Exploring Argentina - Global Learning for Kids

This month Global Learning for Kids is exploring Argentina. We always start our exploration with a search at the library network. We started learning about Argentina with two DVDs we found at the library.

DVDs are my favorite way to introduce a country to Hazel. They give a feeling of the culture and views of the country. In these DVDs we learned about La Recoleta Cemetery and all the cats that live there. I thought that would be something fun to investigate, but could not find any resources on it besides on line. La Recoleta is a large and beautiful cemetary and it has a large number of stray cats living in it. Workers and volunteers feed the cats and give them healthcare. We also learned about how tango started in Argentina. We are going to explore tango dancing this month! We found DVDs to teach the tango as well as some music. Stay tuned!!


We also found some resource material about Argentina.

 Argentina is officially the Argentine Republic. It is a country in southeastern South America. It is the eighth largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America and the largest Spanish speaking one. It was colonized by the Spanish in the 15th century. (Source)

There are so many things to explore in Argentina. One of course is the famous people of Argentina. We found a few biographies that are at Hazel's level of interest on Pope Francis, the first pope from the Americas is from Argentina and Eva Perón. Eva Perón was the first lady of Argentina who was loved by many of the Argentine. She liked to help the poor after growing up poor herself. She has the musical Evita written based on her life.

 Another interesting topic to look at is the dinosaur fossils in Argentina. In the 1500s part of Argentina was known as Patagonia or the Island of Giants. Apparently when Ferdinand Magellan encountered Tehuelche Indians that inhabited the region he named the area Patagonia because the Tehuelche had large feet.  Patagón means big foot in Spanish. Patagonia is also a region where many dinosaur fossils have been found including the eggs and embryos of sauropods. We found a book to help with this exploration and is the source for this paragraph.

There is also the area of Argentina called the Pampas which is an area of very flat plains and where there are many gauchos (Argentine cowboys) and ranches. The gauchos have their own way of life which is interesting to learn about. We read this book, On the Pampas by Maria Cristina Brusca, to learn more.

 Another thing Hazel loves learning about are the animals of the region. The peregrine falcons migrate to Argentina from as far north as Alaska every fall. Here is a book of one peregrine's migration.

Then with any country we enjoy exploring the stories from the country as well as tasting some food. We found a few stories to explore and one of our resource books provides a recipe for us to try. These stories also add a little bit more about the culture of the country.

Our final exploration is the music from the Argentina. We found songs on these CDs from the library.

Those are the resources of our exploration for the month. Do you have any posts on Argentina? Please share crafts, recipes, lessons, books, etc. here with us this month.