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"Region" Out to Everyone: Geographic Regions Defined (Grades 9-10)

Master Teacher

Gary Purinton

Time Allotment

One 45-50-minute class period

Overview

By using New England as a focus, students will collect data and organize it into a concept map. Through discussion and a short video, students will begin to see the definition of regions and how flexible they are in geographic terms. In the process they will encounter information and terms that are unique to this area that help them define one of the five themes of geography, "region."

Subject Matter

Geography

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

define a region
collect data about New England from short video and organize this data into a regional concept map
draw conclusions based upon their data collection and analysis

South Carolina Standards

These Standards can be found online at Office of Curriculum Standards.

Social Studies
Grade 10 _ 10.5.4 Assess how multiple criteria can be used to define a region.

Grade 10 _ 10.5.5 Describe the structure of regional systems.

Grade 10 _ 10.5.7 Analyze geographic issues using regions

Media Components

Video

United States Geography, Lesson 2: "New England Region." Students will learn how geography helped shaped the history, government and business of this region.

Materials

Per student:

Regions Worksheet

Copy the following two sheets onto one sheet front and back:

Regions Worksheet 2: Reasons for Regions
Outline map of USA

Concept Map for New England Region

Computer for teacher with PowerPoint and LCD projector.

U.S. / World Wall Map

Inspiration Software for creating concept maps

colored pencils

Prep for Teachers

Prepare handouts for all students (for use before and during video)

Create PowerPoint slide presentation with examples of regions for use in the Learning Activity, Step 3.

Boot up computer and set to PowerPoint presentation.

Cue videotape to first segment on New England.

When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Introduce the characteristics of a region. Ask: What do Alaska, the Caribbean, a desert and "the Grand Strand (Myrtle Beach, SC)" have in common? Use Inspiration or a similar mapping tool to record students brainstorming. Lead students to discover that the geographic term common to each is region. Tell students that they will be learning about regions—areas defined by certain unifying characteristics.

Step 2: Give students the Regions Worksheet (Activity Sheet 1) and have them identify regions (individually or in small groups) within your classroom, school, or community.

Step 3: Ask them to define the boundaries of the regions in Step 1 as specifically as possible, and to list the characteristics that define the regions. Give students four to five minutes to respond. Answers will vary. (Possible responses include: an area of the room where the teacher's desk is located, the computer area, a section of the cafeteria where the athletes sit, or a neighborhood where the wealthy people live.)

Learning Activities

Step 1: Developing the definition of a region. Ask students to list several examples of regions. Make sure students understand regions by offering the following examples on the LCD projector using pictures inserted into PowerPoint to display these examples:

Examples of physical regions include climates; vegetation zones; biomes; general physical areas, such as mountains; and specific physical areas, such as the Rocky Mountains.
Examples of cultural regions include Middle East, Latin America, and Silicon Valley.
Examples of global regions include areas with similar soil types, religions, climates, and languages.
Examples of local regions include school districts, fire districts, and zip code areas.

Step 2: Before you continue, make sure students understand that all regions encompass a specific area and are different from other regions in a significant way. Regions can be any size.

Step 3: Ask the students to define regions in a complete sentence or two.

Step 4: Give students the New England Concept map to fill in.

Step 5: Provide a Focus for Media Interaction by asking the students to observe the images of New England so they will be able to fill in their concept map activity sheet. START the video at the beginning and play until you hear "Yankee ingenuity" and see an image of a waterwheel. The segment lasts approximately nine minutes.

Step 6: Have students share observations and if necessary play the video segment again.

Culminating Activity

Now the students will learn how to determine the boundaries of a region.

Step 1: Give each student a copy of Activity Sheet #2 with an outline map of the U.S.A. on the front and the "reasons for regions" on the back and two colored pencils.

Step 2: Ask them to draw boundaries on their maps for two regions commonly known and frequently used in popular speech and literature—New England and the South. Designate a separate color to outline the boundaries of each region. Students may need to consult reference maps for this exercise.

Step 3: Have them turn over their outline maps and list the reasons why they drew the boundaries for each region where they did. Give them about five minutes to do this. Remind them that regions can be defined differently by different people.

Step 4: Summarize by showing that each student's regions varied depending on the criteria selected. No student was more right than the other; each was equally valid as long as the area within the region fit the definition of the region.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Pop Culture: As an exercise in regionalization (the process of determining regions), ask students to pick an aspect of popular culture easily defined by region. For example, students may choose professional sports affiliations, regional cuisines, or areas of popular music preference. Using their understanding of regions, have them draw boundaries on a map. Have them label each region and justify their regional boundaries.

Art: Have students define regions based on the different artistic movements in the world.

Science: Have students create a list of weather regions throughout the world.

Community Connections

Invite a local weatherman to come speak to your class and have him focus on weather regions in the U.S.