Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
EGP 335
November 3, 2015
Lesson Title: What is a Region?
Day 5
Unit: The Land of the United States
Grade: 4
Background: Students will engage in hands on activities to determine what makes a region
(Government, language, population, plant life, religion, landforms, etc.)
Expected Duration: 60 minutes
Concepts
o Culture
o Places
o People
o Government
Vocabulary
o Government: a system of governing or rule.
o Population: people living in a location, area of region.
o Religion: a system of faith or worship.
o Boundary: the edge of a region.
Skills
o Comparing
o Contrasting
o Analyzing
Integration of Learning Outcomes:
Standards:
Standard 3: People Places and Environment
NCSS.1.3.a ...enable learners to construct, use and refine mental maps of locales,
regions, and the world that demonstrates their understanding of relative location,
direction, size, and shape.
NCSS.1.4.h ...assist learners as they work independently and cooperatively within
groups and institutions to accomplish goals.
D2.Geo.6.3-5. - Describe how environmental and cultural characteristics
influence population distribution in specific places or regions
3. Have the students return to their seats and open their books to page 37. Read together as a
class the section titled Features in Common to see what the book says defines a region.
Add anything to the class list that is not already there.
a. How are different regions the same and different? What examples did you read
about?
b. Are there any other examples you can think of that make a region the same or
different? What about in our own region?
4. Prompt the students for the next section by asking Now that we know what makes up a
region, how do we create the lines that divide one region from another?
a. Have the students read independently the sectioned titled Borders, Boundaries,
and Belts
b. Break the class into groups of two and give each group a map of the United States
that shows physical features. Allow them to identify the different kinds of borders
and break up the United States into the regions that make the most sense to them.
Have them label every region based on its defining feature.
c. Once everyone is done their map, pair the groups together to make groups of four
to compare and contrast the way they made the regions on their maps. While in
their groups have them discuss why they made their borders the way they did.
Walk around to each of the groups and ask each group a question along the lines
of Why did you choose to put your border along this river?
d. Rotate each group to get a chance to see at least two different groups so they get
to see how everyone thinks about things a little differently.
e. Collect the maps to assess individually whether or not students were able to use
natural landforms as boundaries and create logical regions. Return them after
assessing as these will be used in their final portfolios.
Differentiation:
For more advanced students, have them paired together and allow them to think about
things other than physical features when drawing their regions. Have them come up with
their own defining feature and explain it in 2-4 sentences. An example you could give
them might be politics.
For students who need more support, give an example of a boundary (such as a river, or
major road) and allow them to use the example to guide their map making.
Closure:
Put the list made in the beginning of the lesson about features of regions away and ask
students to help you complete this web before they can go to lunch. Have the web set up
and ready to be filled in on the smart board.
Before we go to lunch I need you all to help me fill in this web. What are some of the
shared features that make up a region? (Government, language, population, plant life,
religion, landforms, etc.)
Call on 5-6 students to fill in the blanks then allow them to pack up and get ready for
lunch.
Formative/Summative Assessment:
Students will be assessed individually on the map made during class. It will be collected
at the end of the lesson but used as in informal formative assessment to see that they
understand the difference between a border and a boundary.
Use the web to formatively assess whether students have met the objective of defining a
region.
Materials/Equipment:
Masking tape (tape down under the desks prior to the students coming in that day).
Interactive Whiteboard
Web slide
Chart Paper
Textbook Online Edition and class set of Houghton Mifflin Social Studies (Grade 4)
Websites:
o http://uncoveringpa.com/pennsylvania-regions
o http://mapmaker.education.nationalgeographic.com/?ls=000000000000
o www.socialstudies.org/system/files/c3/C3-Framework-for-Social-Studies.pdf
Technology:
The interactive whiteboard will be used to display the text while students work together
on the floor and at the end of the lesson to emphasize the key points of the lesson plan.
Reflection on Planning:
Having a general knowledge of the chapter and what it covers was an important step for
me in figuring out the best way to present a lot of information in a short amount of time.
The anticipatory set was easy for me to write because I enjoyed coming up with the fun
activity for them to do, but unfortunately after that I wasnt sure of what to continue the
lesson on with. I very much love the hands on and kinesthetic kind of lesson so the
thought of reading out of a textbook and answer questions seemed like the most horrible
way to continue the lesson. So I decided that reading at least parts of the textbook would
be beneficial to the lesson but wanted to spice it up, so I included some communication
with other groups to get them thinking about it more in depth.
I also like that I presented the main topics of the section of the textbook in a fun way but
also in a relatively short period of time. If we had even less time it could easily be cut
down while still presenting the important information effectively.
Overall I enjoyed writing this lesson and would love to put it into practice.
Content Outline:
1. LESSON 1 What is a Region?
a. Vocabulary
i. Government: a system of governing or rule.
ii. Population: people living in a location, area of region.
iii. Religion: a system of faith or worship.
iv. Boundary: the edge of a region.
b. Regions can be defined by many different kinds of features.
c. Defining a Region
i. Geographers divide the world into regions to help organize ideas about
places and people.
1. Create a Venn diagram comparing two types of regions that interest
you. Some examples are: farming, coal mining, and mountains.
The link below looks at the different regions of Pennsylvania.
a. http://uncoveringpa.com/pennsylvania-regions
b. Interactive map maker
http://mapmaker.education.nationalgeographic.com/?
ls=000000000000
ii. Features in Common
1. Government, population, language, religion.
2. Regions are not set in stone, for example a city can grow larger as
more people move in and build new neighborhoods.
iii. Borders, Boundaries and Belts
1. Borders are the lines where political regions begin and end.
2. Boundaries are found at the edge of a region. Could be natural
(like a river) or artificial (like a road). They are often less exact
than borders
3. Belts are regions that have one feature stretching across a broad
area. Examples: The Corn Belt, the Sun Belt and the Frost Belt.
d. How Regions are Used
i. Thinking about regions helps government, business, and other
organizations deal with problems.
ii. Using Regions
1. Helps organizations keep track of resources and understand the
needs of their people.
iii. One Place many Regions
1. One place can belong to many regions.
2. Example: Elizabeth, New Jersey is part of New York Citys
metropolitan region, and the region called the East in the United
States. It is also in New Jersey, and part of a political region within
New Jersey.