Introduction
The purpose of this webquest is to teach third grade students how to identify the city, state, country and planet their community is located in. This is a social studies geography lesson that would be associated with the following Arizona learning standard.
Social Studies Strand 4: Geography.
Arizona Concept 1: The World in Spatial Terms PO3. Construct a map of a familiar place (e.g., school, home, neighborhood, fictional place) that includes a title, compass rose, symbols and legend.
Arizona Concept 4: Human Systems PO4. Describe elements of culture of a community or nation (e.g., food, clothing, housing, sports, customs, beliefs) in are as studied.
Key Terms:
Community, school, city, state, country, planet
Essential Question 1
What is a community? How do communities develop?
What community do you live in and where?
Task
Materials and Preparation
- Map of your state and country
- Poster of the Solar System
- Chart Paper
- White Paper
- Notebook
- Computer
Task One:
- Have students draw a picture of their community and have open discussion.
- Pick two drawings to share with the class
- Gather the class together. Display one drawing in the room and take students through the See/Think/Wonder Thinking Routine using the two drawings
http://pz.harvard.edu/resources/see-think-wonder
Task Two:
- Ask students what they see in the pictures. Encourage them to be specific
- Next ask students what they think about the drawings.
- Finally ask students what they wonder about the pictures. This is the time to ask questions
Process
- Tell the students that the next step to learning about maps and locations in their community is developing knowledge and understanding of where their community is located.
- Introduce all key terms then ask students to located things in their community drawing of these terms and what is the location in the community. Talk about their specific addresses and how to define their locations in the community.
- Use a map and locate the city your school is located in. Do the same thing for the state, country, and planer. Use the maps below to help students visualize the geographical locations for each key term word.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-03/most-incredible-pictures-every-planet-our-solar-system
www.sciway.net/maps/columbia-south-carolina-maps.html
- Display maps of the world, country, and state and next to these maps display your diagram the solar system poster. This will help your class visualize where in the community fits in on the Globe.
- Ask a volunteer to locate your city, nearby lake, river or mountain on the maps. Ask other students to come up to the map and locate the country, city and state on the maps. Independent Work:
- Students will be given a white sheet of paper
- Students will be instructed to make a picture to show their community's location. Tell them to come up with ways of showing the city, state, country and planet. This could be through maps, circle diagram, or separate drawings. Encourage the students to think out of the box.
- Have student label their city, state, country, and planet on their drawings. Collect all completed work. Differentiation:
- Enrichment: Have students practice writing their home addresses. Ask them to determine the continent and hemisphere their home is located in.
- Support: Allow students who are struggling with concepts to work with a partner who understand concepts when completing the community map.
Evaluation
Assessments:
Informal assessment will be done through open discussions while the lesson is being taught. Throughout each activity ask questions to see if connections are being made about maps and the locations on the map.
Formal assessment will end with the same activity in the beginning. Students will be asked to draw their communities and places they have in common with each other. Once they are finished pictures should taken for review with the teacher before moving on to the next topic.
Conclusion
Hopefully each student has enjoyed learning that all communities in the world have similarities they everyone can relate to. The student should be able to list common places in their neighborhoods and label them on a self made map.
Once the pictures are reviewed and concepts have been mastered by the majority the teacher should do a general review with the students to ensure that everyone was successful in completing these assignments and the teacher is free to move on to the next unit.
Credits
Teacher Page
Jamella Boykin currently lives in South Carolina and works in a high school as a teacher's assistant. She is six classes away from receiving her bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education from Grand Canyon University.
For additional information Mrs. Boykin be reached via email jboykin@gmail.com.