Geomys Lesson

Be a Geo Detective

Connie Mark, Bernice Kihara, Mary Frances Higuchi

Hawaii Geographic Alliance

November 5, 1999

Purpose: Every place is unique. This lesson uses physical and human characteristics to help students explore what makes their community unique. Students create a GeoMystery of their unique community by drawing pictures and writing clues in a way that doesn't give the reader the name of their community. The reader will need to use necessary resources to guess the location of that community. Students will compare their community with other communities. The Internet makes learning global. The GeoMystery that students create will be placed on, or linked to, the Hawaii Geographic Alliance website and become part of an electronic atlas of communities for everyone to use. The electronic atlas will enable students to explore and compare several communities.

This unit can be adapted to any grade.

Focus Questions: How do physical and human characteristics shape the uniqueness of a community? How does your community compare to others?

PART I: Physical and Human Characteristics of a Place

Essential Element: Places and Regions

Hawaii Geography Content Standard: Students understand how distinct physical and human characteristics shape places and regions

National Geography Standard: The geographically informed person knows and understands (4) the physical and human characteristics of places

Knowledge: The student knows and understands:

· (Gr. K-4: 4.1/4.2) the physical characteristics and human characteristics of places

· (Gr. 5-8: 4.1) how different physical processes shape places

· (Gr. 5-8: 4.2) how different human groups alter places in distinctive ways

Objectives: Students will be able to:

· Describe and compare the physical characteristics of places

· Describe and compare the human characteristics of places

· Analyze the physical characteristics of places

· Analyze the human characteristics of places

Vocabulary: community, physical characteristics, human characteristics, unique, boundary

Materials:

· Pictures of physical and human characteristics

· Words of places that are samples of physical and human characteristics

· Supplies: chart paper, pens

· Worksheet 1 - graphic organizer for definition

· Sample rubric for definition (Appendix A)

· Concept map (Sample: Appendix B)

· Letter to parents (Samples: Appendix C)

· If students need background on physical characteristics, see lesson on "Physical and Human Characteristics" on the HGA website: http://www.hawaii.edu/hga/Lessons/physical.html

Procedure:

A. Asking Geographic Question: What are the physical and human characteristics of a place?

Activity/Skill 1: Acquiring, organizing, analyzing geographic information. Describe and compare the physical and human characteristics of places. Prior to lesson, prepare a set of cards and pictures that depict physical and human characteristics. Distribute cards to students. Students organize cards into three categories: a) physical characteristics, b) human characteristics, and c) both physical and human characteristics. (If students don't have a strong background of physical characteristics, like landforms and waterways, begin the lesson learning about physical characteristics. Go to the HGA website for suggested lessons. If students need to review human characteristics, find pictures (i.e., airport, bridges, roads, canals, buildings) and discuss why they are human characteristics and not physical characteristics.

Answering Geographic Question: Write a definition of human and physical characteristics. Use Worksheet 1 (graphic organizer) "Definition of Physical and Human Characteristics."

Assessment: Students can differentiate between physical and human characteristics. Definition clearly shows understanding of the difference between physical and human characteristics. Students support their definition with examples. See Appendix A for rubrics on definition.

B. Asking Geographic questions: What physical and human characteristics describe our community?

Activity/Skills 2: Acquiring, Organizing, Analyzing, Answering Geographic Questions: Web information onto a concept map. Organize ideas into physical and human characteristics. Analyze the physical and human characteristics that students have suggested that describe their community. (See Appendix B for sample of concept map.)

Younger students can ask parents to help generate ideas. (See Appendix C for sample parent letters.) Revisit concept map. Add new information or add details to previous entries to answer what students know, see, and do in the community. Correct misconceptions. (If boundary of community is not obvious, use a map to locate different characteristics to ensure that they are located in the community.)

Assessment: Check if students can generate ideas that describe the community. Check concept map for accuracy of information. Are they able to organize and analyze their ideas? Are they able to describe their community using physical and human characteristics?

PART II:

Essential Element: The World in Spatial Terms

Hawaii Geography Content Standard: Students use geographic representations to organize, analyze, and present information on people, places, and environments

National Geography Standard: The geographically informed person knows and understands how to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context

Knowledge: The student knows and understands:

· (Gr. K-4: 2.1) The locations of places within the local community and in nearby communities

· (Gr. 5-8: 2.1) The distribution of major physical and human features at different scales (local to global)

· (Gr. 5-8: 2.2) How to translate mental maps into appropriate graphics to display geographic information and answer geographic questions

Objectives: Students will be able to:

· Use a mental map to identify the locations of places (K-4)

· Identify the locations of certain physical and human features on maps and globes and answer geographic questions

· Use mental maps to answer geographic questions

Vocabulary:

absolute/relative location, alphanumeric grid system

Materials:

· community maps

· physical and human characteristics from community and other places

Procedure:

A. Asking Geographic Questions: Where are the unique physical and human characteristics located, locally and globally? How does location affect the physical and human characteristics of a place?

Activity/Skills 1: Organizing and Analyzing Geographic Information, Answering Geographic Questions: Identify locations of well-known features like culture hearths (i.e., Mesopotamia, Nile River Valley, Huang Ho, Yucatan Peninsula), large urban areas, major landforms, and climate regions. Discuss how location affects the characteristics of places.

Locate the physical and human characteristics of the local community that students generated from Part I on a community map.

Analyze where the characteristics are located. Do they note any relationship between the physical and human characteristics? How do the political, historical, environmental, economic, physical, or spatial aspects affect the locality of the generated features? Write a short essay to explain your findings.

Assessment: How well do the essays describe and analyze how location affects the characteristics of a place?

PART III:

Essential Element: Places and Regions

Hawaii Geography Content Standard: Students understand how distinct physical and human characteristics shape places and regions

National Geography Standard: The geographically informed person knows and understands (6) how culture and experience influence peopleís perceptions of places and regions

Knowledge: The student knows and understands:

(Gr. 5-8: 6.3) how places and regions serve as cultural symbols

Objectives: Students will be able to:

1) (Gr. 5-8: 6.D) Illustrate and explain how places and regions serve as cultural symbols.

Materials:

· Concept map from Part I

· Supplies: paper, pens, crayons

· References: for latitude/longitude

· Camera, film, processing if photos will be added

· Worksheet 2 "What Physical and Human Characteristics Are Unique to My Community?"

· Appendix D "Is This Unique to Pearl City?"

Procedure:

A. Asking Geographic Questions: What physical and human characteristics make your community unique? What can you find in your community that you donít see in other communities?

Activity/Skills 1: Analyzing Geographic Information: Analyze and identify unique characteristics of your community. Include physical and human characteristics. Use Worksheet 2 "What Physical and Human Characteristics Are Unique to My Community?" List characteristics. For each characteristic, students will ask, "Is this unique to our community?" Keep the characteristics that students answer, "yes." See Appendix D "Is This Unique to Pearl City?" for sample from Waiau Elem.

Explain how your community is unique. Support your answers.

Assessment: Check if students' explanations are clear and accurate. Are the physical and human characteristics the students used unique to the community? Were they able to justify their findings?

Activity/Skills 2: Answering Geographic Questions:

Using the unique clues from the previous activity, draw pictures of the characteristics. Write descriptions for each. When writing descriptions, students should write them in a way that describes the characteristics without giving the name of the community. If students' knowledge is limited, they need to research for more information. As a final clue, provide the latitude and longitude for the community. Photograph the different sites. (We found that photos help the viewer, but this will be left up to the teacher in charge of the project.) Check the HGA web site to see how others illustrate their pictures. <http://www.hawaii.edu/hga> Click on "GeoMystery" to find your way to a "Collection of GeoMysteries." Or, go directly to the site at http://www.hern.hawaii.edu/hern96/pt053/GEOMYstery/geomysCOL.html

Assessment: Check for accuracy. Do pictures and statements accurately depict the characteristics? Together do they answer the question, "How do the physical and human characteristics make my community unique?" See sample rubrics (Appendix A) for "Entry."

PART IV:

Essential Element: Places and Regions

Hawaii Geography Content: Students understand how distinct physical and human characteristics shape places and regions

National Geography Standard: The geographically informed person knows and understands (4) the physical and human characteristics of places

Knowledge: The student knows and understands

· (Gr. 5-8: 4.3) how physical and human processes together shape places

Objectives: Students will be able to:

· (Gr. 5-8: 4.C) Describe and compare different places at a variety of scales, local to global

Vocabulary:

services, amenities, settlement, landmarks, rural, urban, suburban

Materials:

· Worksheet 3 "Suggested Categories for Data Collection"

· Road Atlas of the United States

· Worksheet 4 "Comparing Communities"

Procedure:

A. Asking Geographic Questions: How is our community similar or different from other communities?

Activity/Skills 1: Acquiring Geographic Information:

Examine and acquire information of other communities by using the GeoMystery Project on the Internet http://www.hawaii.edu/hga Click on "GeoMystery" Project. Go to "A Collection of GeoMysteries."

Assessment: Are students able to locate the different communities using the given clues? Were they able to use the right resources to find their answers? At the very least, students should be able to at least find the states that the communities are in or be in close proximity to the sites.

Activity/Skills 2: Acquire, Organize, Analyze Geographic Information, Answer Geographic Questions:

Collect data on the different communities. Record data on Worksheet 3. Use the analysis graphic organizer, Worksheet 4 to organize and interpret the data collected. Analyze findings. If questions arise, students need to send an email message to the class that developed the GeoMystery. Using the information, write an essay that addresses the focus questions, "How do physical and human characteristics shape the uniqueness of a community? How does your community compare with other communities?"

Assessment: Check for understanding. Use rubrics for essay (Appendix A)

PART V:

Part V is the technology section. Basically, we have used geography as the content to have students study their community and compare it with other communities. Ideally, the teacher and the students would place the pictures, photographs, and statements on the school's web site. We then link to the school's site so the class can be part of the electronic atlas. However, if this isn't possible, we will place it on the Hawaii Geographic Alliance Web site. Send us your pictures and statements. We have not included the standards for the use of multimedia since the skills and capabilities differ in each classroom.