Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region

Timothy Symington
Glenbrook Middle School, Longmeadow, MA
Grade 7 Social Studies: World Geography

Mission Statement

Standards

Games/Activities

Resources on Climbing Everest

Five Themes

Pictures

Web Sites

Lessons

"Pseudo" Jeopardy
This game is one of my favorites. It is played on a board very much like the one seen on the show "Jeopardy!", but I have made a few changes.

Participants: You can either divide the class in half or have the class compete as a group against another class.

Game Board: Choose any six categories and put them up as headings in front of the class. Since you are covering the Himalayan region, some topics might include Famous Climbers, Religions, Languages, Folk Tales, Geography. I usually put in a topic that is called Potpourri, and there could be questions about anything.
Beneath each category, there should be five or six vertical boxes. Each box contains the number of points for each question. Easy questions are worth low points, and the questions get more challenging the higher the points go. I always have multiples of ten (10, 20, 30, 40, 50).

Game Play: A student from one team is allowed to choose a category and the number of points for that question. A correct answer gets the points for the team and a chance to choose another category. To keep the game going, do not allow a team to answer more than two questions per turn.
If you are having the entire class participate as one team, try this: if a student does not get the correct answer on the first try, open the question to another student. However, the amount of points that can be won is now half of what was originally picked. A ten point question is open to the entire class, but only for five points.

Geography Outburst!
This game is based on the board game Outburst! I have adapted it for a classroom activity.

Participants: Divide the class into five or six groups. Try to keep the teams to four or five students each. Give each group a paper and a pencil/pen. Each group must select one of its own as a recorder.

Teacher preparation: Prepare several geography questions in advance. The questions should be asking for a list of answers. For example, one question could be "List ten items you might find in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal." Make sure that you have a list of ten specific answers that you want the students to get.

Game Play: Ask one of your questions. Give the students about thirty seconds or so to work with their teammates to come up with as many answers as they can. When you call time, they are to immediately stop writing. Then read the answers that you were hoping that they would get. Each team gets one point for each answer they get that corresponds to yours. Some may get all ten, and some may get fewer. Go on to the next question quickly. After about five questions, get all the group scores.

The Envelope Game
I am not really sure what else to call this game. There are envelopes used, so I guess I have to go with that.

Participants: Divide the class into groups of five or six.

Teacher Preparation: Write out a number of questions on different topics on the Himalayan region. There should be a certain number of questions for each topic. Each topic has a numbered large envelope. There should be the correct number of question sheets that go with the appropriate number of groups. Each group gets a sheet for itself in each envelope. Post the envelopes around the room.

Game Play: When you give the word, the students in each group are to go to an assigned envelope and take out the topic questions and take it back to the group to answer the questions. Once the questions are answered, each group goes to another envelope and repeats the process. The goal is to be the first group to answer all the questions in all the envelopes correctly. This game is very loud and active and a blast!