5-+Israel

=The Fifth Graders studied Israel for our Geography Immersion Unit.= media type="custom" key="8608230" =Our class visited Temple Adath Joseph to learn more about the Jewish faith.=

=media type="custom" key="8608118" width="50" height="50"= =We made lots of interesting things to make our room look like Israel.=

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Q&A with the Rabbi : Listen (Turn up volume) media type="custom" key="8209522" width="54" height="54"

Students React : Listen (Regular Volume) media type="custom" key="8209458" width="52" height="52" ﻿Our class studied the country of Israel. First we learned about the geographic features of Israel. The most interesting feature was the Dead Sea. We learned that it is very salty...so salty that no fish or water creatures live there. The water has an unusual odor because of all the salt and minerals. If you swim in the Dead Sea, any cuts or sores will really hurt because of the salt; so will your eyes. The good thing about the salt is that it keeps you from sinking.

Next we learned about Israel's government. They have a democracy like we do; but they have a President and a Prime Minister. They're lawmaking body is the Knesset.

We learned that many many Jewish people returned to Israel in 1948 when the country was declared an independent nation for the Jewish people. There were Muslim people living there called Palestinians. They were not happy about the Jewish people returning and taking some of their land. There have been many conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

We also learned about the Jewish religion since so many Israeli's are Jews. We learned about the importance of the Sabbath and some of the rules of Judaism. We visited a synagogue and Skyped with a man living in Jerusalem We learned about the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock.

We learned a lot!

