Peru Lesson Plans

• The students will learn how Peru is a geographically diverse country.  
• To understand how the geography of the country contributes to its economy. 
• To draw maps of Peru to show the three main geographic areas.  
• To learn how to construct mental maps to organize information.

• Paper and pencil, 
• Detailed map(s) of Peru showing its physical characteristics (soil, climate, vegetation, rivers, mountains), 
• Watercolors or tempera paints, 
• Colored markers,
• Chart or heavy duty paper, 
• Travel brochures and travel web sites.

• Describe how Peru is a geographically diverse country.  Describe the physical characteristics of each of the three major sections of the country.
• How did the physical characteristics of each of the three geographical sections affect the early inhabitants social and economic development?
• What two routes could travelers take to get from Iquitos to the capitol in Lima? Discuss why boat travel is of major importance in the Amazon Basin.  How did travel differ between the two main types of boats? 
• Why do you think travel by cargo boat has not changed in 100 years?  Make a list of your reasons.  Why is boat travel so important in the Amazon Basin? Discuss how this mode or method of travel differs from the area in which you live. 
• Why can't Iquitos be reached by automobile?
• Describe the natural resources found in the Amazon Basin.  What happened in the 1870's that changed Iquitos from a small jungle village to a large city?
• Who were the Rubber Barons and why did they became so powerful and wealthy?  Discuss how powerful self-interest groups used their power, wealth, and influence to "enslave" the people of the Amazon Basin.  Has this ever happened in the history of your country.  Explain. 
• Discuss the problems that are created yearly by the flooding of the Amazon River.  Where do the inhabitants go?  How do they live?  What social, economic and cultural problems does this create for them and for the government? 
• Describe how the climate, weather, and ecosystem of your area is different from that of the Amazon Basin.
• Discuss how policies and programs for use of the natural resources in the Amazon Basin, including the trade-off between environmental and economic growth, have affected the Basin.
• Why do you think only an approximate 5 percent of the population of Peru lives in the Amazon Basin? 

• Construct a physical or mental map of each of the three major sections of Peru which shows its rivers, lakes, natural resources, and topography.  
• Create a travel brochure for each of the three geographical sections of Peru that would make people to want to visit each section.  
• Make a population graph or map showing the diversity of the population in each section.  
• Divide the class into two groups and have each one choose one of the two routes travelers could take from Iquitos to the capitol in Lima.  Have each groups research the advantages and disadvantages of their chosen route.  Each group will give a report to the class using visual aids.  Ask the class to vote on the route they think is the better one and why.  Each group will assume that it has taken the trip of their choice and will keep a daily journal of what they would do on such a trip, or write a newspaper article describing it. 
• Draw a mural or construct miniatures of a dugout canoe and a cargo boat. 
• Make a list of the problems the inhabitants of the Basin might have living in a city, especially a city as large as Lima.
• Discuss how modern technology could be used to solve some of the problems faced by the people living in the Amazon Basin.  How would this technology affect the ecosystem and the culture of the people living there?  Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages.