Cuba
Let’s learn a bit about Cuba and the things that make it famous…
Click on the buttons below to help Cora learn about the island of Cuba.
What’s your favourite fact about Cuba?
Do a little research - try typing “facts about Cuba” into Google and see what comes up!
Activity 1: Ready for a quick quiz?
Perfect, it’s time for Activity 1! Can you help Cora answer the questions in the quiz below? Don’t worry if you get some answers wrong - the point is to learn.
⭐ Keep an eye out for the question with a star next to it - the answer to that question is the one that goes in the Answer Grid of your worksheets ⭐
Let’s see if there are any messages from Noah…
Nothing yet!
While we’re waiting, let’s take a bus to the nearest city to the airport - that’s Havana, or La Habana in Spanish.
It’s also the capital city - but you know that already!
Maps of Cuba
While Cora’s on the bus, let’s learn a bit more about the geography of Cuba, especially its neighbours.
Let’s look at an extract from a book about cuban geography
Cuba is an island in the Caribbean Sea.
Actually, it’s the biggest island in the Caribbean. It is only 90 nautical miles from Florida in the United States and 128 nautical miles from Cancun in Mexico.
The island of Cuba is long and has lots of little islands surrounding it, which belong to Cuba.
This is a map of Cuba and its neighbours. Except it’s blank.
Can you label the countries around Cuba to help Cora?
Use the blank map of page X of the worksheets.
Can you label the islands that surround Cuba using the cardinal and ordinal directions?
To the North are the United States
To the North-East are the Bahamas
To the East is Haiti
To the South-East is Jamaica
To the South are the Cayman Islands
Wait, there’s a message from Noah!
Activity 2: Making
a map of Cuba
Can you help Cora fill in the map of Cuba?
On page x of the worksheets, you’ll find a mostly blank map of Cuba. In this activity, you’ll fill in different features on the map. You’ll need to do some research by looking at another map of Cuba.
Maybe you have an atlas with a map of Cuba? Or you can find a map online.
You’ll need some pens or pencils in different colours to complete this activity (black, blue, purple, yellow or orange)
Take a BLACK pencil and label the capital city of Peru. It’s the largest dot on the map, but do you know the name of the capital?
Lots of Peruvian cities are on the coast. The city north of the capital along the coast is Trujillo and the city south of the capital along the coast is Pisco, which means “bird” in Quechua. Label these in BLACK.
Take a BLUE pencil and label the oceans which borders Peru
The Pacific Ocean
Peru has a famous lake along its border with Bolivia. It’s called Lake Titicaca. Can you label it with your BLUE pencil?
Two Peruvian rivers are already labelled. Two others are not. One is the Rio Marañón and the other is the Amazon River.
In fact, the Rio Marañón is the source of the Amazon River, so they’re sort of the same river.
Can you label both parts of the river with a BLUE pencil? One is much bigger than the other.
Take a PURPLE pencil to label some famous Peruvian mountains.
Mount Huascarán is closest to Trujillo (although it’s still a 6 hour drive away!)
El Misti is an active volcano which can be seen from Arequipa
Take your BLACK pencil again and label these cities:
The most southern Peruvian city on this map is Arica.
The most northern Peruvian city on this map is Tumbes.
Puno is on the shores of Lake Titicaca
The city of Pucallpa is in the middle of the jungle, on the banks of a large river.
Now we’re going to label some famous Peruvian landmarks. Use an ORANGE or YELLOW pencil to draw the symbols which represent different landmarks.
Take a look at the symbols below which represent different landmarks. There are some clues below about where to draw the symbols.
Cusco is an important historical place. To the north-west is the Inkan city of Machu Picchu and to the south-east is Rainbow Mountain which has layers of different coloured soil.
The Nazca lines are very close to a city with the same name.
There is one volcano on the map. What is it called? ⭐
Cora’s arrived in Havana, let’s have a look around…
There are a few things that Havana is famous for…
Here’s a video of walking through the streets of Havana.
You can watch as much as you like.
Activity 3: Finding famous Cubans in Havana
Let’s move on to another city…
Don’t forget to mark it on the map!
In Bayamo…
Here’s a timeline of Cuban history before 1968
“I was born as a slave, but left the plantation where my master lived. I wanted to fight for Cuba to become a separate country from Spain. I was also fighting to end slavery in Cuba, and for Black people to be treated the same as white people.
Other people were fighting too. There were some rich white men, who didn’t want to pay lots of money to Spain. There were lots of Black people like me - who wanted to be treated better and to not be slaves anymore. Although some of the white men became the leaders, most of the work and fighting was done by us.
I fought with a group of other escaped Black people - some people called us mambises. I would often fight on a horse, with a machete. But I also set up a hospital to look after wounded soldiers. I used my knowledge of local herbs to get better, because we couldn’t afford to buy medicines.
I fought in two wars actually. First I fought in the 10 Years War, which we lost, then in the Cuban War of Independence - which we won! Cuba became an independent country, separate from Spain in 1897. Unfortunately it didn’t last very long, but that’s another story…”
Activity 4: Help in the archives…
Here’s a little activity, to help you learn more about Cuban history. But first, you need to know some words and what they mean.
Take a look at the vocabulary below…
In the archives a WANTED poster from the time has been found. But the poster has been damaged, and some of the words have been smeared away.
Can you try and work out what the missing words are?
Use the vocabulary above and then fit the right word into the correct gap.
If you look on page X of the workbook, there’s a black and white version of the poster you can write on. That’s also where you’ll find the star for this activity ⭐
In the Sierra…
Here’s a little cartoon strip about the Cuban Revolution…
“I was a part of Castro’s Communist movement. I lived in the Sierra Maestra with him and helped him plan his strategies. I also taught lots of soldiers and farmers how to read.
One of my jobs during the Revolution was dressing in disguise and delivering letters, pamphlets and recordings around Cuba. Letters were usually written in code, so if someone else found them, they couldn’t be read.
After the revolution I worked for the government. I was very interested in making sure that women were treated the same as men, and that they could have the same jobs that men did”
Activity 5: Reading coded letters
There’s a letter here written in code - can you help Vilma decode it? I think it’s using a pigpen cipher.
Take a look at page X of the worksheets. You can write out the answer there and find the word with the star.
Ladies in White
One group who doesn’t like Fidel Castro are called the Ladies in White. Some of their husbands have been arrested by Castro, which they say is unfair. They want to make sure that people don’t forget about their husbands, so every Sunday they dress in white and walk through the streets in Cuba. Sometimes they have also been arrested by police.
They are always peaceful, but want to make sure that no one forgets that their husbands are still in prison.
In Trinidad…
Cuba is known for its music, singing and dancing.
There are loads of different types of Cuban music, including son, rumba, mambo and Afro-Cuban jazz. African people who were forced to become slaves brought their music with them from Africa, which mixed with Spanish music in lots of interesting ways.
Activity 6: Cuban Music
In this activity we’re going to listen to some different Cuban music. All the lyrics (or words) are in Spanish.
On page X of your worksheets there are some lyrics with words missing. Your job is to fill in the missing words.
The missing words are: música • guajira • todo • histórica • alto cedro
There are 2 ways you can solve this puzzle. Pick which one you think is best for you.
The Easier Way
Use a search engine (like Google) to look up the lyrics of the songs. Just type in something like ‘lyrics chan chan’ and the words will pop up. Then you can work out which word goes with which song.
The Harder Way
Instead of researching the lyrics online, try listening to the music using the buttons below. If you listen carefully, you can work out which word goes with which song, even though the words are in Spanish.
Orishas
Buena Vista Social Club
Compay Segundo
Celia Cruz
Carlos Puebla
Dancing is also popular in Cuba. People in Cuba learn to dance when they’re young. Here you can see some Cuban children dancing.
(You don’t have to watch the whole thing…)
In Matanzas…
Learning about religions
Santería is a religion in Cuba. It’s called an Afro-Cuban religion, because it is a mixture of African beliefs with Christian beliefs that first started in Cuba.
When African people were forced to come to Cuba to work as slaves, they brought their own religions with them.
Lots of the African people who were brought to Cuba were Yoruba people, who live mostly in Nigeria. Yoruba culture has a religion called Ifa, which many people brought with them to Cuba.
Over time the beliefs of Ifa and Catholicism (which the Spanish slave owners believed in) came together, and created a new religion called Santería.
Activity 7: Let’s learn about Orishas
Orishas are spirits in the religion of Santeria. They were sent to help people be happy in different ways. Each orisha has a different speciality, a little bit like a saint in the Christian religion.
For example, the orisha called Yemaya is the orisha of the sea.
We’ve got a simple activity to learn a little more about some of the orishas of Santeria. You’ll need to do a bit of research.
In Pinar del Rio…
Let’s learn about some Cuban foods..
Mixto Cubano
A type of ham and cheese sandwich made with Cuban bread, which is a bit like a baguette.
Moros y Cristianos
The name means “Muslims and Christians” and is black beans and white rice cooked in the same pot.
Cucurucho
A cone of a palm leaf, filled with coconut, sugar and a flavour like orange, guava or pineapple.
Don’t eat the palm leaf!
Buñuelos
Doughnuts made in the shape of an 8, but made with yucca not flour.
Fufu de platano
A bit like mashed potato, but made from plantain instead. Plantains are like bananas, but they’re green and less sweet.
Torticas de moron
Yummy cookies with a puddle of dulce de leche on top.
Mysteries of Peru
There are still lots of things we don’t know about the history of Peru. Two of the most famous Peruvian mysteries are the Nazca Lines and the alien skulls.
The Nazca Lines are a group of geoglyphs, which means drawing on the ground. They were made about 2,000 years ago by people making lines on the desert floor.
The lines form different shapes, like swirls and animals like a hummingbird, a dog and a whale. The lines and shapes are big enough to be seen from the air.
No one is quite sure what the lines were made for - some people think that the Nazca people made them so that their gods could see them from the sky. Other people have claimed that the designs marked areas of water underground.
We’re still not sure…
The Paracas skulls of Peru aren’t actually the skulls of aliens - although lots of people have been fooled! We actually know where these skulls come from now.
In ancient times in Peru some cultures would bind the heads of babies by wrapping them tightly in pieces of cloth, or gently pushing boards against either side. This didn’t hurt the babies at all, but slowly over months would change the shape of their heads. We’re not quite sure why the ancient Peruvians did this, but other cultures have modified head shapes to show they were part of a particular group.
It’s not just Peruvian skulls that show evidence of head-binding - this has happened in the past in Scandinavia, the Americas, Central Asia and in France!
Peruvian Food
Peru has lots of delicious foods to try. There’s lots of fish in Peruvian cuisine, but also meat and lots of potatoes. In fact, potatoes were first grown in Peru! Here are some famous dishes from Peru, with brief explanations under them.
Causa limeña
is made of two layers of mashed potato with a filling (like a sandwich). The filling is often avocado, tuna and amarillo sauce.
Aji de Gallina
is a Peruvian chicken stew or chili. Chicken is the main ingredient but it also has cheese, nuts and vegetables in it.
Ceviche
is made from raw fish. Instead of being cooked with heat, the fish is cured with lemon or lime juice. It’s sometimes spicy.
Papas a la Huancaina
is a vegetarian meal of boiled potatoes covered in a sauce made from cheese, eggs, milk and other things to flavour it.
Lomo Saltado
is a type of Peruvian stir-fry made with beef slices and vegetables like onions. Sometimes it is served with chips.
Suspiro de Limeña
is a delicious Peruvian dessert made with a type of dulce de leche, topped with meringue.
Chupe de Camarones
is a spicy soup or chowder made from shrimp. It also has corn, peas and a poached egg in it.
Activity 7: Let’s help the Tias!
Manuel’s family is getting ready for a big party, or fiesta. Each of his 5 aunts or tias (which means ‘aunt’ in Spanish) are planning to cook their favourite meal. They’ve asked Manuel to go to the market for them to pick up the ingredients they need. But there’s a problem!
The tias haven’t written their names on the shopping lists! Manuel does know which meal is each tia’s favourite though.
Can you help Manuel work out which list belongs to which tia? There’s a table on pages 7 & 8 of your worksheets for you to fill in.
After you’ve worked out which recipe belongs to which aunt, you’ll need to look at the price list for the market and work out how much each aunt has to pay for her groceries.
Tia Maria loves Lomo Saltado
Tia Conchita loves Causa Limena
Tia Francesca loves Papas a la Huanciana
Tia Isabella loves Ceviche
Tia Pia loves Aji de Gallina
You can find the prices of all the ingredients by clicking on the buttons below.
Which Tia is cooking the most expensive meal? That’s the answer that goes in the Answer Grid ⭐
Congratulations!
You’ve reached the end. You should have 7 answers now. You can write them all in the Answer Grid to reveal the vertical word.
Have you heard of this before? If not, look it up on Google and find some pictures!
Do you want to check your answer?
Click the button below and type in your answer. If you’ve got it right, you’ll get a congratulations message. If nothing happens, check your answers and try again!