Humans are curious creatures, always wondering what lies beyond the horizon. Lewis …
Humans are curious creatures, always wondering what lies beyond the horizon. Lewis and Clark did not describe themselves as geographers, but they might well have. Geography is the study of the surface of the earth. It is about people and places. It is about the physical character of a country, its climates and landscapes, and its biological environment.
This lesson will allow students to select and share what details are …
This lesson will allow students to select and share what details are important on a topic. Groups of students will research a topic and then discuss and determine the top 25 important things someone should know about the topic.
A remix of Michigan social studies resources all in one place. In …
A remix of Michigan social studies resources all in one place. In this foundational lesson students are introduced to the ways geographers look at places and the questions they ask. Students begin by reviewing the concept of ‘community’ and the geography of their local community by completing a class chart.
The Roadmap is a remix of Michigan resources all in one place. …
The Roadmap is a remix of Michigan resources all in one place. Students review relative and absolute (street address) location. They then use a Michigan map and cardinal directions to describe the relative location of their local community. Using a map of the United States and cardinal directions, students identify a variety of ways to describe the relative location of Michigan. The lesson concludes with a brief discussion of how location influences the development of a state. This lesson serves as the launching point for subsequent lessons in both history and economics.
After reviewing natural (physical) and human characteristics from Lesson 1, students use …
After reviewing natural (physical) and human characteristics from Lesson 1, students use maps to identify and describe significant natural (physical) characteristics of Michigan including mountain ranges, sand dune areas, the Great Lakes, inland lakes and important rivers. In a connection to science students briefly explore how glaciers helped to create some of these natural (physical) characteristics. The lesson uses multiple resources including informational text, legends and photographs.
In this lesson students continue their study of the important natural (physical) …
In this lesson students continue their study of the important natural (physical) characteristics of Michigan by exploring vegetation and climate. They begin by analyzing special purpose maps of forests and orchards. Next they are introduced to the concept of climate, connecting to science topics of weather and seasons from previous grades. In addition, they briefly explore the impact of the Great Lakes on climate. The lesson also includes a chart reading activity dealing with Michigan state symbols.
Important bodies of water include the Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers and …
Important bodies of water include the Great Lakes, inland lakes, rivers and waterfalls. In a connection to science students briefly explore how glaciers helped to create some of these natural (physical) characteristics. The lesson uses multiple resources including informational text, legends and photographs.
The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and …
The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. In this lesson students continue their study of the geographic theme of ‘place’ by exploring significant human characteristics of Michigan including bridges, cities, highways and lighthouses. In addition, students explore how people interact with natural (physical) characteristics by creating human characteristics (e.g. bridges are built over rivers, towns are built along bays.)
The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and …
The Roadmap is a remix of the Michigan Open Book, MC3 and GIANTS all in one place. This lesson expands upon the concept of region by having students invent ways to divide Michigan into regions. Students compare the Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula of Michigan and then explore other ways in which Michigan can be divided into regions based on common characteristics (e.g., the Thumb, the Fruit Belt). Finally students examine regions to which Michigan belongs. (e.g., Great Lakes Region, Midwest).
This tool is used for teachers to understand what the students are …
This tool is used for teachers to understand what the students are getting out of their learning by recording three things they learned, two questions and one main idea.
A tool that helps students learn - and learn to use - …
A tool that helps students learn - and learn to use - critical academic vocabulary by transforming classroom word walls from passive displays to interactive learning tools.
On field, students have to image a given asteroid on two consecutive …
On field, students have to image a given asteroid on two consecutive nights, producing two sets of images obtained over 10-15 minutes, each set separated by about 4-5 hours. In class, students have to process the images in order to measure the observed diurnal parallax and then determine the corresponding asteroid distance.
In this unit students explore the United States through the social studies …
In this unit students explore the United States through the social studies discipline of geography. In exploring the United States in spatial terms, students first consider the location of the United States. They learn about and use a variety of geographic tools such as maps, globes, and satellite images to answer the question “Where is the United States?” Next, students examine the concept of place relative to the United States. They use songs, stories, photographs, and aerial images to investigate the question, “What is it like there?” and to describe significant physical and human characteristics. Students also use the concept of regions to compare sections of the United States. They build on their understanding that regions are defined by common characteristics and explore ways in which the United States can be divided into regions. Students then compare a region to which Michigan belongs with other regions in the United States using special purpose maps. In doing so, students examine geographic features such as elevation, climate, and patterns of population density in the United States. As a culminating project, students summarize what they have learned by creating a poster, picture book, Flipbook slide show or other visual describing the United States according to the geographic themes of location, place, and regions.
This unit on thermal energy transfer begins with students testing whether a …
This unit on thermal energy transfer begins with students testing whether a new plastic cup sold by a store keeps a drink colder for longer compared to the regular plastic cup that comes free with the drink. Students find that the drink in the regular cup warms up more than the drink in the special cup. This prompts students to identify features of the cups that are different, such as the lid, walls, and hole for the straw, that might explain why one drink warms up more than the other.
Students investigate the different cup features they conjecture are important to explaining the phenomenon, starting with the lid. They model how matter can enter or exit the cup via evaporation However, they find that in a completely closed system, the liquid inside the cup still changes temperature. This motivates the need to trace the transfer of energy into the drink as it warms up. Through a series of lab investigations and simulations, students find that there are two ways to transfer energy into the drink: (1) the absorption of light and (2) thermal energy from the warmer air around the drink. They are then challenged to design their own drink container that can perform as well as the store-bought container, following a set of design criteria and constraints.
This unit on weather, climate, and water cycling is broken into four …
This unit on weather, climate, and water cycling is broken into four separate lesson sets. In the first two lesson sets, students explain small-scale storms. In the third and fourth lesson sets, students explain mesoscale weather systems and climate-level patterns of precipitation. Each of these two parts of the unit is grounded in a different anchoring phenomenon.
The unit starts out with anchoring students in the exploration of a series of videos of hailstorms from different locations across the country at different times of the year. The videos show that pieces of ice of different sizes (some very large) are falling out of the sky, sometimes accompanied by rain and wind gusts, all on days when the temperature of the air outside remained above freezing for the entire day. These cases spark questions and ideas for investigations, such as investigating how ice can be falling from the sky on a warm day, how clouds form, why some clouds produce storms with large amounts of precipitation and others don’t, and how all that water gets into the air in the first place.
The second half of the unit is anchored in the exploration of a weather report of a winter storm that affected large portions of the midwestern United States. The maps, transcripts, and video that students analyze show them that the storm was forecasted to produce large amounts of snow and ice accumulation in large portions of the northeastern part of the country within the next day. This case sparks questions and ideas for investigations around trying to figure out what could be causing such a large-scale storm and why it would end up affecting a different part of the country a day later.
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