The 2007 Cricket World Cup is being hosted by the West Indies. The West Indies is not a single political or geographic state. This activity is designed to get students looking at this part of the world and locating the other countries competing in the tournament. For students with an interest in sport, this is an ideal way to combine their interest with some social studies themes.
- There are a number of good online resources available that can be used to find out more about this region. This is a perfect opportunity to look at the cultures and lifestyles of a part of the world that New Zealand has little interaction with, apart from cricket. Ask the class to locate the West Indies on a map for you and either develop a class map on the wall or get the students to develop their own map of the West Indies. They could decorate this by drawing or putting the flags of the various nations that make up the West Indies around the border.
- On their own world map, students could locate and name the other countries competing. And on a large world map on the classroom wall students could use pins to identify the competing countries and connect them to the West Indies with lengths of string.
- Cricinfo has information on the grounds being used for the tournament. There are 12 in total, spread across a number of different countries. Divide your class into groups and allocate each group a ground and country. Get them to prepare a short presentation on that country for the rest of the class. This could be a wall display, an oral presentation or a combination. If you have been using a map in class, then these grounds/locations could be marked separately. Alternatively you could allocate competing nations to students, either individually or in groups, and get them to complete a short project on that country instead.
- See if your class can identify anything else that the competing countries have in common (apart from their interest in cricket).
- As an ongoing exercise, keep a class noticeboard where students can bring in news and pictures about the tournament.
