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Learning area: Geography
Year level: Foundation
Country: China, India, Indonesia, Japan
General capability: Intercultural understanding

This learning sequence investigates the countries found in the Asia region and explores a range of places in other countries that are special to the people who live there. Students explore maps of the Asia region, identifying key countries, including Australia. They examine significant places for the people of China, Japan, India and Indonesia, exploring their similarities and differences and how they are cared for.

Key inquiry questions

  • What are some of the countries found in the Asia region?
  • What are some special places in China and Japan, and what do they look like?
  • Why are some places important in India and Indonesia, and how are they cared for?


The Torii located in JapanThe torii at the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan

Related resources

Activity 1: The countries of Asia

In this activity, students will use maps to identify and describe some of the countries found in the Asia region.

Key inquiry question: What are some of the countries found in the Asia region?

  1. Before starting this learning sequence ask your students to bring to class any relevant photographs, magazine pictures or books, or any items that come from China, Japan, India or Indonesia. These can be used to create a display and generate discussion about what students already know about these countries.
  2. Use the map on the right, a wall map of the world or a globe to show your students where the countries of Asia are positioned. Identify where Australia is and ask your students to share their observations about its size, shape and where it is on the map.
  3. Identify where China, Japan, India and Indonesia are on the map. Explain that the students are going to learn more about these countries and their special places and ask them to answer the following questions:
    • Is Indonesia our nearest neighbour?
    • Which is the largest country in terms of size?
    • What shape is India?
    • Is Japan made up of islands?
    • Are China and Japan close to each other?
  4. Ask students to present their items, images or photographs and tell the other students what they are about.
  5. Invite students to make comments about the presented items.
  6. Keep the Asia corner under separate headings China, Japan, India and Indonesia for the duration of these activities. Let your students know that they can add new items at any time and are welcome to spend time touching and exploring the displays.
  7. Create a mind map with Asia in the centre and ask your students to brainstorm what they know about China, Japan, India and Indonesia from gathered knowledge and from the map such as:
    • position near Australia
    • size
    • shape
    • neighbouring countries
    • interesting facts.
  8. Provide the class with the jigsaw of the Asia map and ask them to put it together as a group. You may wish to repeat this activity using small groups; this will reinforce students' understanding of where the countries of Asia are positioned.
  9. Explain that in the next activities the class is going to look at special places, such as temples or shrines in China, Japan, India and Indonesia. Discuss why they are important and how they are cared for.

Acknowledgements

Image: AEF

Activity 2: Special places

In this activity, students will explore their own special places and examples of special places in China and Japan.

Key inquiry question: What are some special places in China and Japan, and what do they look like?

  1. Ask your students to think about places that are special to them and then share their thoughts.
  2. Show them some of the drawings that students have created in a project about special places, ‪‪My Place Asia Australia. Discuss whether they are similar to or different from their special places.
  3. Explain that they will now draw one of their own special places.
  4. Once completed, ask your students to present their artworks and discuss them with the rest of the class. Create a class display of all the artworks.
  5. Show your students the images of special places in China and Japan. You may wish to show them the map of the Asia region to remind them where each country is.
  6. Discuss each image and note the general characteristics:
    • What do they look like?
    • How big are they?
    • How old are they?
    • What are the buildings and grounds like?
    • What are they made of?
    • What is their shape?
    • Where are they situated?
    • Are there people in the photos?
    • What are they doing?
  7. Ask the students why each image may be special and create a series of labels reflecting their ideas. Display them somewhere in the classroom. These will be used in the next activity.
  8. Finish the activity by inviting guest speakers such as fellow students, visiting students, teachers, community people, or tourists who would like to speak to the class about the importance of the special place to them.
  9. Alternatively, you may wish to read stories about the belief systems that are reflected in the images.

Acknowledgements

Images: Temple of Heaven, Beijing, China, courtesy of Helen Sleep; Great Wall of China by Eunice winG (‬‬‬‬‬‬‬CC BY 2.0); Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet courtesy of Wendy Connor; Prayer Wheels, Lhasa, Tibet, Golden Temple, courtesy of Wendy Connor; Golden Temple Kyoto by Bo-deh winG (‪‪‪‪CC BY 2.5); Mount Fuji, Japan by John Kasawa (‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬Free Digital Photos); The Torii, Japan by Imahinasyon Photography (‪‬CC BY 2.0).

Activity 3: Why are some places special?

In this activity, students will explore why places are special.

Key inquiry question: Why are some places important in India and Indonesia, and how are they cared for?

  1. Explain to your students that many of the images in this activity show places where people can worship as part of their beliefs.
  2. Discuss what is meant by the term 'beliefs' and how this might relate to their everyday lives.
  3. Explain that sometimes a place that is special because of people's beliefs can be a physical place, such as the Ganges River in India, which is seen as being a very important part of the Hindu religion.
  4. Create a spider diagram on a whiteboard using the label 'beliefs' in the centre. A spider diagram consists of a series of lines drawn from a central theme and each line refers to a related idea. 
  5. Ask your students to identify which of the images of India and Indonesia are special because of beliefs and worship.
  6. Watch the YouTube video about the Ganges River, India, below:

  7. Ask your students to describe what they see and how they know that the river is important to Indian Hindus.
  8. Ask them why a river might be special to some people.
  9. Ask your students to list some places that are as special to them as a river or temple might be to some people.
  10. Explain that you are now going to find some big ideas that explain why places are special.
  11. Ask your students to look at the labels created during the last activity. Discuss how they could be grouped together under one big idea, for example:
    • beliefs
    • places that are linked to the past
    • places in the environment that are considered very beautiful.
  12. Once these big ideas have been established, work with the class to group the labels.
  13. Ask your students to look at the images again and discuss which images belong to each of the categories.
  14. Finish the activity by discussing how people look after their special places both in the Asia region and in Australia and what could happen if they didn't.

Acknowledgements

Video: On the Ganges River, Varanasi, India – Christine Kaaloa – ‪Standard YouTube Licence
Images: Golden Temple, India, courtesy of Nicholas Sleep; Varanasi Ghats by ruffin_ready (‪CC BY 2.0); Taj Mahal – AEF; Borobudur Buddhist Temple by Frank Wouters (‪‪‪CC BY 2.0); Pura Ulan Danu by Poldi (‬‬CC BY 2.0).

Activity 4: Reflection

To conclude this learning sequence, students will reflect on what they have learned about China, Japan, India and Indonesia and some of their special places.

Ask your students to think about what they have learned about China, Japan, India and Indonesia and their special places and share with the rest of the class. Get them to discuss the following:

  • five interesting facts
  • five pieces of information they didn't know before they started these activities
  • three similarities or contrasts with special places in Australia
  • one piece of information they would like to know more about
  • the part they would most like to share with others.

This learning sequence provides teachers with the opportunity to discuss with the students the location of the countries of Asia and to explore the concept of 'special places' in China, Japan, India and Indonesia.

Activity 1: The countries of Asia

Before starting this learning sequence, create a display table where items from China, Japan, India and Indonesia can be viewed by your students. Involve the students by asking them to bring any interesting items they may have at home. This will generate interest and stimulate discussion during the activity. Make laminated copies of the map of Asia found in Activity 1. Cut the maps into jigsaw pieces for students to assemble. When assembled, the maps will be used to discuss with students where Australia is located.

Ask students to look at the image of Australia on the map and describe any interesting features, for example, size, shape or which countries it is nearest to. This process can then be repeated when discussing the focus countries of China, Japan, India and Indonesia.

Activity 2: Special places

Places are special for different people for different reasons, and sometimes only special or qualified people are allowed to take care of special equipment, clean rooms or do any work on the special place.

Art materials will be needed during this activity. Before exploring the images of special places in the Asia region, ask students to share and draw their own special places. This will assist them to understand why places are special in cultures other than their own. ‪‪My Place Asia Australia is an Arts resource that showcases student artworks from around the Asia region, including Australia, with a focus on special places. It can be used to stimulate conversation prior to starting this activity. 

Use the images in this activity to explore the reasons why places in China and Japan are special. Create cards to illustrate these ideas. Display these on the wall of the classroom so students can look at them. You may wish to conclude this activity by bringing in guest speakers to talk about their special places or by reading stories about some of the religions that are mentioned during the activity.

Activity 3: Why are some places special?

In this activity the students are going to look at beliefs as a possible reason for calling a place special in India and Indonesia, and to think about why some places are particularly special. India will be used as a case study with a particular emphasis on the Ganges River.

Once you have established that a person's beliefs are one of the reasons for calling a place special, ask students to look at the labels they created in Activity 2 and use them to predict other reasons. The labels can then be sorted under each of the categories. Finish the activity by exploring how people look after special places in Australia and the Asia region.

Activity 4: Reflection

This activity provides an opportunity for students to reflect on what they have learned and to consolidate some of the key concepts discussed during the module.

Useful websites


It is recommended that teachers preview websites to ensure they are suitable for their students before they are used in class. Content accessed via these links is not owned or controlled by Asia Education Foundation and is subject to the terms of use of the associated website.

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