artifacts  Our Artifact Map contains a catalogue of over 60 artifacts that we currently hold (in our online library as well), from several regions of Africa including West Africa, Eastern/Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Teachers can use this resource to click on any artifact on the map (images included) and find a list of resources for the classroom about the artifact’s origins, background, and history.
• Discover Africa: A Travel Blog Project For this project, students write a series of travel blog posts that track their experiences and movements across the continent, highlighting their knowledge of African human and physical geography. The project focuses on representative and in-depth accounts of specific locations, rather than a broad and unrealistic generalization about the continent.
• Creating Your Own Travel Kit If you are interested in developing your own country-specific or thematic travel kit, this lists a few suggestions, but we would be delighted to assist you further. Contact us here.
• A People First Google Earth Lesson Introducing the Geography of Africa in Key Concepts and Questions The goal of this resource is to activate students’ knowledge by providing an experiential understanding of select concepts in the physical geography of Africa. The presentation uses an inquiry-based approach to probe key understandings of the ways geography shapes human activity. The Google Earth presentation was designed to  address the types of questions that can be asked about concepts in the physical geography of Africa with the goal of building curiosity.

English Language Arts

• “Exploring ‘What’s work?’ through a Transcultural Reading of My Grandfather is a Magician: Work and Wisdom in a Nigerian Village” Social Studies and the Young Learning Article (2015)

This article frames how to teach and discuss the award-winning author Ifeoma Onyefulu’s My Grandfather is a Magician  within the economic, civic, geographic, and historical concepts of work. Designed for lower elementary school students, both the book itself and this approach are highly recommended ways of incorporating Africa into your classroom in an universally relatable way.

• Find more lessons on our Children’s Literature page .

Math and Science

• Centering Africa in the STEAM disciplines presents a whole series of science videos produced by N*Gen Africa, bibliographies, and number games to bring Africa into the Math & Science classrooms

Physical Education

• Physical Education Games Physical Education teacher Matthew Bassett offers resources to educators interested in teaching students to appreciate physical games and activities reflecting diverse heritages, including games from Botswana, Ethiopia, Guinea, and Nigeria.
• Dancing with the ancestors: A study of Egungun Masquerades and Nick Cave’s Soundsuits,   Pre-K-K. by Paula Mans, a unit that brings students to understand Egungun masquerade traditions and the ways Diasporic artists have taken them up as inspiration. It leads students to engage with their own ways of meaning-making through masks, without reproduction or appropriation. A groundbreaking lesson that changes the course of the many lessons on African masks that came before it, which were developed without cultural responsiveness.

6th Grade Social Studies Home

Simple Culture Research Project

Description

Simple and fun research project that introduces students to conducting research. First students will complete a packet answering research questions about the topic, then they will complete a foldable to display their findings.

Questions & Answers

Passion for pencils.

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20 Countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Egypt, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United States

Each Country Research Project includes:

• Student Draft Book – step-by-step directions to guide students through the research process, with graphic organizers for note-taking; an answer guide is included
• Country Research Project Templates – presentation tools to create an interactive notebook, poster, or display board
• Choice Board – extension activities to inspire further exploration, including preparing a traditional dish and sharing a folktale
• 4-Point Rubric – assessment criteria for students to review before sharing and for teachers to apply while grading final projects
• Globe Trottin’ Kids Passport & Australia “ Stamp ” –  learn about more countries,  earn more stamps for your passport, and become an informed citizen of the world!  

Please Note: These country research projects do not include information about the country. They will introduce and guide students through the research process to collect facts.

Topics & Activities include:

• identify the country’s location on a world map and continent map
• complete a compass rose
• create a map key
• label a country map according to the map key

Quick Facts

• record the country’s population, area, climate, products, and currency
• color the country’s flag 
• describe the meaning of its color(s) and symbol(s)
• learn common words and phrases in the country’s official language
• create a menu for a day 
• design traditional clothing (paper, fabric) for paper dolls 
• identify popular sports and activities
• classify by animal group and display in a pocket chart

Influential People

• sketch a portrait and write a description of the individual’s contributions 

Holidays & Celebrations

• create Save the Date cards using 4Ws (what, when, where, why) and 1 H (how) 

🌎   Country research projects are a fun learning experience for the whole class, cooperative groups, or independent investigations. 

🌍   Perfect for a multicultural night or fair.

🔆  Minimal Prep & Maximum Engagement

Related Post: Helpful Resources for Country Research Projects

Each Country Research Project is Also Available Individually

South Africa

United States

Any Questions? Reach out to [email protected]

‘Woven Wind’: Stitching together history and healing through art

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May 23, 2024, 8:00 AM

Centuries’ worth of stories left untold by the millions of enslaved men, women and children linger among the cypress trees and cotton fields of the American Deep South. “Woven Wind,” led by Vanderbilt Professor of Art Vesna Pavlović ,, is a collaborative research project that weaves together archival research, community engagement and artistic expression to create a vibrant tapestry of remembrance and reconciliation, honoring these untold stories and empowering the descendants of enslaved people.

Since it began six years ago, “ Woven Wind ” has received several significant grants, the most recent being this month’s 18-month, $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts . Earlier grants, such as the Tennessee Arts Commission Arts Access Grant in 2022 and Mellon Partners for Humanities Education Collaboration Grant, in partnership with Tennessee State University, in 2021, helped support the NEA grant application.

The success of the NEA grant was also bolstered by a Discovery Vanderbilt Scaling Success Grant in 2022, which helped further develop the project and enhance its competitiveness for federal funding.

“Woven Wind” brings together a diverse array of institutions and disciplines. While Vanderbilt, through Pavlović, has been central to the project, other institutions have played major roles as well.

Tennessee State University has contributed significantly through community engagement and curatorial expertise via the Hiram Van Gordon Gallery . The University of the South (Sewanee) has provided archival access and historical research. Mélisande Short-Colomb , from Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics , helped facilitate with the descendant communities.

“Vesna’s powerful and important work sheds light on a lost part of our country’s history,” said Timothy P. McNamara, dean of the College of Arts and Science. “Through the ‘Woven Wind’ project, she expertly blends research, history, the community and visual art to bring these human stories to life.”

“Woven Wind” began in fall 2018, when Pavlović joined the Roberson Project on Slavery, Race, and Reconciliation at Sewanee, which was investigating Sewanee’s historical ties to slavery. The work led to the Lovell Family Collection in the university’s archives, containing extensive documents and plantation records related to the Lovell-Quitman family of Natchez, Mississippi, who were closely connected to the university after the Civil War.

“We see the papers and diaries detailing the lives of the donor family … (but) we know nothing about the enslaved. We learn their names, their value, their age,” from the plantation inventories, but nothing else, Pavlović said. As an immigrant and artist specializing in photographic archives, Pavlović was both captivated and challenged by the task of honoring these narratives without perpetuating historical trauma. “I grappled with how to approach this project and do it justice.”

Students at Sewanee researched inventories listing the names and estimated ages of hundreds of enslaved people forced to work the Quitman family’s five plantations. They turned that research into a 45-minute spoken word performance intended to honor those individuals, who will never be known beyond the document. That was the first public display for “Woven Wind.”

“‘Woven Wind’ is a living, breathing project that evolves with each exhibition, workshop and performance,” Pavlović said.

As a living project, “Woven Wind” has evolved through phases of deep listening and engagement with descendants of those enslaved on the Quitman plantations. Pavlović wove a new fabric of narratives culminating in a series of oral history recordings and a poignant 35-minute film, “Toles Family Going Home,” which premiered in 2023. The film highlights the voices of the descendants with their stories of resilience and reclamation. Pavlović had logistical support for the project from the Natchez Museum of African American Culture and History . Her collaborators were Nashville artist Courtney Adair Johnson, director of TSU’s Hiram Van Gordon Gallery; genealogist Jan Hillegas, who specializes in Mississippi African American family history; and community advocate Short-Colomb.

The term “Woven Wind” has been used to describe fine cotton fabric, like muslin, symbolizing the light and airy nature of textiles. The project reinterprets this metaphor, historically linked to slavery through cotton, into a symbol that weaves together diverse narratives from the past and present.

In the project’s evolution, another powerful symbol emerged—cypress knees, a woody outgrowth of a cypress tree’s shallow, horizontal roots that extend above the normal water level, allowing the trees to live submerged in the plantations’ swamps. For Pavlović, they represent the resilience of the enslaved and their descendants. The creation of abstract clay vessels that represent these knees by community members during workshops serves as an act of reparative justice. “Each vessel, whether hollow, wheel-thrown or hand-built, carries the weight of collective memory and individual interpretation,” Pavlović said. She describes these objects as “family members,” bearing the “fingerprints and emotional traces of their creators.”

Currently, Pavlović is experimenting with materials bound to the geographical and historical context of the stories. Using Mississippi River clay to create special inks for printing photographs of the clay vessels, she connects the stories and artwork through the physical landscape.

With the recently announced NEA funding, the future of “Woven Wind” is bright with a scheduled performance and exhibition at Nashville’s National Museum of African American Music next year. The event will feature new edits for the Toles video, a live music performance by Rod McGaha and the First Amendment ensemble an integrated exhibition that further explores the themes of memory, identity and reparative history. Photographs printed with the Mississippi River clay-based ink will be on view at the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art in parallel with the NMAAM exhibition.

“Woven Wind” exemplifies the power of art to bridge the gaps between past and present, serving as a catalyst for community healing and historical reevaluation. By transforming archival materials into dynamic expressions of art and memory, Pavlović and her team invite us to reconsider what we think we know about history and engage with it in profoundly new ways.

About Scaling Success and Research Development and Support

The Scaling Success Grant is an internal funding award designed to support faculty in scaling up to increasingly impactful team research, scholarship and creative works, including securing larger awards from external sponsors like the NEA. This program aids faculty on projects that have already attracted interest from federal, foundation or industry sponsors, helping to further develop the project or team before formal submission. Research Development and Support , within the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation , assists faculty by coordinating funding opportunities, developing strategic sponsor relationships and diversifying funding portfolios. For more information, email [email protected]

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Explore story topics.

• Society and Culture
• Arts and Science
• Arts and Science Research
• Department of Art
• National Endowment for the Arts
• Padma Raghavan
• research development and support
• Scaling Success Grant
• Tim McNamara
• Vesna Pavlovic

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Inside the Secret, Unbelievable Search for Al Capone's Hidden Fortune

From psychic revelations to televised flops, the quest to uncover the mobster’s lost millions has led to a labyrinth of clues and dead ends.

Al Capone , the notorious leader of the Chicago Outfit during Prohibition, is one of the most well-known gangsters in American history. His lavish lifestyle, rivalry with lawman Eliot Ness , and involvement in infamous crimes such as the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre have cemented his place in pop culture for nearly a century. Naturally, true-crime enthusiasts continue to seek out pieces of Capone’s personal property to add to their own collections.

Take, for example, Capone’s famous pistol, “The Sweetheart,” which will go up for auction on May 18. The Colt 1911 that Capone carried for personal protection has an estimated pre-auction value of $2 million to $3 million, according to Business Wire .

But while only a wealthy collector can get their hands on Capone’s gun, the most coveted possession from Capone’s past has the potential to make its future owner extremely rich.

If only they could find it.

The Story of Al Capone's Lost Fortune

Despite his high-profile conflicts with law-enforcement officials and other criminals, it was unglamorous tax evasion charges that finally brought down Al Capone, according to Biography .

“Somewhat ironically, it was the pen pushers from the tax office who posed the greatest threat to the gangsters’ bootlegging empires. In May 1927, the Supreme Court ruled that a bootlegger had to pay income tax on his illegal bootlegging business. With such a ruling, it wasn't long before the small Special Intelligence Unit of the IRS under Elmer Irey was able to go after Capone.”

But even after he was caught, convicted, and sentenced to 11 years in prison, Capone put a contingency plan in place to ensure that his enormous wealth would still be waiting for him on the outside. Capone hid his fortune, reportedly worth millions, to prevent the government and his rivals from seizing it. Unfortunately, he and his family ultimately couldn’t access it either.

Though he was flamboyant and boisterous in some regards, when it came to his secrets, Capone played it close to the (impeccably tailored) vest. According to Al Capone’s grandniece, Deirdre Marie Capone, the gangster didn’t keep all of his millions in one place. Instead, a single buried box contained the clues to the various places across the country where Capone had meticulously hidden his wealth.

“I put it in a bunch of different banks and had the safety deposit box keys and the names I used in a strong box,” Capone allegedly told his grandniece, according to Deidre’s book, Uncle Al Capone: The Untold Story from Inside His Family . “I buried the box, but when I went to dig it up after I got out, I couldn’t find it. Then I thought I had buried it in another place, but when I looked, it wasn’t there either.”

Capone apparently never revealed the location of his hidden money, likely because, as noted by Biography , he anticipated serving a prison sentence of less than five years.

By the time the mobster emerged from Alcatraz after 6.5 years “for good behavior,” he was a changed man—not due to any kind of moral awakening, but because his mental state had declined as a result of tertiary syphilis

Capone died of cardiac arrest on January 25, 1947. Although some might say that he took the secret of his treasure’s location to his grave, reports suggest he had already forgotten where the box containing this information was buried, long before his death at the age of 48.

Has Anyone Found Al Capone’s Treasure?

There has never been a confirmed discovery of Al Capone’s treasure, but that hasn’t stopped some people from claiming they’ve found it. In a 2019 Psychology Today article , for example, a forensic psychic claimed she used dowsing—an ancient divination technique—to help her father and two fortune hunters find over 60 bars of silver in 1990. She claimed these bars were stolen by Capone’s gang and hidden by his lieutenant, Frank Nitti.

As for why her story hadn’t received much publicity, the psychic said, “Most real fortune hunters do not seek publicity.”

Perhaps that’s why those who search for Capone’s fortune shy away from disclosing their discoveries. Or maybe they’re wary of admitting it at all, thanks to perhaps the biggest publicity stunt of the 1980s. Because you can’t talk about Al Capone’s lost millions without talking about the most famous treasure hunt in television history.

On April 21, 1986, 30 million viewers watched The Mystery of Al Capone’s Vaults , a two-hour live TV special hosted by Geraldo Rivera. The show explored secret chambers that were recently discovered beneath the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, where Capone ran his operations from 1928 to 1931. Rivera speculated that the vault might contain Capone’s “missing millions,” or “maybe the bones of his criminal rivals, or maybe documents, or weapons, or bootleg booze.” IRS agents were present, ready to claim any discovered assets.

Of course, nothing of the sort awaited Rivera when the vault was finally opened. All that was there was dirt and empty glass bottles. Rivera and the IRS agents were no closer to snatching up Capone’s fortune in 1986 than Eliot Ness and his boys were in 1931. (Though Rivera wound up looking far less dignified than Ness did when Robert Stack portrayed him on the 1959 TV show, The Untouchables .)

“Al Capone’s Vault” ultimately become a pop culture punchline , and to this day, the location of Capone’s millions remains as much a mystery as it was in April 1986.

Or maybe somebody out there does have a lead on where the gangster buried that mythical box, and they’re just waiting until they know for sure before they call in the TV cameras this time.

Michael Natale is the news editor for Best Products , covering a wide range of topics like gifting, lifestyle, pop culture, and more. He has covered pop culture and commerce professionally for over a decade. His past journalistic writing can be found on sites such as Yahoo! and Comic Book Resources , his podcast appearances can be found wherever you get your podcasts, and his fiction can’t be found anywhere, because it’s not particularly good. 

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