Order and progress! Or Going Brazil Nuts?

We are currently in the middle of a world geography study using the book Galloping the Globe. Today we started our study of South America in Brazil. Here are a few extra resources we found on the internet:

EXPLORERS OF SOUTH AMERICA (more info)

Pedro Álvares Cabral (1467-1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, explorer, and navigator who discovered Brazil on April 22, 1500.

Dias Bartolomeu sailed near South America on the way to Africa, and spotted land at Espírito Santo in Brazil, calling it the "Land of the True Cross." Although they thought it to be an island, Dias was still among the first Europeans to see Brazil.

Vincente Pinzon sailed to the Brazilian coast in 1499, at a cape he named Santa María de la Consolación.

CRAFTS

felt llama & feathered headdress

Feathered Headdress

The Yanomami, a group of people who live in the rainforests of Brazil, use colorful bird feathers to make headdresses and armbands.

Materials needed:

Posterboard
Colored feathers
Scissors
Glue
Stapler

Cut a 1" strip of posterboard to fit around your head. Glue the feather shafts to it. Overlap ends of band and adjust it to fit. Staple together headdress and it is ready to wear!

Rainstick

According to South American legend, rainsticks are played to serenade the gods as a reminder that rain is welcomed. Rainsticks are traditionally made from hollow cactus wood, thorns and pebbles. This version is made from a cardboard tube, tinfoil and popcorn kernels. 

Materials needed:

Cardboard paper towel tube
Tinfoil
Cardboard for end caps
Popcorn kernels (1/2 cup)
Hot glue gun
Markers
Scissors

Trace around the end of tube onto a piece of cardboard. Cut out two of these circles. Glue one of onto one end of the cardboard tube. Tightly roll pieces of tinfoil into a long snake about twice as long as your tube and about 1/2 inch in diameter. Push the tinfoil snake into tube, zig zagging it back and forth to fit. Pour the popcorn kernels into the tube. Glue the second cardboard circle onto the open end of the tube. Decorated your rainstick with markers. Turn the stick back and forth. The popcorn kernels will fall down over the tinfoil and make a sound like a gentle rain.

Grass Head Clown
These are made at the spectacular Foz do Iguacu (Iguassu Falls), which sits at the point where Brazil meets Argentina and Paraguay.

Llamas

We cut llama shapes out of felt and decorated them with gliter glue.

GAMES

Gato Doente (Sick Cat)
At least 4 players are needed for this Brazilian game of tag. One player must be the cat, or gato. When the game starts the gato chases the other players. When a player is tagged by the gato he or she also becomes a "sick cat" and must hold the part that has been tagged with one hand. The "sick cats" must chase all the others until only one healthy cat remains. This last healthy cat is the winner.


MUSIC

Songs and nursery rhymes
The roots of Brazilian music

FOOD

Making brigadeiros

Recipes
Meals and Eating Habits
Feijoda