Country+Report

=  Regional Geography Research Project = Current Assignment for Secondary 3 or 4 students

You will complete a report on a country of your choice from Mr. Olsen’s list. __Be careful to follow all directions__! Your report should be typed in Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with standard 1” margins. Your report should have the number of pages indicated below and should be in the order indicated below. Please include page numbers on each page and use the headings given on this sheet. Do not put your report into a folder; simply staple the top, left corner. The report will be due in class on __.__ Mr. Olsen’s late work policy does apply to this assignment. We will spend several class periods in the library working on this project; you will be responsible for collecting and citing the necessary resources from the school library or outside facilities.

I. **Title Page** - include the following information: your name, your country’s name, a graphic or drawing that represents your country (something other than the map or flag!) II. **Index –** a typed index listing the sections and the page numbers that they start on.

III. **Map** - trace or draw (do not simply print a copy) a map of your country using one whole page. Indicate the capital with a star, and indicate the most populous city with a circle (if they are the same, circle the star!). Include important landforms and/or bodies of water and label them appropriately. Also indicate which countries border your country. You must hand-write the labels on your map and use color.

IV. **Flag** - trace or draw your country’s flag and write a paragraph explaining the significance of the symbols/colors on the flag, using one whole page for the flag and a separate page for the description. V. **Overview** - list (in a way that is logical and easy to follow) the following statistical information: population, land area, population density, population growth rate, life expectancy, major ethnic groups (and percentage of population), major religions (names of religions and percentages of population practicing each), prominent languages, literacy rate (overall and by gender), type of government (democracy, communist, socialist, or authoritarian ), name of their leader, include freedom rating from www.freedomhouse.org, and per capita GDP.
 * __In a separate well-written complete page__**, using your knowledge of demographics write about your understanding about the country that emerges from this statistical information. What conclusions can you draw based on this information? Some of the topics will be; is your country rich or poor? Educated or uneducated? Healthy or unhealthy? Stable or unstable etc…? Make sense of all these numbers for the reader of your project.


 * VI. Material World** - Find a creative way to compare the average family in your country my suggestions are to write about or list your family’s possessions and/or lifestyle and compare it to that of an average family in your country. This page of your report should use descriptive language and be investigative in nature. Looking at and reading your countries section in the book Material World may be helpful. If your country is not in the book Material World chose the country that most resembles yours to gain a perspective.

VII. **History** - Using complete sentences, write a one - two page summary of your country’s history. An example of how you could summarize your countries history is to divide your country into era’s or periods. In a landscape (sideways) view on a separate page create a timeline with a title, scale, and individual landmark dates detailing countries history. Helpful tip use the school history database: EBSCO (you can access it from home or in the library ask me or the library staff how)
 * And/or on a separate page**

VIII. **Major Person/Special Issue** - Using complete sentences, write a one - two page summary of any special issue relating to your country or a one page biographical sketch of an important person in your country. This would be an appropriate space in which to address topics such as water scarcity, food shortages, economic issues, ethnic conflict, sanitation, disease, environment, culture (music, food, art) etc. You may devote some of this space to one of these topics in general or you can discuss a broader view. If you have a personal link to your country (heritage, ancestral, or close friend) you may interview or describe your knowledge or experience here. If you need some inspiration or are wondering if your idea is OK, please ask me.

IX. **Advertisement** - You have been hired by a travel agency to either encourage or discourage prospective tourists regarding their choice of your country as their destination. Design a one-page flyer that includes a graphic or picture and a well-written, persuasive paragraph assuring them that they have made a wise choice or try to convince them to change their destination. Remember that the evidence you use to support your argument is more important than the side you choose! After completing all your research to get to this point you should know if it is a good place to travel or not.

X. **Sources cited page/Bibliography** - list the sources you used to compile your report. There are no limits on the number or types of sources you may use, a __minimum of four different sources__ (at least one internet source other than freedomhouse.org, and one other type). You will be using books and the internet for almost every section of this project so keep a list of biographical information right from the beginning of your work. You must cite them all in MLA format (this will be explained but there are examples of how to use MLA in the library or on the internet).

My grading rubric evaluates each component of this separately and is weighted I will make it available as soon as we start work on this project.