Let’s go on a tour de France with an engaging research project for your students. France is a beautiful country with many important landmarks and destinations, and your students will enjoy learning about them all.
I remember my grandpa, each summer, glued to his TV. Nothing or nobody was able to absorb his attention like the Tour de France. If you aren’t familiar with it, the Tour de France is an annual men’s bicycle race that is held in France and takes place in 21 stages with a course that covers approximately 3,500 kilometers.
I personally never understood how my grandpa could spend hours watching a bunch of guys riding their bikes. However, I always found the race beautiful to follow in the sense that it allows people to discover France, its landscapes, stunning little villages and terroir.
A Tour de France of the most beautiful cities Research project
I’m always trying to find new ways to introduce my students to French culture. This time, I came up with the idea of having them doing a research project about some of France’s main cities. If they aren’t doing a race, they definitely go on a Tour de France, keep track of their itinerary on a map, learn about architecture, cooking traditions: Find out what makes these cities unique in a nutshell.
how does the tour de france project work exactly?
1 - Team or individual work
First of all, this project can be done individually or as a team. It depends what you’re trying to accomplish with your class. You could easily assign different cities to different groups and have everyone getting together at the end to present their research work. An other option would be to have each student working on his/her own.
2- Map the itinerary
Through many years of school, I had to memorize maps. Memorizing without a goal wasn’t my thing. When I started traveling and used a map to navigate, of course, the information stuck to my brain and 10 years after a trip to Asia, I still remember where most of the cities and villages I had been to are located. My hope is that students will be interested in France’s geography by pinning its main cities on a map while their research projects progress.
3- Culinary Specialties and Historical Buildings
By researching information about each one of the 10 locations, students answer the questions: What do people eat/drink here? What is there to visit and see? Why is this place special? I carefully choose some of the most representative cultural characteristics and created 2 pages/worksheets of investigation for each location that combines questions about specific dishes, drinks, buildings and some more open discovery opportunities.
It is impossible to get a complete picture of France’s main cities. They are so diverse, full of life and culture that we can only aim for our students to get a glimpse of their uniqueness and give them the desire to learn and explore more! My hope is that this project will spark their curiosity and further conversations. Link to the project here!