1. AIM: Was Japan’s Geography a blessing or a curse?

2. DO NOW: Fill out the vocabulary on your handout.
Geographical Feature
Definition
Archipelago
A group of islands
A sea or stretch of water containing many islands
Tsunami
A seismic sea wave or series of waves caused by a displacement of water due to an earthquake, eruption, or explosion
Arable Land
Land capable of being used to grow crops

3. Introduction - Japan
Japan is an archipelago (chain of islands) found off the coast of Asia.  In total, Japan has over 3,400 islands, many of which are too rocky and mountainous to be lived on.  Because Japan is isolated, it has mostly been safe from invasion, which has given people who live there an opportunity to pick and choose what cultures they borrow from.

4. Gallery Walk
Based on information in the documents at each station, fill out the T chart below based on Japan’s geography. List at least 5 advantages and 5 disadvantages.
Consider….location, protections, natural features, water, resources, food, animals, arable land (farm land), natural disasters, weather, climate.
BE SPECIFIC – “CLIMATE” on its own is not an advantage/disadvantage. Explain specifically WHY the climate is helpful or hurtful.

5. Gallery Walk - Example
The island of Japan is a little smaller than the state of California. With a population of 127 million, Japan is three times more densely populated than Europe as a whole and twelve times more densely populated than the United States. The population has more than tripled since 1872, when it stood at 35 million.
Japan had an average of 327 persons per square mile in 1990, high compared with China with 119 per sq. mile or the United States with 27 per sq. mile, but lower than in some other Asian countries, such as the Republic of Korea (South Korea), which had 432 people per sq. mile.

6. Blessings/Advantages
Curse/Disadvantages

7. TEAL Paragraph – Blessing or a Curse?
Use the information from the lesson and rubric below to write a TEAL paragraph to answer the following:
Is Japan’s geography a blessing or a curse? Write your answer and cite information from the documents in the gallery walk to justify your answer.

8. Excellent (4)
-Argues a side accurately using relevant information in the written statement that demonstrates a clear and detailed understanding of Japan’s Geography.
-Accurately and clearly gives 3 or more or more examples of why Japan’s geography is a blessing or a curse.
-Uses key words accurately.
-Product is creative, accurate, and complete.
Good (3)
-Argues a side accurately using relevant information in the written statement that demonstrates an understanding of Japan’s Geography.
-Accurately gives 2 examples of why Japan’s geography is a blessing or a curse.
-Uses key words accurately with 1-2 errors.
-Product is creative and complete.
Satisfactory (2)
-Argues a side.
-Uses some supporting details somewhat accurately about Japan’s Geography.
-Accurately gives 1 example of why Japan’s geography is a blessing or a curse.
-Uses key words accurately with 3-4 errors.
-Product is complete.
Unsatisfactory (1)
-Uses some supporting details about Japan’s Geography with more than 2 errors.
-Includes a detail about Japan’s geography.
-Argument is incomplete.
-Does not use keywords and does not display a clear understanding of the topic.
-Product is incomplete.