Asian Americans: Where Do They Come From?

Teaching Theme of the Week

from Education World®

Learn about some of the places from which Asian Americans come. (Grades 3-12)

Subjects: Social Studies

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Objectives
Students will:

• identify 15 places (14 countries plus Hawaii) from which large populations of Asian Americans originate,
• create a graph to help themselves visualize the places from which large populations of Asian Americans originate,
• identify the locations on a world map of 15 Asian and Pacific Island locations, and
• create a chart to compare places from which large populations of Asian American originate.

Keywords Asian American, Asia, Pacific Island, population, census, world map, graphic organizer, chart, graph

Materials Needed

• Internet access (optional)
• library resources

Procedure
In this lesson, students become familiar with the countries that comprise the continent of Asia and the area of the Pacific Islands. They use library, Internet, or map resources to fill in the missing letters on the Asian Americans: Where Do They Come From? puzzle ( PDF, 103K). The missing letters complete the spelling of the names of Asian or Pacific Island countries from which Asian Americans originate. (The puzzle includes 14 country names and the state of Hawaii.)

Puzzle answers are in the Assessment section below.

Extension Activities

(#1) Provide an outline map of the world or one of Asia and the Pacific Islands. Have students label on the map the 15 places (14 countries and Hawaii) included in this activity. They might label the locations by name, or by placing on the map the corresponding number from the crossword puzzle. (There will be two 4's -- China and Cambodia. Students might label those 4A, for 4 Across, which is China, and 4D, for 4 Down, which is Cambodia.)

World Outline Map Sources
• World Outline Map #1 ( PDF, 721K)
• World Map #2
• World Map #3

(#2) Students might use information in the National Geographic Map Machine. (Type a country name into the Find a Place window.) Create a chart/graphic organizer that identifies each of the 15 places in the puzzle by

Country Name
Area
Population
Capital
Languages Spoken

(#3) Challenge students to list in order of population size the top ten original nationalities of America's Asian and Pacific-Island population. Provide the following two resources: U.S. Asian Population 2000 and U.S. Pacific Islander Population 2000.

Answers: Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Cambodian, Pakistani, Laotian.

(#4) Have students Create a Graph http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/graphing/ illustrating the number of U.S. residents (according to the 2000 U.S. census) who identify themselves as being part of one of the Asian or Pacific-Island populations listed below. (Only groups that account for 100,000 or more U.S. residents are listed.) All numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10,000. Younger students might graph only the top five groups of origin (Chinese, Filipino, Asian Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese).

Cambodian 210,000
Chinese 2,730,000
Filipino 2,360,000
Hawaiian 400,000
Asian Indian 1,900,000
Japanese 1,150,000
Korean 1,230,000
Laotian 200,000
Pakistani 200,000
Samoan 130,000
Taiwan ese 140,000
Thai 150,000
Vietnamese 1,220,000

Assessment
Following are the answers to the Asian Americans: Where Do They Come From? puzzle ( PDF, 103K).

Across: 4. China; 5. Vietnam; 9. Indonesia; 10. Hawaii; 11. Pakistan; 12. South Korea; 13. Malaysia; 14. India.
Down: 1. North Korea; 2. Philippines; 3. Laos; 4. Cambodia; 6. Guam; 7. Thailand; 8. Japan.

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