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Document Sample
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Topic Social Studies, Virginia, regions
Overview:
Students will work in cooperative groups to research individual regions of Virginia.
After using the internet and books for researching, students will add important
information to a community bulletin board. Students from each individual region will
report important findings to the rest of the class.
Grades: 4-5
Time Allotment: 3--45 minute lessons
Learning Objectives
On completion of this lesson students will be able to:
• identify, compare, and contrast the five regions of Virginia
• research a topic given primary sources, reference materials, and the internet
This lesson addresses Va. SOL Social Studies: VS.2b
Media Components
• Digital multimedia projector
• Teacher Computer
• Laptop Computers (or lab)
• Portaportal.com (or another social bookmarking website)
• Websites:
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/History/virginiaregionswithcounties.
pdf -- Geographic regions of Virginia labeled map
http://www.quia.com/quiz/363495.html quiz to identify regions
http://www.virginiaplaces.org/index.htm Virginia information resource
http://www.fcps.edu/HutchisonES/solquiz/regions.html quiz on regions
http://scott.k12.va.us/martha2/VirginiaGeography.htm geography resource
Materials and Student Handouts
• Geographic Regions of Virginia map with information -- one per student
(attached from the Virginia Dept. of Education)
• Large blank Virginia map with regional borders
• Regions Fact Sheet -- one for teacher use (attached)
• “Gimme Five” Organizer -- one per student (attached)
• Virginia state maps (acquired free through the Virginia Department of
Transportation)
• Books on Virginia
• Chart Paper with Regions listed (for sharing students’ facts)
• Timer
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 1 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Teacher Preparations
• Arrange students into 5 groups to research the regions. Assign a color to each
region for future use on the culminating activity.
• Before the lesson, visit the library and check out books on Virginia and its regions
• Bookmark appropriate sites on PortaPortal or any social bookmarking site, such
as del.ic.ius
• Make copies of map handout, graphic organizer, and fact sheet (one per student)
• Make copies of the blank map for the assessment (one per student).
• Project the map from
http://www.pen.k12.va.us/VDOE/Instruction/History/virginiaregionswithcounties.
pdf and trace the state and the regional separations onto a large piece of chart
paper.
• Reserve computer lab, if necessary
Introductory Activity
Focus: I have arranged the class into 5 groups and I've given each of you an organizer. I
want you to look at the name of your group and pay attention to the segment of the
“Gimme Five” handout that addresses your region. As I read the handout, write down
one fact that is associated with your region regarding the physical geography, important
industries and products, population, or cities and be prepared to share it with the class.
Activity: Using the projector and the teacher’s computer, display the “Gimme Five”
handout. Read through the regions and pause for each region to collect facts regarding
each area.
Follow-up: Starting with the Coastal Plain region, ask each group to share one fact
from the presentation that addresses their region. Remind the groups that the facts should
be connected to geography, industries/products, or population/cities.
Learning Activities
1. Focus: At the end of this lesson, each of you will be an expert on your particular
region. You will know about the region’s geography, population, and industries. You
will research your region in books, on the internet, and with state maps. You will have
10 minutes today to begin your research using books and we will reconvene to have each
group share a fact about their region. Use the organizer to guide your research. It shows
what categories your group should research: geography, industries, and population.
Activity: Set the timer for 10 minutes. Each group has its organizers. Each group
will send one or two members to gather materials for research. Encourage the students to
use the Table of Contents and the Index to efficiently find important, relevant
information. Encourage the students to take short notes instead of writing long sentences.
For example, a fact about the Piedmont region could simply be written as: west of the fall
line.
Follow-up: At the end of 10 minutes, students return the literature to its crate and
share one fact about each region, e.g. “Coastal Plain, would you share a fact about your
region’s geographical features?” (A student from each group will add the fact to the class
fact chart. Repeat with the four remaining regions.)
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 2 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
2. Focus: Yesterday we used books to find information about our regions. Today we will
use the laptop (or lab) computers to find other facts about our regions. Use your
organizers to collect the information you find. I will model appropriate navigation of the
main website, portaportal.com, that we will be using.
Activity: Direct your web browser to www.portaportal.com and to the portal you have
set up. Direct your portal to www.scott.k12.va.us.martha2.htm . Show the students the
menu bar at the bottom of the screen. Show them how to navigate from region to region.
Repeat with the www.virginiaplaces.org site to model one more example. Remind the
students to stay on this site and to use the PortaPortal to locate the site if the window
closes.
Follow-up: Are there any questions about how to use the websites and gather your
information? (Answer any general questions.)
3. Focus: You will work with a partner from your region to research your region. One
student will navigate the website and the other student will record facts. I would like you
to switch roles after every 5 minutes so that all receive equal time on the computer. We
will come back together and share facts at the end of the period. Are we all clear on the
process we will follow?
Activity: Set the timer for 20 minutes. Students will use the computers to research
their regions. Make sure that students are switching roles every five minutes to ensure
equal time on the computer. Remind students to include facts on geography, population,
and important industries.
Follow-up: At the end of 20 minutes, the laptops are to be closed and returned to their
docks. Ask the class to share important facts that were researched today. For the sake of
consistency, begin with the Coastal Plain and work your way westward to the
Appalachian Plateau. As with previous lessons, students will add the facts to the chart.
Culminating Activities
Focus: Class, today we are going to take the great information you have researched and
gathered on our class chart organizer and compile it into a wonderful bulletin board for
the school to learn from and enjoy. I have provided a blank map of Virginia with the
regions outlined. Your job is to supply the region’s name, the color of your group, and
those facts that will help us better understand your region. While you wait for your turn,
list the facts you want to share in order from first to last. There might not be enough
room for all of them, so make sure you get your favorites on the map first.
Activity: Students will color their region according to the color of their group. They
will next supply the name of the region. Then, they will neatly list facts about their
region.
Follow-up: Once every group has supplied all important information, start with the
Appalachian Plateau and work eastward, having each group read the information added
to the Bulletin Board. Allow sufficient time for students to fill in the information on their
own organizers for the regions they did not research.
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 3 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Assessment
• Students will receive a blank version of the map that they used to guide their
research. They will provide facts about geography, industries, and population for
each of the five regions.
• As an informal assessment, keep notes on the contributions from each group
member.
Community Connections
Invite a guest from the county extension office to discuss the geography,
industries, and population of Albemarle County and Charlottesville (or your
county or city).
Invite a speaker from each region to discuss and answer questions about that
particular region.
Cross-Curricular Extensions
• Math: Students can estimate the population of each region according to the
counties contained on the state maps. Students can arrange this data on a graph
and compare the populations of each region.
• Science: Discuss the water features and animal populations of the regions.
• Science: Students should find natural resources from each region.
• Art: Prepare illustrations of the characteristics of each region.
Adaptations
A computer lab can be used if there is not a laptop cart available.
Special needs students can be spread throughout the groups and carefully paired
during the partner activity.
About the Author:
Patrick Beale teaches at Clark Elementary located in Charlottesville, Virginia.
This lesson was written as part of the Spring 2007 WVPT NTTI for the Virginia
Enhancing Education Through Technology Ed Tech Grant awarded to the Shenandoah
Valley Technology Consortium (SVTC).
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 4 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Name_________________ Date____________
“Gimme Five”
Coastal Plain or Tidewater Region
The Coastal plain is located east of Virginia's Fall Line along the Atlantic coast. It is
also called the Tidewater Region because it is an area affected by tides. Tides cause
different bodies of water to rise and fall. The largest body of water located in the
Tidewater Region is the Chesapeake Bay. There are many good harbors along the
eastern coast of Virginia. Boats and ships come into the harbors to load and unload their
cargo. The rivers in this area are slow and wide. This makes it easy for ships to travel on
them.
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 5 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
The cities and towns in the Tidewater region are some of the oldest in Virginia. For
example, Norfolk, Newport News, and Chesapeake have served as ports for goods to be
brought into and taken out of Virginia. Today, some people live and work in the coastal
city of Virginia Beach, and others live in Norfolk and work for the United States Navy.
The coastal cities are important to Virginia because they provide jobs for Virginians and
promote Virginia's growth.
Fall Line
The Fall Line is the natural border between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions,
where waterfalls prevent further travel on the river. Long ago, people traveled in boats to
the Fall Line when they were moving to western parts of Virginia. People were always
forced to go around the waterfalls and rapids at the Fall Line by land.
Many important Virginia cities have grown along the Fall Line. For example,
Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg served as transportation centers.
Transportation is the moving of products and/or people from one location to another.
Many of the small transportation towns grew into large Virginia cities. Other cities grew
along the Fall Line because of the tobacco industry. Other cities took advantage of the
waterfalls and rapids and used the water to produce power.
Piedmont Region
The Piedmont Region is located west of Virginia's Fall Line and is mostly made of
rolling hills. Cities and towns in the Piedmont grew up on the banks of rivers because
travel to them was easy.
Blue Ridge Mountains Region
The Blue Ridge Mountains are old, rounded mountains that are part of the Appalachian
mountain system. Located between the Piedmont and Valley and Ridge regions, the Blue
Ridge Mountains are a source of many rivers.
Valley and Ridge Region
The definition of a ridge is a line of mountains, and a valley is an area of land between
the mountains. Virginia's Valley and Ridge Region is located west of the Blue Ridge
Mountains and includes the Great Valley of Virginia and other valleys separated by
ridges. Several valleys exist between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny
Mountains. The largest valley in this area is the Shenandoah Valley. It is uncertain as to
how this valley got its name, but many believe that Shenandoah Valley means "daughter
of the stars."
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 6 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Many of the large cities in the Valley and Ridge Region are located in the valley areas.
Roanoke is the largest city in this region. Now populated with over 90,000 people,
Roanoke served as a railroad center 100 years ago. Another important city in this region
is Winchester. Winchester is the oldest city in the region (it began in 1732) and is now
one of the twenty most populated cities in Virginia.
Appalachian Plateau Region
A plateau is an area of elevated land that is flat on top. The Appalachian plateau
includes only a small portion of southwest Virginia, as well as portions of Tennessee,
Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The Appalachian
Plateau is a major source of coal. Coal is one of Virginia's most valuable mineral
resources.
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 7 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Name________________ Date____________
“Gimme Five” Organizer
Add facts to the appropriate regions as you learn them.
Coastal Plain (Tidewater)
Geographical Features:
Industries/Products:
Cities:
Other Facts:
Piedmont
Geographical Features:
Industries/Products:
Cities:
Other Facts:
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 8 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Blue Ridge Mountains
Geographical Features:
Industries/Products:
Cities:
Other Facts:
Valley and Ridge
Geographical Features:
Industries/Products:
Cities:
Other Facts:
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 9 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
Appalachian Plateau
Geographical Features:
Industries/Products:
Cities:
Other Facts:
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 10 of 11
Gimme Five
Patrick Beale
Charlottesville City Schools
NTTI Spring 2007 Page 11 of 11
