Lesson Plan #1

Grade: 4th Social Studies Strand: Geography

Submitted By: Janis Gomme-Campbell
EDEL 453: Teaching Elementary School Social Science Nevada State College Spring 2014 Instructor: Karen Powell

B. Summary of the Lesson Plan: This social studies lesson plan is designed for 4th grade students to learn about map and globe skills. This lesson uses the Houghton Mifflin Social Studies textbook "States and Regions" (Core Lesson 2, p. 8 - 11). C. Basic Information: Grade Level: 4th grade Time to Complete this Lesson: approximately 35 minutes. Groupings: whole group reading and discussions, small group discussion & activity, independent activity and assessment. D. Materials: Houghton Mifflin 4th grade Social Studies book: p. 50-51 worksheet (Unit Resources p. 15). small white boards dry erase markers eraser rag E. Objectives: NV State Social Studies Standards G6.4.6- Identify the equator, prime meridian, & International date line. o Student-Friendly Standards G6.4.6- I can find the equator, prime meridian & International date line on a map. F. Vocabulary equator- imaginary line that separates the northern and southern hemispheres. prime meridian- the imaginary line passing through the Greenwich meridian. It is commonly referred to as the zero meridian because it occur at 0 degrees. International date line: an arbitrary line along the 180th meridian designated as the place where each calendar day begins. parallels- another word for latitude lines, they are imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator. hemisphere- one half of the earth's surface. latitude & longitude- lines on the globe that help with navigation or determine position. o G. Procedure: 1. As a class, SW coral read about latitude and longitude on p. 50 - 51. 2. SW take notes and record information in individual science booklet to be used as a resource and reference. 3. Call student's attention to map on p. 51. 4. Discuss as a class key points in the unit read. TW talk about how

location and navigation is important in everyday life. 5. Introduce vocabulary words (equator, meridian, parallels, hemisphere, latitude, longitude lines). 6. SW get into small groups to discuss and complete worksheet (10 min.) 7. SW then be assessed as T asks navigational questions while S write answers on white boards. Each question will involve naming a city when given latitude and longitude coordinates. Five questions total. H. Assessment: What will you use to measure student understanding? SW answer questions, elaborating in small groups, about latitude and longitude positions using textbook map and completing Skill-building worksheet on p. 33D. TW ask students, "I am thinking of a place that is 32 degrees longitude and 65 degrees latitude. What is that place?" SW write their answers down (a city) on individual white boards for the teacher to see. Explain how you will know students understand the concepts from the lesson. G6.4.6- "Identify the equator, prime meridian, & International date line." By completing the worksheet and answering the following questions on their white boards, I will know if students understand the concepts in this lesson. 1. What city is at 34 degrees latitude and 112 degrees longitude? (Prescott, Arizona) 2. What is at 44 degrees latitude and 68 degrees longitude? (Bangor, Maine) 3. What is at 42 degrees latitude and 114 degrees longitude? (Twin Falls, Idaho) 4. What is at 30 degrees latitude and 88 degrees longitude? (Biloxi, Mississippi) 5. What is at 33 degrees latitude and 104 longitude? (Roswell, New Mexico) I. Closure: As a class, discuss and elaborate on small group worksheet. Review vocabulary once more.

J. Reflection: 1. Which part of the lesson do you think will be the easiest for you to teach? I think the easiest thing for me to teach is when I have a visual, in this case, a globe and/or map, to show students 3-dimentionally how we navigate and locate points.

2. Which part will be most challenging for you to teach? Those students who may have difficulty grasping the concept of how these imaginary lines can actually help us find our location in the world. 3. How will you follow up or extend this lesson? I might have small groups make a chart of what cities are west of a meridian, south of the equator, or north of a certain parallel. 4. What can you do for students who dont grasp the concepts? I might use an orange and actually draw the parallels and meridians on it. I would then score with a knife and gently peel each section down. I would slice the orange into halves to show hemispheres. 5. Which part of the lesson, if any, do you think might need to change? This lesson is concrete. It is basic fact, possibly a little dry, but with visuals, it may be more interesting for the students. 6. When you were writing this lesson plan, what was the most difficult part? Trying to figure out what to teach in this particular lesson plan! I changed my mind three times before I finally came up with maps and navigation because it interests me.

(Please see following page for worksheet assignment)