Building Peace, One School at a Time

Lesson Author

Nicole Maslowski

Grades: 4-6

Lesson Summary

Students will learn about one man�s mission to give Pakistani children an opportunity to go to school by replacing guns and bombs with pencils and books. Following this man�s mission, will allow students to learn about various geographical features and locations in Pakistan, the effect the physical environment has on people and their culture, and how people�s economic wants are shaped by their culture and location.

Literature Connection

Listen to the Wind-The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea* By Greg Mortenson and Susan L. Roth

Listen to the Wind-The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea is the picture book version of Greg Mortenson�s book Three Cups of Tea which is about a man who builds a school for the people of Korphe. Dr. Greg gets lost while climbing some of the mountains in the Karakorum Mountain range and he ends up in the very remote town of Korphe. The people of Korphe take him in, bring him back to good health, and become friends with him. Dr. Greg wanted to do something to repay the people of Korphe for their kindness. He knew the town needed a school, so that is what he did- he built them a school. It was a very difficult, strenuous, time consuming, and expensive project, but Dr. Greg was able to keep his promise and built a school for the people of Korphe.

*More advanced students may enjoy reading the Young Reader�s Edition of Three Cups of Tea-One Man�s Journey to Change the World� One Child at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is more detailed than the picture book, but more kid-friendly to read than the adult version.

NCSS Standard(s)

• Locate and distinguish varying landforms and geographic features, such as mountains, plateaus, islands, and oceans

• Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and wants and needs, as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like

• Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land,  building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected locales and regions

Concepts and Skills

human-environmental interaction, geographic features, travel, culture

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

1. Name and locate the two Pakistani towns and the river that play a prominent role in Greg Mortenson's work

2. Explain the difficulty in reaching Korphe and bringing supplies to the school

3. Explain the importance of building a school in Korphe

4. Compare the culture of the people of Korphe  with people in the United States and the geography of Korphe with the geography of the United States

5. Describe how the geography of a location can impact peoples� cultures

Google Skills Needed

• Turn on the geographical features in the layers section

• Open and use the placemarks included in a KML file

• Measure distance

• Zoom in and out

• Look at the landscape in 3-dimensional view

• View pictures embedded in Google Earth

Lesson Procedures (download PDF)