Grade 3

Social Studies

Unit: 04 Lesson: 02

Lesson Synopsis:

Humans form communities to help meet their needs. When humans endeavor to provide for their needs, they create human characteristics by building structures, clearing land, or planting crops. In this lesson, students learn about the human characteristics in the local community, and other communities. The students practice using map elements to study location, distance, and directions. Students will create maps of the local community, comparing differences in human characteristics in rural and urban communities.

TEKS:

3.2 / History. The student understands common characteristics of communities, past and present. The student is expected to:
3.2A / Identify reasons people have formed communities, including a need for security, religious freedom, law, and material well-being.
3.2B / Identify ways in which people in the local community and other communities meet their needs for government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation.
3.2C / Compare ways in which various other communities meet their needs.
3.5 / Geography. The student understands the concepts of location, distance, and direction on maps and globes. The student is expected to:
3.5A / Use cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on maps and globes such as the Rocky Mountains, the Mississippi River, and Austin, Texas, in relation to the local community.
3.5B / Use a scale to determine the distance between places on maps and globes.
3.5C / Identify and use the compass rose, grid system, and symbols to locate places on maps and globes.
3.5D / Create and interpret maps of places and regions that contain map elements including a title, compass rose, legend, scale, and grid system.
3.9 / Government. The student understands the basic structure and functions of various levels of government. The student is expected to:
3.9C / Identify services commonly provided by local, state and national governments; and

Social Studies SkillsTEKS:

3.17 / Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
3.17E / Interpret and create visuals including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations, and maps.
3.18 / Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
3.18A / Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences.
Getting Ready for Instruction
Performance Indicator(s):
  • Draw a map of the local community (or part of the local community). Include (and label) at least 5 human characteristics that help people meet their needs, such as their needs for security, religious freedom, law, material well-being meeting, government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation. Explain the map to an adult and a classmate. (3.2A, 3.2B; 3.5C, 3.5D; 3.17E; 3.18A)1F

Key Understandings and Guiding Questions:
  • Las comunidades tienen características humanas relacionadas con el lugar que ayudan a la gente a cubrir sus necesidades.

—¿Cómo se usan los elementos de un mapa para interpretar mapas y globos terráqueos y aprender sobre las comunidades?

—¿Por qué la gente forma comunidades?

—¿Cómo satisface la gente que vive en comunidades sus necesidades de gobierno, educación, comunicación, transporte y recreación?

—¿Cuáles servicios se ofrecen comúnmente a través de los gobiernos municipal, estatal y nacional?

Vocabulary of Instruction:
  • características humanas
  • transporte
/
  • necesidades
  • suburbio
/
  • rural
  • urbano

Materials:
  • Refer to the Notes for Teacher section for materials.

Attachments:
  • Teacher Resource: Story: Point of Beginning(optional)
  • Teacher Resource: Government Chart of Local, State and National Services(optional)

Resources and References:
  • Information on surveying tools
  • Picture of George Washington as a surveyor

Advance Preparation:

1.Become familiar with content and procedures for the lesson, including the human characteristics of the local community.

2.Refer to the Instructional Focus Document for specific content to include in the lesson.

3.Select appropriate sections of the textbook and other classroom materials that support the learning for this lesson.

4.Preview available resources and websites according to district guidelines.

5.Locate pictures and information related to Gunter’s chain and the Point of Beginning.

6.Take pictures of human characteristics of place in the local community (schools, buildings, roads, bridges, library, post office, city hall)

7.Locate a map of the local community. Add a grid to the local map if there is not one already.

8.Prepare materials and handouts as needed.

Background Information:

In the previous lesson students investigated the people, ideas, and events that change communities. In this lesson students further that investigation by adding the geography element and looking more closely at the human characteristics of communities.

Teachers must have a solid grasp of the human characteristics, important places, and people in the history of the community. Visit with local historians, visit museums when available to learn the history of the community, and the structures and other human characteristics in the community.

Human characteristics are things created by man to solve problems and help meet their needs, including basic needs and the economic, social, and political needs that result from living in communities. For example, people form communities to help meet their need for security, which may require a police force (specialization); this requires rules and procedures to ensure a safe environment, cars, and buildings to help fulfill the requirements.

Human characteristics include the types of houses people build (to solve the need for shelter), the ways peopleearn a living, the games children play, the languages people speak, their religious beliefs, their ethnicity, the daily schedules they follow, the foods they eat, and how the people govern themselves. This lesson focuses on the structures that are evidence of people’s needs.

Getting Ready for Instruction Supplemental Planning Document

Instructors are encouraged to supplement and substitute resources, materials, and activities to differentiate instruction to address the needs of learners. The Exemplar Lessons are one approach to teaching and reaching the Performance Indicators and Specificity in the Instructional Focus Document for this unit. Instructors are encouraged to create original lessons using the Content Creator in the Tools Tab located at the top of the page. All originally authored lessons can be saved in the “My CSCOPE” Tab within the “My Content” area.

Instructional Procedures
Instructional Procedures / Notes for Teacher
ENGAGE –Grid Systems Measure Our Community / NOTE: 1 Day = 50 minutes
Suggested Day 1 15 minutes
  1. To help students build the conceptual understanding related to reading a grid system on maps, group students into a blue team and a red team. Students remain in their seats.
  1. The teacher stands in front of the overhead projector or document camera and asks the first student on the Blue team for a letter of the alphabet and a number 1 – 20. (The teacher uses a blank overhead transparency or sheet of blank paper, visualizing where the lines on a 5x5 grid would be, but does not write any clues where the students can see. See example in Notes for Teacher at right.)
  1. If the student names a pair that will be within the parameters of the grid, teacher draws the square and colors it Blue (pairs from A1 to E5 can be accepted if your grid is 5x5.)
  1. If the student does not name a pair within the parameters of the grid(perhaps the student said B12), just say “No,” and ask the first player on the other team for a number and letter. Do not explain why the pair is acceptable or not acceptable.
  1. Continue until students understand the rules and how to read a grid. (A “no talking” rule allows each student to build individual understanding of the concept and adds to the suspense. If desired, award teams points for colored squares in order to name a winner.)
  1. Remove this transparency or paper and place a transparency or paper with the grid marked on it onto the overhead.Play the game again, this time with the axis labels. Play the game again, quickly, and then review the rules.
  1. Apply the learning about the grid to maps. Distribute student copies of a simple map of the local community with a grid. Teacher uses the same map.
  1. Students explore the map to find the locations of various places in the community.Model this activity for greater student understanding. (e.g. Where is the public library? What is at A-4?)Model the use of academic language and geographic terms.
/ Materials:
  • overhead or document camera
  • blank transparency or paper
  • transparency or paper with a 5x5 grid
  • markers (blue and red)
  • chart paper
  • chart markers
  • map of the community with a grid system (1 per student and 1 for Teacher
TEKS: 3.5C, 3.5D
Instructional Note:
In this Concept Attainment strategy, students build the “rules” and understanding of the concept of reading a grid as the activity continues.
Instructional Note
In order to later match math conventions students will need in later years, make sure students build the correct habits by reading the square names with X-axis first and then y-axis (A-1, D-3.)
Example of Game Grid:
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
A
B
C
D
E
Check for Understanding
Do students understand why we need a grid system on a map?
EXTENSION (optional) – Measuring the Land / Suggested Day 1 (continued)20 minutes
  1. Continue the discussion about map grids. Students speculate on when they think communities in America began using the grid system to measure the land. Encourage thinking with questions such as: Was there ever a time in America when land was not measured? Does land need to be measured? Why or why not? Why might measuring with a grid be helpful?
  1. Read aloud the story from Teacher Resource: Story: Point of Beginning. Show a picture of the chain and talk about Gunter’s chain. Ask questions that will guide students tounderstand that today the same grid system is used, but a laser system is used to do the measuring. (Students may have observed a surveyor on the streets and roads today measuring with a tripod and laser. See the optional Teacher Resource: Clips of Surveyor.)
  1. Facilitate a discussion where students speculate on the impact of measuring the land and the impact it has had on the local community. Relate surveying to maps and map elements (scale, direction, etc.)
/ Materials:
  • Pictures of Gunter’s chain and the Point of Beginning
  • Information on surveying tools
  • Picture of George Washington as a surveyor
Attachments:
  • Teacher Resource: Story: Point of Beginning

EXPLORE/EXPLAIN–People Impact the Community / Suggested Day 1 (continued)15 minutes
  1. Post pictures of structures from around the community around the room or on a bulletin board. Leave a blank space beneath.
  1. Remind students that humans have changed the land as they have searched for ways to meet their needs. (Refer to Lesson 1 where reasons people formed communities was discussed briefly.See Teacher Resource: People Form Communities from Unit 4, Lesson 1).
  1. Students use sticky notes to write names of places or structures they recognize and place the notes beneath the pictures. (Check that all structures are identified and named correctly.)
  1. Divide class into small groups to practice map skills. Supply each group with a map of the local community.
  1. As students become familiar with the map of the local community, review with students what they know about map elements. Students locate (or add) the title, the compass rose and directions, the date, the author, the legend. Also note the grid and scale, if present.
  1. Student pairsstudy the map and locate some ways people have made changes or modified the community to make it a better place to live by helping people solve their need for security, religious freedom, law, and material well-being, as well as their needs for government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation. (Examples of things to look for include bridges, buildings, library, schools, fire department, courthouse, gas stations, grocery stores, parks, stadiums, churches, streets, roads, farms, wells – anything built by people that modifies the land in the community.). The Teacher Resource: People Form Communities (from Unit 4, Lesson 1) can help facilitate this discussion.
  1. When students locate a place, they practice saying the coordinates, e.g. the public library is at C-12.
  1. Help students understand that these are the human characteristics of our community – features created by humans.
/ Materials:
  • Map of the local community (from Engage section)
  • Pictures of structures from around the community
  • Sticky notes
  • Teacher Resource: People Form Communities (from Unit 4, Lesson 1)
TEKS: 3.2A, 3.2B; 3.18A
Instructional Notes:
  • Take pictures around the community and place them without descriptors or titles on a bulletin board.
  • Community maps may be available online or from a local government office or tourism bureau.
  • Add a grid to the local map if there is not one already.

EXPLORE/EXPLAIN –People meet needs in the community / Suggested Day 2 20 minutes
  1. Divide the class into small groups (up to 10 groups).
  1. Students discuss the changes (modifications) people made to the physical environment and why they might have been made. Guide students to understand that when people solve problems and meet their needs they modify the landscape by adding human characteristics. Suggested questions could include:
  • Why do you think people made so many changes to the land?
  • Why and where was a bridge built? (i.e., People needed a more convenient way to get to the other side, so they built a bridge.)
  • Why are there schools, police stations, fire stations, a court house, a jail?(i.e., The community had needs for safety and security, so they found ways to ensure those needs.)
  • Why are there libraries, hospitals, colleges, roads, churches, restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, homes, apartment buildings? (needs for education, religious freedom, transportation, food, clothing, shelter)
  • Why are there parks, hiking and biking trails, and stadiums? (need for recreation)
  1. Create an anchor chart of student responses.
  1. Guide students to connect the ideas that the people who live in a community want places, goods, and services in their community. This helps them meet their needs for education, security, religious freedom, laws, material well-being, government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation. Explain that humans modify the place they live to accomplish this. (Refer to the anchor chart they just created to make connections.)
  1. Place 10 large pieces of paper around the room. Title them education, security, religious freedom, laws, material well-being, government, education, communication, transportation, and recreation.
  1. Student groups choose one category and write a summary sentence identifying a human characteristic related to the chart title and explaining why people would want this in their community (what need is being met and how the change helped solve the problem and meet the need).
  1. Provide sentence starters such as:
  • People include ______in their community because…
  1. Groups rotate and add sentences to each chart. (Groups rotate as time allows. Students should visit at least three charts)
  1. Students do a “gallery walk” to read the sentences added to each of the categories, using academic language as they discuss the sentences in their small groups.
/ Materials:
  • Chart/butcher paper (10 pieces)
  • chart markers
TEKS: 3.2A; 3.18A
Instructional Notes:
A gallery walk is a discussion technique
that allows students to work together in
small groups to share ideas and respond
to meaningful questions, scenarios,
and/or texts. After all groups have visited each poster and added their ideas, the information from each poster is shared visually. Each group rotates to each completed poster, discussing the final comments as appropriate. This allows all ideas to be shared with the whole class without each group orally presenting.
EXPLORE–Human Characteristics / Suggested Day 2 (continued)15 minutes
  1. Remind students of the definition of human and physical characteristics of place and of different classifications of communities, including the meaning of urban, rural and suburban. Facilitate a discussion about communities. Include a comparison of urban, rural and suburban communities.
  1. Show pictures of communities of different sizes and from different regions.
  1. Talk about examples of each, encouraging students to talk about the processes humans employ to change the physical environment and community.
  1. Ask questions such as:
  • Do urban, suburban, and rural communities have the same human characteristics?
  • Do urban, suburban, and rural communities have different human characteristics?
  • Why?
  1. Continue the discussion to allow students to describe (summarize characteristics) a rural, urban and suburban community. Can they identify the type of community in which they live?
  1. On a Texas map, students locate the local community and other communities(includecommunities in the pictures and at least one they have been comparing). Use academic language to describe the relationship between the communities. Use the map scale to figure the distance between at least two communities.
  1. Show a map of the United States and repeat the activity to add perspective to practice map skills. Includelocating places on maps and globes such as the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River (physical characteristics), and Austin, Texas, (human characteristics) in relation to the local community. (This activity also reinforces understanding of the relationship between community, state, and nation.)
/ Materials:
  • Map of local community
  • Maps of different communities(of different sizes)
  • map of Texas
  • map of United States
  • globe(s)
TEKS: 3.2C;3.5A, 3.5B, 3.5C,3.5D; 3.18A