Theme Project: Pick two places in the world and compare and contrast them with each other. Make a compare/contrast chart that lists similarities and differences between the two places. Create a travel poster for each place that highlights the features that would attract tourists. Draw a map of each place that shows the major geographic features. Finally, write a one-page description of what daily life is like in each place.

1. Choose Two Places Think about places you would like to visit or learn more about. Choose two countries, two cities, or two regions to compare and contrast.

Place A: ____________________

Place B: ____________________

2. Make a Compare/Contrast Chart To compare and contrast the two places, thing about how the geography, cultures, language(s), economies and other aspects are the same or different. Make a list of the how two places are the same, called “Similarities,” and a list of how the two places are different, titled “Differences.”

Type or rewrite the lists neatly. Paste the lists next to each other on a piece of posterboard or sturdy paper. Write a title for your chart, for example, “Comparing and Contrasting Paris and New Delhi.” Add pictures from magazines or travel brochures or drawings to your chart.

  • Similarities List Completed
  • Differences List Completed
  • Chart Completed

3. Create Travel Posters To create your travel posters, choose five features of each place that you think would attract tourists. Consider aspects like recreational and cultural attractions. Write short, one-line descriptions of these features to include on your poster. Note: If your posterboard is large enough, you may want to include the Similarities and Differences Chart and two descriptions (below) on your posters.

  • Five Features Chosen
  • Descriptions Completed

Find or create bold, strong images for each poster that will represent each place and would make people want to go there.

check Images Selected

Now, paste your feature descriptions and image(s) to the posterboard.

check Poster completed

4. Draw a Map of Each Place Find an outline map or trace a map of each place. Make a list of the geographic or cultural features you want to include on each map. Draw in each feature in the correct place. If you use symbols for the features, make a map key to explain what each symbol stand for.

check Maps Completed

5. Write a Description of Each Place Write a one-page description of modern daily life in each place. Think about what it must be like to live in each place. Find out what kinds of work people do and how they live. Look at pictures to see what the architecture is like. Include information about the weather and other aspects of the environment.

Check off each step as you complete it.

Description A
  • Outline Completed
  • First Draft Completed
  • Spelling and Grammar Checked
  • Classmate Review Complete
  • Final Draft Complete
Description B
  • Outline Completed
  • First Draft Completed
  • Spelling and Grammar Checked
  • Classmate Review Complete
  • Final Draft Complete

6. Put It All Together Share your posters and other project information with your classmates.