Geography Connections: Take 5

NIE ACTIVITY
GEOGRAPHY Connections This year-long series is presented in collaboration with the Connecticut Geographic Alliance.
DID YOU KNOW?

UKRAINE
Rachel Patten
TAKE 5 1 The Ukrainian word for festival is sviato (SVIA-toh). One sviato is called The Day of Knowledge. It is celebrated
on September 1st, the first day of the school year. On this day students bring flowers to school to honor their
teachers.
Old Saybrook School District 2 There are two types of Ukrainian Easter eggs, krasanka and pysanka. Krasanka eggs are colored hard-boiled
Location Ukraine has an area of
603,628 km” (233,062 mi”), which eggs with a simple painted design. Pysanka eggs are more traditional and not meant for eating. Pysanka eggs
makes it the largest country entirely are given as presents on Easter and often kept as a decoration for generations.
When you think of Ukraine, does the term,
in Europe. Ukraine is bordered by 3 Between 1917 and 1991, Ukraine was a part of the USSR. During that time Ukrainians were not allowed to
“bread basket” come to mind? If that wasn’t the countries of Belarus to the north, celebrate religious holidays. Many Ukrainians continued to secretly celebrate the holidays even though they
your first thought, let me tell you more about Poland, Slovakia, and Hungry to the could be punished if they were caught.
this amazing country. Much of the land is east, Russia to the west, Romania and
open steppe. Steppe is another word for great Moldova to the south, and the Black
Mapping Activity
plain, so picture a flat, treeless, landscape. Sea is also to its south.
Some of the world’s most fertile farmland
is in Ukraine. Agriculture is an important
Place The name Ukraine is believed
part of life in this country. Farmers grow to originally mean “borderland” or For most of Ukraine’s history is has served as a middle-ground, divided between
sugar beets, potatoes, corn, wheat, barley and “region”. In English ‘The Ukraine’ used Russia and Poland. It shares borders with seven countries and two seas. Find out
other grains. Meat and dairy farms are also to be the formal name, but today it is more about Ukraine’s neighbors by completing the following activity.
important to the economy. just known as ‘Ukraine’. Using a map of Eastern Europe locate the following countries and their capital
cities. Draw a line matching the country to the capital.
Most of Ukraine has warm
summers and cold winters. In much of the Human Environment As of 2011, Ukraine Ukraine Minsk
country, snow covers the ground for about was the world’s third-largest grain Russia Warsaw
three months each year. Rainfall during the exporter and it used to be called the Belarus Kiev
summer is heaviest in the northwest. Over 31 breadbasket of the Soviet Union. Poland Bucharest
inches of rain and snow fall in the Carpathian The country also has large deposits Slovakia Bratislava
Mountains. of natural resources including iron, Hungary Moscow
coal, gas, oil, manganese and other Romania Chisinau
The Dnieper River flows from north metals. Moldova Budapest
to south and into the Black Sea. It was once
an important trade route with many cities
built on the banks of the Dnieper. One of
the cities, named Kiev (Kyiv in Ukrainian)
Movement The official language of
Ukraine is Ukrainian, it is the dominant Using the News
language spoken in western and
is the capital. Other major rivers are the On March 9th, 2015 The Hartford Courant had an article about Senators Chris Murphy and John McCain asking for military
central cities and many rural areas
Dnipro, Dniester, Southern Buh, and Donets. of the country. Most native Ukrainian economic aid to the Ukraine. The senators are concerned that Russia may invade the nearby countries of Moldova and Poland.
Ukraine’s largest lakes are reservoirs made speakers know Russian as a second Fighting started in April 2014 and raged for months until Ukraine and the separatists came to a deal on September 5th to halt
by damming the Dnipro River. These lakes language. In eastern and southern the violence and free prisoners. But the ceasefire never held entirely. Both sides used the break to build up their forces and
are the Kyiv, the Kaniv, the Kremenchuk, cities Russian is the most spoken for months the rebels tried to seize Donetsk airport, a strategic and symbolic asset, from government forces. Leaders from
the Dniprodzerzhynsk, the Dnipro, and the language. the countries of Germany, France, Ukraine and Russia met in Minsk in February 2015 to discuss the issue and create a deal.
For the rebels it meant that they would lose some of the territory they had gained. They still could not agree on who would
Kakhovka. People use the water from these
control the city of Debaltseve and the future here remains unclear. Do you think America should provide Ukrainian fighters
lakes for irrigation and drinking water.
Region Football (soccer) is the most with weapons?
Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine once popular sport in Ukraine, the two most Online Resources:
made up one country called Kievan Rus. successful clubs teams are rivals http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
Archaeological excavations show evidence of FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Shakhtar
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28969784http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28969784
civilization dating back as far as 10,000 years Donetsk. Ukraine co-hosted the 2012
UEFA Euro’s with Poland.
ago. Ukraine is a little smaller than Texas.
http://kyivpost.com
It’s flat land and lack of natural defenses has
http://goeasteurope.about.com/od/introtoeasteuropetravel/ig/Maps-of-Eastern-Europe/Map-of-Eastern-Europe.htm
made it the sight of many battles and wars. Common Core Curricular Connections
Right now, Ukraine is at war with Russia. Curricular Connections: http://www.vgsbooks.com
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1-10 Zuehlke, J. (2006) Ukraine in Pictures. Lerner Publishing Group.
The two countries continue to fail at cease- CCSS ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-1-8
fire agreements, making life very difficult for Bassis, V. (1998) Festivals of the World: Ukraine. Gareth Stevens Publishing.
45564-01*
CCSS ELA-Literacy.SL.5.1
certain parts of Ukraine.

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NIE ACTIVITY

DID YOU KNOW?

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