Our Fantastic Vacation in ____________________

By ____________________ and _____________________

Vacation Anyone?

What are you going to do?

You and a good friend plan to spend 3 weeks visiting the country of your choice during your summer vacation.  To be sure it is a great vacation trip you need to find some basic information about the country, what there is to do there, what to take, and how to be sure you are safe and you don't run out of money while you’re there.

What's it going to look like when you are done?  

You are going to create a booklet that includes all of the following information that you need to make your trip a success.  Resources will be provided to help you find what you need.

Process 1.    Basic Country Information 
                     Maps

Process 2.    Tour Planning
                     Locations and Activities
                     Customs and Cautions
                     Essential Gear 
                     Itinerary
                     Budget

Process 3.    Putting it all Together
                     Booklet Construction
                     Reviewing the Assignment
                     Works Cited

Get Ready to Go to Work!

1.  Choose your traveling companion.
2.  Choose your country--some place outside of the United States that would be fun to visit and interesting to learn about.

Now that you know who you will be traveling with and where you are going, it's time to start the fun.  The first step will be to research the country you have chosen.   You should split this up and each of you take a part of every section.  Try to gather as much information as you can and then get back together to share it.  You need to gather the following information. 

PROCESS 1:   BASIC COUNTRY INFORMATION 

COUNTRY OVERVIEW
Use the Online World Book Encyclopedia for this information. Go to
While you are there, look for the instructions for how to 'cite' the information you use for the Works Cited page you will create later.  

If there are answers you don’t find on the World Book site, use the CIA World Factbook
 

To record your answers, set up a document in Microsoft Word.  Record the following information.  You may list this information.  Complete sentences are not required in this section. Collect all citation information from your references as you work.
1. Official country name:
2. Capital city:
3. Population:
4. The size in square miles:
5. The form of government:
6. The name and title of the head of state:
7. The title of the head of the government if it is different from the head of state:
8. The most important industries:
9. Thecurrancy commonly used and what the exchange rate is for US dollars:
10.The most common language:
11.The most widely practiced religion(s):
12.Describe the geography:
13.Describe the climate:
14.Describe what natural disasters are possible in this country:

MAPS
Copy and paste each map from the Internet onto a Microsoft Word page. Paste maps 1 and 2 on the same page.  
Paste map 3 on a page of it’s own.
1. Map of the world. Color in the continent where your country is located.
2. Map of the continent showing your country. Color in your country.
3. Map of the country. Color the map and show the capital city and the places you plan to visit.                                                

Use any of these sites:
About Geography.com  
Enchanted Learning Maps 
Maps of World Countries  
Xpeditions   
Outline Maps – Education Place   

Remember to gather the information you need for your Works Cited page as you work.

PROCESS 3.  Now let's put it all together. 

You are going to create a booklet that includes all of the information that you have found to make your trip a success. For this process you will need to do the following things:

1.  Get a report cover to organize your material in.
2.  Copy a picture off of the Internet and print it and paste it on the front of your report cover.
3.  Prepare a title page that shows the name of your country, the names of both travelling companions, and the name of your teacher.
5.  Organize your information in the order it is presented in the Processes above.
4.  Sort through the information you have gathered and write it in your own words in Microsoft Word so that it is easy to read and neat.
5.  Be sure to reference all of your sources on the Works Cited Page using MLA format.  Here are some tips on how to do that.

Quick Reference Sheet - Works Cited Format

    Alphabetize by first word (skip A, An or The if first)

    Follow punctuation guide exactly.

    Use hanging indention format.

Books 

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City: Publisher, date. 
 

E-mail 
Lastname, Firstname. Title of e-mail Item. Date of Document (or Date of Access).  <e-mail address of sender from e-mail address recipient>.

Interview 
Lastname, Firstname, Position or Title, Business. Personal Interview. City, State. Full date.  

Internet 
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Item. Publishing or Sponsoring Institution. Date of document (or Date of access). <http address>. 

Magazine article 
Lastname, Firstname. “Article Title in Quote Marks.” Magazine Title. Date: pages used.

Online Image 
Description or Title of Image. Online Image. Date of Document (or Date of  Access).  <http address>.

Online Sound 
Description or Title of Sound. Online Sound. Date of Document (or Date of Access).

Television Show
Program. Director or Producer. Company, date viewed.

 

 

Example of a Works Cited Page:

Works Cited

"Denali  National Park Earthquake.” U.S. Geological Survey Science for a Changing World. Jan. 13, 2002   U.S.  Geological Survey. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/uslbbl/index.html

Globe showing Denali location. Online image. Jan. 4, 2004.http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/uslbbl/index.html
 

Hopper, Henry, and Peter Gwunn. Fun With Physics. New York: Harper & Row, 1997.

 

“ Mt.  Saint Helens .” Volcano World. 1999 University of North Dakota . January 7, 2004.  

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vw.html

 Resnick, Abaham. The Holocaust. San Diego , CA:  Lucent Books, 1999.

 Sciezka, Jon. The Stinky Cheese   Man.   New York:  Viking, 1992.

 The Song of Roland. New York:  Macmillan, 1960.