A SUMMER DAY

Download the handout for this lesson plan.

Preview of Main Ideas
It’s a beautiful summer day for getting chores done and going fishing. But where is it a beautiful day? This lesson takes students on a search for the location of our story. The clues are written into a passage that describes some characteristics of a place. Students are given a passage to read; then they choose the correct location from a list of coordinates. Finally, students are challenged to defend their choices.

Connection With the Curriculum
This lesson uses the geographic constructs of latitude and longitude to explore regions of North America. The problem-solving process that students use in this activity can be integrated into math and science classes.

Teaching Level: Grades 4-8
(This lesson can be modified for secondary students by including more detail.)

Geography Standards
1. How to use maps and other tools and technologies
2. How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context
4. The physical and human characteristics of places

Geography Themes: Location, Place, Human/Environment Interaction, Regions

Materials

• Reference map of the United States showing latitude and longitude
• One copy of “A Summer Day” handout for each student

Objectives
Students are expected to:

• Use latitude and longitude to identify a specific location
  
• Understand that the characteristics of a place influence our activities
  
• Write paragraphs describing the place characteristics and their perceptions of those characteristics of one region of the United States.

Opening the Lesson
Distribute one copy of the “A Summer Day” handout to each student. Have students read the passage to partners or in small groups. Provide students with maps from a United States atlas showing latitude and longitude. Ask students to find coordinates on the maps and name the states in which the coordinates lie (A. Arizona; B. Montana; C. Wisconsin; D. Florida).

Have students use encyclopedias and atlases to identify the state referred to in the passage.

Developing the Lesson
When students have found the coordinates, completed their research, and identified the state they think is described in the passage, hold a class discussion. First, focus on those sets of coordinates that do not match the place characteristics found in the passage. Ask students what state is identified by the coordinates in A. Ask students why the place described in the passage is probably not in Arizona. Students may respond that maple and oak trees are not common in southern Arizona.

Ask students what state is identified by the coordinates in B. Why is the place described in the passage probably not in eastern Montana? Students may respond that corn is not common in Montana.

Skip ahead to the coordinates described in D. Why is the place described in the passage probably not Florida? Students may respond that the air would probably not be cool in summer in Florida, and there would be little need to stack firewood.

Such discussion will help students picture the physical and cultural features of the locations identified by the coordinates and conclude that the correct answer is C.

Concluding the Lesson
Explain to students that it is important to know where places are, but it is also important to understand what those places are like. For example, why are there so many dairy cows in Wisconsin? Why would the dairy industry be less predominant in the Plains region of Montana? Discuss other place characteristics and how they affect human activities.

Extending the Lesson
Select a culture area (other than North America) and have students write passages describing an area and establishing sets of coordinates. This activity can be adapted to any world culture area.

Assessing Student Learning
Have students write two paragraphs describing the place characteristics of a particular region of the United States. Then have them provide four sets of coordinates (with one set correct) to accompany their passage. Select some of the students’ descriptions and have the class (or individual students) identify the correct set of coordinates.

This lesson from TC Tool Kit: A Resource for Teacher-Consultants, National Geographic Society, 1993.