1. The Question How do geographic characteristics help classify places and regions? Let’s think about how we can describe the regions of the United States using those geographic characteristics. Who remembers what they are? Click on the links provided to find some information on the regions Next These materials are prepared by Heather Miller, William Winchester E.S.

2. The Student Activity 1. Your job is to research one region of the United States. Use the organizer provided to think about the geographic characteristics such as climate, animal life, landforms, and plant life. 2.Choose one item from each category to represent your region on the map. 3.Draw a picture of each one of those items. 4.Glue your pictures onto the class map in the correct region Next

3. Information Sources The Forest ThinkQuest Woodland Animals Woodland Plants Climate The Desert Blue Planet Desert Animals and Wildlife Desert Climate The Plains Plains Plant and Animal Life Plains Next The Coast Climate Coastal Wildlife Coastal Plants The Mountains Mountain Wildlife Mountain Plant Life Rocky Mountains

4. The Assessment Activity Choose 2 regions of the United States. Compare and contrast those regions. Write one paragraph about how they are the same. Write one paragraph about how they are different Next Example: The mountain region of the United States is very similar to the forest region. Both regions have many different kinds of wildlife such as bears and deer. The mountain region and forest region both have trees. It is rainy, sunny, and cold in both regions. However, there are also some differences between the two regions. The mountain region has high elevation where the ground juts up into the sky. Some forests are at low elevations also. Forests contain wildlife such as elk and rodents and the mountain region does not.

5. Enrichment Activities The rain forest region of South America is very different from our forest regions. Find some information on the rain forest using the links below. Rainforest Facts Rainforest Biomes Pretend that you have just taken a trip to the rain forest. Write a letter to your teacher telling about what you have seen. Be sure to include at least 3 characteristics of that region Next

6. Teacher Support Materials This activity was created to accompany “The World Around Me” unit, Lesson 9 of the Carroll County Public Schools social studies curriculum. It is also aligned with Writing benchmark indicators. (Begins to organize information with a main idea and supporting details/simple paragraph (group of sentences about the same subject or topic) This activity aligns to the Social Studies VSC for second grade: –. Classify places and regions –Describe and classify how natural/physical features, such as peninsulas, beaches, coastlines identify a place –Describe and classify human-made features, such as, buildings, streets, bridges, cultivated land, dams and tunnels identify a place –Describe places using weather, climate, vegetation and natural/physical features, such as mountain, beach and plain –Describe places and regions by how people make a living and where they live, such as: rural and urban places Click on the link below to print the regions organizer for the students. Regions Organizer