Social Studies – Second Grade
Unit of Study: Our Earth
Third Grading Period – Unit 1 (5 Weeks) CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
Big Idea / Unit RationaleEnduring Understandings
□ Landforms have identifying characteristics.
□ Maps are tools geographers use to identify locations of landforms, regions, and cities.
□ Characteristics of place influence where people live and what they do there.
□ People depend on the natural environment to satisfy their basic needs.
□ We must care for our Earth and its natural resources.
Essential Questions
□ What does a geographer do?
□ What are characteristics of different landforms?
□ How do maps help us?
□ How do people use our Earth to meet basic needs?
□ What influences where people live?
□ Why is it important to keep our Earth healthy? / It is important for children to understand the Earth’s landforms and bodies of water, and how this helps shape the locations and characteristics of communities. Maps help us locate both landforms and cities in the world. Countless maps exist, but they all address three basic questions: Where am I? Where do I want to go? How do I get there? Understanding a map can shed light on a people's everyday life through the technologies, social structures, and environments that shape and influence their world.
Lessons for this Unit
□ Lesson 1 – Interview with a Geographer (Weeks 1 and 2 – 8 days)
□ Lesson 2 – Where People Live (Week 3 – 5 days)
□ Lesson 3 – Caring for Our Earth (Weeks 4 and 5 – 10 days)
TEKS / TEKS Specificity - Intended Outcome
Concepts / TEKS 2.6 Geography – The student understands the locations and
characteristics of places and regions.
C. Compare information from different sources about places and regions.
TEKS 2.7 Geography– The student understands how physical characteristics of places and regions affect people’s activities and settlement patterns.
A. Describe how weather patterns, natural resources, seasonal patterns, and
natural hazards affect activities and settlement patterns.
B. Explain how people depend on the physical environment and its natural
resources to satisfy their basic needs.
TEKS 2.8 Geography – the student understands how humans use and modify the physical environment.
A. Identify ways in which people depend on the physical environment, including
natural resources, to meet basic needs.
TEKS 2.10 Economics – the student understands the roles of producers and consumers in the production of goods and services.
B. Identify ways in which people are both producers and consumers / ” I CAN” statements highlighted in yellow should be displayed for students
· Use a map key to interpret maps. (5A)
· Describe how my family uses the Earth’s land and water to satisfy our basic needs. (8A)
· Determine advantages and disadvantages of various environments with respect to meeting our basic needs. (8B)
· Identify the unique characteristics of landforms. (6A)
· Create a riddle to demonstrate my understanding of new vocabulary. (18B)
· Compare and contrast communities. (6C)
· Categorize places, such as a desert area, an island, and the plains, based on their key characteristics. (6C)
· Identify ways people can conserve and replenish natural resources. (8D)
· Identify how humans modify their physical environment to satisfy basic needs. (8B)
· Identify patriotic songs such as America the Beautiful and This Land is Your Land. (14A)
Skills / TEKS 2.17 Social Studies Skills – The student applies critical thinking skills to organized and use information acquired from a variety of sources, including electronic technology.
A. Obtain information about a topic using a variety of oral sources such as conversations, interviews, and music.
B. Obtain information about a topic using a variety of visual sources such as pictures, graphics, television, maps, computer software, literature, reference sources, and artifacts.
E. Interpret oral, visual, and print material by identifying the main idea,
predicting, and comparing and contrasting.
TEKS 2.18 Social Studies Skills -The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms.
A. Express ideas orally, based on knowledge and experiences.
A. Create written and visual material such as stories, poems, maps, and graphic
organizers to express ideas. / I can:
· Learn new information from listening. (17A)
· Learn new information using pictures, television, the computer, literature and artifacts. (17B)
· Interpret information and identify the main idea (or predict, or compare and contrast). (17E)
· Interpret information about geography using pictures and literature. (17A)
· Express ideas orally about where people live and caring for our earth. (18A)
· Create written and visual material about geography. (18A)
· Explain what I have learned about geography and history in an oral presentation. (18A)
· Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution. (19A)
Evidence of Learning
□ Given a map, the student will identify the locations of specific landforms with 80% accuracy.
□ Given a list of natural resources, the student will identify ways to both use and conserve them with 80% accuracy.
□ Given a location, the student will describe how humans depend on and modify the environment to meet basic needs with 80% accuracy.
□ Given an environmental problem, the student will follow the problem-solving and decision-making process to solve the problem with 80% accuracy.
Social Studies – Second Grade
Third Grading Period (3 days) Lesson 1: Interview with a Geographer CURRICULUM GUIDE
Essential Questions / Essential Pre-requisite SkillsEnduring Understandings
□ Maps are useful tools in society, not only in everyday life to find directions, but also in researching different parts of the world.
□ Earth’s surface consists of landforms and bodies of water.
□ A globe is a model of the earth.
Essential Questions
□ How is our Earth beautiful and how can we keep it that way?
□ What are characteristics of different landforms?
□ How do we use maps?
□ How do we use our Earth do meet our basic needs?
□ How do natural resources, climate, and weather help people decide where to live? / □ Identify examples of and uses for natural resources in the community, state, and nation. (1st)
□ Locate places using cardinal direction. (1st)
□ Create and use maps to locate and identify significant places. (1st)
□ Identify problems and situations requiring decisions, gather information, consider options, predict consequences, take action, and evaluate solutions/decisions. (1st)
The Teaching Plan
Instructional Model & Teacher Directions
The teacher will… / So students can…
· Teacher note: Prepare for these lessons by having a variety of maps to distribute (zoo, Six Flags, Sea World, Mall of America, etc.).
Day 1:
Activating Prior Knowledge
Hook Activity
· Begin the unit with the song, This Land Is Your Land, on page 49. Have a U.S, map available to point out California, New York, the Pacific Northwest, and the Gulf of Mexico. Share images accessed from the Internet, if possible, to share the beauty that is referred to. Utilize the Read Alouds and Primary Resources, page 10, for the lyrics. If at all possible, share images of the land Woody Guthrie sings about.
· Discuss the different communities (New York), landforms (valleys), and uses (ribbon of highways) of our Earth as expressed in the lyrics.
· Tell the students they will be learning about our Earth, its landforms, places we live, and how we use it to meet our basic needs. To build awareness of the key concepts of the unit, help students think about what they already know. Ten Most Important Words: Ask them to predict in pairs what they think the 10 most important words of the unit will be. Then pairs share their lists with another pair – and they agree to a final list which is then posted. The lists are continually referred to and revised. At the end of the unit, the class reflects on which ten were the most important after all. / I can:
· Use music to learn about a topic. (17A)
· Identify various landforms and the unique beauty of each. (6A)
· Explore ways to protect our Earth.
· Express ideas orally. (18A)
· Express ideas in written and visual form. (18B)
Day 2:
Guided Practice
· Look at the map on pages 52 – 53. Have students pair up, using the Say Something strategy: students take turns at intervals reading the map, identifying ideas represented in the map. They may also respond to teacher questions such as: “What natural resources does the farm have that they use to satisfy basic human needs?” “How has the farm modified the environment…what might it have looked like before the farmer settled there?” “How does the map of the farm help visitors?”
· Use the text on pages 54 – 55 to reinforce the concept of cause and effect, reminding students that as they learn about the Earth we live on and how we use it, we will be using this skill to gain information. In their journals, guide students to create a T-Chart labeled Cause and Effect. Record the information from these pages here, leaving room to continuously add to it throughout the unit. Reading Strategy: Echo Read (Carbo, 1997) – the teacher reads and discusses the text, then reads a sentence or two, and the students repeat it using the same intonations.
Day 3:
· For a literature connection on maps, share A.A. Milne’s map of the 100 Acre Woods, or any other literary map to initiate a discussion on the purpose of maps. Questions can include: What do you see in the map? Are there any symbols that Milne uses to help us understand the map? How is this map similar/different to other maps you’ve seen?
· Using the book “As the Crow Flies: A Book of Maps,” initiate discussion on the uses of maps and the various types of maps. Display a map or an atlas to stimulate discussion on landforms. List and describe geographical shapes. Because each landform and body of water has its own special size and shape, initiate a discussion of some of the geographical features of the United States.
· In their journals, students can reinforce their knowledge of new vocabulary using the Split Screen Strategy: divide the page in half vertically. Label the left “Words: Ideas and Details” and the right “Pictures: Sketches and Doodles” (no pictures). Use the images and text on pages 56 – 59 as the main resource. Supplement with other resources as you see fit.
· For a real world application of what a geographer does, visit the website http://www.fieldmuseum.org/maps/research.asp to show a variety of ways mapping is used in our world. / · Use maps to gain information. (5A)
· Compare information from different sources about places. (6C)
· Identify ways in which people depend on the physical environment. (8A)
· Identify ways in which people have modified the physical environment. (8B)
· Identify the effects of this modification, both positive and negative. (8C)
· Identify ways people can conserve and replenish natural resources. (8D)
Independent Practice:
· Complete page 15 in the Workbook. Answer the questions and color the landforms and bodies of water.
· Optional Assessment: Make a map of your community using KidPix. Send the map and directions for getting to your school from your home to a visiting speaker, the data clerk’s office, families, etc. / · Draw maps to show places and routes. (5B)
· Identify major landforms and bodies of water, including continents and oceans, on maps and globes. (6A)
Vocabulary:
· geography (geografía)
· landform (accidente geografico)
· compass rose (rosa náutical)
· natural resources (recursos naturales)
· modify (modificar) / Resources:
Scott Foresman Social Studies Textbook – People and Places/Jente y lugares
· Send home the Dear Family guide for Unit 2, page TE 23 and 24
· Read Aloud and Primary Sources “This Land is Your Land” pages 10 – 11.
· Unit 2 Lesson 1: Interview with a Geographer pp. 56-59
Technology Integration:
· Explore Your State With Maps: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/03/gk2/exploremaps.html
· http://www.nps.gov Use this link to explore America’s range of national parks. It can be used along with the lesson: Geotourism, Be a Friend to Our Parks at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/06/gk2/geofriendly.html
Suggested Literature:
· Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years, by David Sobel (Teacher Reference)
· Blast Off to Earth!: A Look at Geography, by Loreen Leedy
· My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States, selected by Lee Bennett (Teacher Reference)
· The Armadillo from Amarillo by Lynne Cherry
· My Map Book by Sara Finelly
· Where Do I Live? by Neil Chesanow
· Mapping Penny’s World by Loreen Leedy
· Me On the Map by Joan Sweeney
Evidence of Learning
Differentiation / Interims/TAKS/Benchmarks / College-Readiness
Anticipated Skills for SAT/ACT/College Board
What do you do for students who need more support?
· Guide them to vocabulary acquisition of landforms by using their hands as analogies for landforms (finger is a peninsula; knuckles are mountains, spaces between them are valleys, etc.)
· Draw a map of their route from home to school.
What do you do for students who master the learning
quickly?
· Create riddles to demonstrate understanding of new vocabulary. See TE page 61a for reference. / A ______is an example of a landform.
A. park
B. mountain
C. cloud
D. map key
Social Studies – Second Grade
Third Grading Period (5 days) Lesson 1: Interview with a Geographer (continued) CURRICULUM GUIDE
Essential Questions / Essential Pre-requisite SkillsEnduring Understandings
□ Maps are useful tools in society, not only in everyday life to find directions, but also in researching different parts of the world.
□ Earth’s surface consists of landforms and bodies of water.
Essential Questions
□ How is our Earth beautiful and how can we keep it that way?
□ What are characteristics of different landforms?
□ How are maps used?
□ How do we use our Earth do meet our basic needs?