South American country wheel

Twelve countries, and what is not on the list

South America has 12 sovereign states, all of them UN members, and all 12 are on the wheel. French Guiana, on the north coast between Suriname and Brazil, is not a country: it is an overseas region of France, so it is part of the European Union. Add it if your map lesson covers every territory.

Ideas for Spanish class and geography

• Language check: Spanish is an official language in nine of the twelve. Brazil speaks Portuguese, Suriname Dutch and Guyana English, so those three spins start a good conversation about history.
• Culture project: with Remove the winner after each spin on, each group of two or three students gets a different country to present: a dish, a festival, a song and one famous place.
• Map facts: Bolivia and Paraguay are landlocked. Chile and Ecuador are the only two countries that do not border Brazil. The equator crosses Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil.
• Bigger and smaller: spin two countries and say which is larger. Brazil is the largest; Suriname is the smallest by area and population.

Make it yours

Twelve slices leave plenty of room. Add the capital to each label (“Peru: Lima”) for a study version, or add Central American and Caribbean countries for a full Latin America wheel. Weights help if you want one country to come up more during a unit: “Argentina *3”. Save the version under My wheels so it is ready next lesson.