Context: This lesson for fourth grade students serves as an introduction to identifying the five major land regions of the United States and the characteristics associated with those regions (landforms included). This lesson is a preparation for an upcoming activity where students, in groups, will “travel” to many states in a simulated road trip. They will study the characteristics of each state they visit.

Rationale: To understand the different characteristics of each major land region students must know where they are located. Their position in the United States, and Earth for that matter, effects their climate, attributing to each land region’s uniqueness.

Objectives: SWBATDTK of the location of the major land regions of the United States by outlining the region’s borders on a map of the United States. SWBATDTK of some characteristics of each of the major land regions by labeling at least three states and one land form in each land region.

A byproduct, but important skill, that is practiced in this lesson is speaking/presenting information in front of a class. This group of students, like most students, are uncomfortable presenting in public. This will serve as an opportunity for students to practice presenting in class and becoming more comfortable with other classmates.

Rationale: This is an introductory lesson. After this lesson students will be working in groups, traveling to different land regions and their cities. I chose to allow students to work in groups for this lesson because they will be working in groups during the simulation. I also wanted to give students some more exposure to presenting information in front of their peers. Students recently gave speeches about themselves, and a few experience some anxiety. Presenting as a group may not feel as overwhelming for students.

Benchmarks: This lesson addresses components of Oregon’s Social Sciences Benchmark 2 (Grade 5) Both sections of the benchmark cover locating and labeling characteristics of each land region.

Rationale: Although this topic is assessed at Oregon Benchmark 5 introducing these concepts in fourth grade will act as a scaffold for future units where other countries’ regions are evaluated.

Preparation and Materials: An overhead projector will be needed for the end of class. Before class an overhead of an outline map of the United States will need to be created (See last page for source). The overhead drawing should fill up as much of the page as possible so that landforms and state names can be labeled. The same overhead outline of the United States should be photocopied onto plain white paper. The students will fill in the map as groups present their individual regions. Students will also need their social studies text and at least one atlas for each group of five to six students. (This is the scaled down version of the map I used to create the overhead and what was passed out to the students. The map was enlarged and positioned horizontally on an 8.5 X 11 inch page.)

Rationale: At first I was going to use dry erase maps, provided by the textbook publisher, as the map we that would outline. Instead, I found some blank maps at http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps/. These maps can serve as a visual resource during the simulation activity to follow.

Lesson Introduction (about 10 minutes): On the board write the word “Land Region.” Ask students, with a show of hands, what they think land region means. Let the students describe the definition in their own words. Repeat the same process with the word “Landform.” Again, let them describe it in their own words. Present the class with examples of land regions and landforms.

Show the students a map of the United States with labels of each land region (page 11 of their social studies textbook). After students have been presented with the basic information concerning land regions there will be time to transition into groups.

Rationale: This is my pre-assessment of the class. I want to know about their previous knowledge and familiarity with the major land regions and landforms.

Learning Activities (about 15 minutes):

1. Break students up into 5 equal groups (28 students = 5-6 students per group).

2. Pass out the photocopied map outlines of the United States to every student.

3. On the maps, have the students locate their current location and mark it with a star.

4. Assign each group a land region; West, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, or Northeast.

5. Each group will outline their designated region on their maps. They may use their social studies book to help them find the boundaries of the region.

6. Ask the students to identify at least three states in their land regions and at least one interesting landform that reside in their land region. Examples of landforms: the Rocky Mountains are in the West land region or The Great Lakes are located in the Midwest land region. The students may use any materials in the room to find landforms associated with their assigned land regions.

7.  Once they are done locating their land region, the states, and at least one landform in their region each group will present their region to the class. As groups present their findings the other students should outline and label the other land regions as they are presented. Labeling the state names and a landform in each reason is optional. There will be another activity where individual states will be explored in an in depth manner. 

The groups will present their information at the front of the class by using the overhead outlined map. One group representative will come up and draw their region’s border on the overhead map.  The other group members will contribute the remaining information (naming three states and one landform) on a voluntary basis.

Rationale: By physically drawing in the land regions’ boarders students are creating their own understanding of which states are included in certain regions. Also, the act of physically tracing boarders will me more meaningful, instead of someone telling them which states are included in each land region. They will probably be able to recall this experience better than if I had just spoon-fed them the information, or showed them the page number that included each region’s contents. 

Closure (about 5 minutes): The main portion of closure is the presentations by student groups. After the presentations are complete the teacher will take a very informal “poll” of the class’s basic knowledge of the major regions. Questions to ask may be “Name the five major regions of the United States” and “In which land region are we located?”

Rationale: I purposefully jigsawed the material because I want to briefly introduce students to each land region before they begin their simulation. When students present to the class I am gladly giving away some of my power and in turn empowering them. Reciprocal teaching is one of the best teaching devices. A student re-teaching what they have learned tends to increase their own understanding of a concept.  

Student Evaluation: Student’s understanding of the basic location of the major land regions of the United States will be demonstrated when they outline each land region, three states within their land region, and at least one landform on their maps.

Rationale: I feel that this is the most authentic assessment I could administer for this particular lesson. It does not assess each child as an individual, because the information was gathered in groups, but I can obtain a basic sketch of how much they took in when their peers presented them with their own knowledge. My goal was not for students to memorize which states are in which land region. I wanted students to create their map which will serve as a resource later on.