1. What nation’s territory includes the eastern half of New Guinea Island and several South Pacific islands?
   
   
2. What are the two official languages of French Polynesia?
   
   
3. What mildly narcotic beverage, often used for ceremonial purposes in the Pacific Islands, is made from the crushed root of a shrub in the pepper family?
   
   
4. The Independent State of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) is located 60 miles (97 kilometers) west of what U.S. territory with which it shares a common culture and language?
   
   
5. The didgeridoo is five-foot-long wooden musical instrument played by members of what nation’s indigenous population?
   
   
6. What nation’s capital island, Koror, occupies only 4 percent of the nation’s land area but is home to 70 percent of the population?
   
   
7. What are the two main ethnic groups in Fiji?
   
   
8. What are the indigenous inhabitants of Guam called?
   
   
9. In what Melanesian country are panpipes and the stamping drum (a bamboo tube covered on one end with cloth) the most popular native instruments?
   
   
10. What country’s Maori name is Aotearoa, which means “Land of the Long White Cloud”?

In Niue, boys usually do not have their hair cut until they are at least seven years old. At some point after that, but before the end of adolescence, the boy will have a haircutting ceremony. A temporary shelter (fale) is constructed with coconut leaves and lavishly decorated. Food is gathered in large quantities, including taro, large fish, chickens, pigs, and canned food. Important guests take turns cutting off a lock of the youth’s hair, often making speeches for the occasion. Meanwhile, the food is divided and set aside for guests according to how much they contributed to the event.

In Palau, a woman is not allowed in public for several weeks after her first childbirth. At the end of that period, she receives ritual cleansing treatment from other women for four to ten days. The process involves several hours of steam baths in a small enclosure each day and therapeutic rubs with coconut oil, turmeric, and other natural ingredients. The treatment ends with a ceremony called the ngasech, at which the woman is formally presented to both sides of the newborn’s family.

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• Eight U.S. presidents (Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor, and Wilson) and six presidents’ wives (Martha Washington, Martha Jefferson, Rachel Jackson, Letitia Tyler, Ellen Arthur, and Edith Wilson) were born in Virginia.
  
  
• A slave named Henry Brown was mailed in a box with food and water from Richmond to Philadelphia, where he was freed.
  
  
• Patrick Henry, an early statesman, delivered the famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech in Richmond.
  
  
• More than 18 trillion gallons of water fill Chesapeake Bay.
  
  
• More than one-third of Virginia’s potato crop is used for potato chips.

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World Holidays Featured This Month

Hungary – National Holiday – October 23
Held in honor of the 1956 uprising, in which thousands of Hungarians were killed in a revolt against Soviet rule.

Thailand – Chulalongkorn Day – October 23
Honors Chulalongkorn, the “beloved monarch” (1868–1910) who abolished slavery and introduced many reforms.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Independence Day – October 27
Celebrates independence from Britain in 1979; observed with an official parade.

Greece – Ochi Day – October 28
Commemorates the day in 1940 that Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas said Ochi (No) to Hitler, and Greece entered into World War II on the side of the Allies. It is considered a heroic decision because of the size of the German and Italian armies.

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McREL Geography Standards

The World in Spatial Terms

• Standard 2: Knows the location of places, geographic features, and patterns of the environment.
• Level II [Grade 3–5] Benchmark 2: Knows the location of major cities in North America.
• Level II [Grade 3–5] Benchmark 3: Knows the approximate location of major continents, mountain ranges, and bodies of water on Earth.

Developed by Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning

• CultureGrams Kids or States Edition

1. Divide the class into several groups. Give each group a list of countries/states they are to study. (You may split up the world/United States however you wish.)
   
   
2. Assign students to read and take notes on the Land and Climate sections and the maps of their assigned countries in the CultureGrams Kids Edition. Or, if your class is focusing on states, assign students to read and take notes on the Climate and Geography sections and the detail maps in the CultureGrams States Edition. Instruct students to pay particular attention to the:
   
   Location (borders)
   Capital city
   Major physical features (e.g., lakes, mountains, etc.)
   
   
3. Compile the notes the class has taken into one master list. Include only the most significant physical features. Have the students memorize this list, using group work, flashcards, etc.
   
   
4. After the students have had a chance to memorize elements from the list, test their knowledge by playing “Around the World.” To play, Student A stands next to the desk behind him or her. A geographic question is posed to both Student A and Student B. If Student A answers the question correctly before student B, he or she moves on to the next desk, where another question is posed to student A and student C. If, however, Student B beats Student A, Student A sits down in Student B’s desk and Student B moves on to challenge Student C. This process continues until one student is able to move throughout all of the desks in the classroom—that is, “around the world.”
   
   
5. Extension Activity
   
   Discuss with the students the various elements that make up a map, including a key and typical symbols used to denote mountain ranges, bodies of water, capitals, etc. Then, using printouts of either the political map of the United States from the States Edition or maps of world regions from the World Edition (both in PDF formats), have students fill in capitals and significant physical features using the symbols you have discussed. You may have students do this from memory or using reference materials.

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