Location Affects Human Characteristics

First Grade

Social Studies

Unit: 06 Lesson: 02

Lesson Synopsis:

In this lesson, students use data from visuals and graphs to make inferences about places. Students discover that human characteristics of places depend upon the natural resources found in environment in their community. Natural resources also affect jobs that are available in the area as well.

TEKS:

1.6 / Geography. The student understands various physical and human characteristics. The student is expected to:
1.6A / Identify and describe the physical characteristics of place such as landforms, bodies of water, natural resources, and weather.
1.6B / Identify examples of and uses for natural resources in the community, state, and nation.
1.6C / Identify and describe how the human characteristics of place such as shelter, clothing, food, and activities are based upon geographic location
1.8 / Economics. The student understands the concepts of goods and services. The student is expected to:
1.8A / Identify examples of goods and services in the home, school, and community.
1.9 / Economics. The student understands the condition of not being able to have all the goods and services one wants. The student is expected to:
1.9A / Identify examples of people wanting more than they can have.

Social Studies Skills TEKS:

1.18 / Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:
1.18A / Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences.
1.18B / Create visual and written material including pictures, maps, timelines, and graphs.
Getting Ready for Instruction
Performance Indicator(s):
· C

· Perform a puppet play where two puppets discuss the local community and tell how the human characteristics of the place are affected by the physical characteristics of the place. (1.6A, 1.6C; 1.18A)

Key Understandings and Guiding Questions:

· Las características físicas de un lugar influyen en las características humanas de un lugar.

— ¿Cuáles son las características físicas de un lugar?

— ¿Cuáles son las características humanas de un lugar?

— ¿Cómo las características físicas de un lugar influyen en las características humanas?

— ¿Por qué las personas toman las decisiones que toman?

— ¿Cuáles son algunos de los factores que influyen en las decisiones que toman las personas acerca de los tipos de casas y las maneras de ganarse la vida (empleos)?

Vocabulary of Instruction:

First Grade

Social Studies

Unit: 06 Lesson: 02

· inferir/inferencias

· características físicas

· comunidad

· recursos naturales

· características humanas de un lugar

· inferencia

· gráfica de barras

· conclusiones

· bienes

· servicios

· deseos/gustos

· necesidades

Grade/Course

Social Studies

Unit: Lesson:

Materials:

Grade/Course

Social Studies

Unit: Lesson:

· Refer to the Notes for Teacher section for materials.

Grade 1

Social Studies

Unit: 08 Lesson: 02

Attachments:

· Teacher Resource: Clip Art for Picture Graph

· Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2

· Teacher Resource: Teacher’s Resource for Visual Discovery

· Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences

· Handout: 3-2-1

Resources and References:

Advance Preparation:

1. Become familiar with content and procedures for the lesson, including the idea that physical characteristics of the local community influence choices people make.

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. Refer to suggested websites for background information.

5. Become familiar with the content and procedures for this lesson.

6. Display vocabulary words on a “word wall” to be used during the lesson.

7. Gather picture books to use with lesson.

8. Take pictures in the local community that represent the types of houses in the school’s neighborhood. If desired, add the pictures into the PowerPoint. (Existing pictures in the PowerPoint could be replaced with pictures from the local community to make the lesson more relevant to students.)

9. Print enough copies of slide 6 for student pairs to have one to work with, or project slide 6 and distribute the Visual Discovery attachment.

10. Print copies of slides 7-13 so that each group will have one picture (number of copies depends on number of groups). You may wish to use pictures of your local community instead of the pictures on the slides.

11. Prepare materials and handouts as needed.

Background Information:

· Physical characteristics of places are features such as landforms, bodies of water, natural resources, natural hazards, and weather. These result from climatic and tectonic processes.

· Forces within the Earth (tectonic) cause volcanic activity and earthquakes, which result in mountains and other natural features of the landscape. Climate, including effects of temperature, precipitation, and wind, also shape the physical characteristics of places.

· In First Grade students study how human characteristics are based upon geographic location.

Including, but not limited to:

· Human characteristics of places include the types of houses people build, the ways they earn 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 they govern themselves.

· Human characteristics of place based upon geographic location include:

· Shelter (types of houses)

· Clothing

· Food

· Activities (ways of earning a living, games children play, recreation)

Definitions courtesy of the Social Studies Center [defunct]. (2000). Glossary. Austin: Texas Education Agency.

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 ‒ Graphs organize information / NOTE: 1 Day = 30 minutes
Suggested Day 1 ‒ 10 minutes
1. Create a bar or picture graph for your class regarding their favorite school lunch. Create with the following categories: “hamburger,” “cheese pizza,” or “other school favorite.” (If desired, use the Teacher Resource: Clip Art for Picture Graph.)
2. Explain that the bar or picture graph compares things by using pictures or bars of different lengths. The more there is of a thing, the longer the bar or the more pictures there are. / Materials:
· Butcher paper or chart paper for graph
Attachments:
· Teacher Resource: Clip Art for Picture Graph
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
Purpose:
· Establish that graphs are tools that help organize and compare information.
Instructional Note:
· Use information from your school community to create a graph from which inferences can be made. Other graphs that could be created include the number of classrooms at each grade level, the number of students in each classroom, etc. The graphs presented are a generic idea; any appropriate question to create a graph is acceptable.
EXPLORE – Interpret graphs / Suggested Day 1 (continued) ‒ 10 minutes
1. Once the graph is completed, ask students questions that literally interpret the data from the graph. Questions could include:
· How many students like ____ best?
· How many more like ____ best?
2. Next, discuss and clarify the meaning of the word inference.
· An inference is “the act or process of reaching a conclusion about something from known facts or evidence.”
· What inferences can we draw from this graph?
Inferences from the graph might include:
· If most students chose a food with meat, you can infer that most students are not vegetarians.
· If most students gave an answer, you can infer that most students eat (at least occasionally) lunch at school. / Materials:
· Graph from Explore section above
Attachments:
· Teacher Resource: Clip Art for Picture Graph
Purpose:
· Learn to infer information from graphs.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
EXPLAIN ‒ “The Way We Go Home” graph / Suggested Day 1 (continued) ‒ 10 minutes
1. Create a “THE WAY WE GO HOME” graph (or use one created at the beginning of the year) to ask literal questions such as:
· How many students ride their bike or walk home?
· How many students ride the bus home?
· How many students go to day care after school?
· How many more?
2. The way people have changed the environment around the school (the human characteristics and physical characteristics) often determines the way the students get home from school.
3. Student pairs make inferences using the information from the graph.
Ask,
· What inferences can we draw from this graph?
4. Allow time to discuss, and then have pairs report. Discuss their inferences and the information they used to make the inference. (Possible responses: If more students are walkers/bike riders, you can infer that most students live right around the school. The changes humans have made – including roads – often make the way home unsafe, and so we have many students riding the bus or being picked up. ) / Materials:
· Butcher paper or chart paper for graph
Purpose:
Create and interpret graph.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
Instructional Notes:
· Possible categories: WALKER/BIKE RIDER, BUS RIDER, CAR RIDER, DAYCARE. Use pictures or names to label the categories.
ENGAGE – What did we learn from the graph? / Suggested Day 2 5 minutes
1. Access prior learning by calling attention to the graph on display from the previous day’s lesson. Ask:
· What did we learn from “The Way We Go Home” graph?
2. Yesterday we learned we can gain information by reading and interpreting graphs. We can also gain information from other visual sources such as pictures. / Materials:
· “The Way We Go Home” graph from previous day’s lesson
Purpose:
· Access prior learning by reexamining the conclusions from the graph.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
EXPLORE – PowerPoint: Lesson 2 / Suggested Day 2 (continued) ‒ 5 minutes
1. Show the Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2. Use slide 2 to model the way facts are gathered from a picture, and then make an inference from the facts and the visual information. Use slides 3 and/or 4 for more practice. / Attachments:
· Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2
Purpose:
· Model the way facts are gathered from a picture.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
EXPLAIN ‒ Visual discovery / Suggested Day 2 (continued) ‒ 5 minutes
1. Students work in pairs.
2. Distribute a copy of Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2 (slide 6, one copy for each pair of students) and the steps for inferring from visuals to each pair of students.
3. Students use a visual discovery method to make inferences about slide 6. Use the Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences.
4. Students report results to the class.
5. Teacher circulates guiding students through the completion of the Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences. / Attachments:
· Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2 (slide 6, one copy for each pair of students)
· Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences
Purpose:
· Use visual discovery to draw inferences from pictures.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
Instructional Note
Provide a summary of the steps for inferring for students.
EXPLORE ‒ Visual discovery and natural resources / Suggested Day 2 (continued) ‒ 5 minutes
1. Again, students work in pairs.
2. Distribute copies of Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2 (slides 7 – 12, for each pair of students
3. Students analyze slides using the Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences method. Groups list the 2 facts that they find, an inference from the facts, and then work together to create a summary stating their findings.
4. Assist students in focusing their facts on what natural resources were used to create the house and what the people in the houses probably did for a living to earn money.
5. Assist students in concluding that people use natural resources to meet their needs.
Ask:
· What happens when humans want more than they have? (more food, more clothing, more shelter)
· What happens when humans impact the physical environment?
6. Display Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2, Part 3 (slides 15 – 20) to help students answer these two questions.
· What happens when humans want more than they have?
· What happens when humans impact the physical environment?
7. Facilitate a discussion about the conflict that can occur when humans and nature intersect. / Attachments:
· Teacher Resource: PowerPoint: Lesson 2 (slides 6 – 14, for each pair of students)
· Handout: Using Visual Discovery to Make Inferences
Purpose:
· Use visual discovery to draw inferences from pictures which focus on natural resources used to create houses.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
EXPLAIN ‒ 3-2-1 Handout / Suggested Day 2 (continued) ‒ 10 minutes
1. Facilitate a discussion about the way physical characteristics of place influence the human characteristics of place.
· People often make choices based on the natural resources that are around them. These include choices about types of houses and ways of making a living.
2. Distribute Handout: 3-2-1 to each pair of students. Students answer questions. / Attachments:
· Handout: 3-2-1
Purpose:
· Students explain in their own words how physical characteristics influence choices people make.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
Instructional Note:
· Directions for Handout: 3-2-1. Students list 3 things they learned about natural resources, 2 examples of how physical characteristics influence choices people make, and 1 question they have about today’s subject matter.
ENGAGE/ELABORATE ‒ Key Understandings / Suggested Day 3 (continued) ‒ 5 minutes
1. Facilitate a discussion focusing on the Key Understanding and Guiding Questions:
· Physical characteristics of a place influence the human characteristics of a place.
— What are physical characteristics of a place?
— What are human characteristics of a place?
— How do the physical characteristics of a place influence the human characteristics?
— Why do people make the choices they do?
— What are some factors that influence the choices people make about types of houses and ways of making a living (jobs)? / Purpose:
· Allow students to focus on key ideas in the lesson.
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
EVALUATE – Create a puppet show / Suggested Day 3 (continued) ‒ 25 minutes
· Perform a puppet play where two puppets discuss the local community and tell how the human characteristics of the place are affected by the physical characteristics of the place. (1.6A, 1.6C; 1.18A)

1. Students work in groups of 2-4.
2. Students create their own puppets or puppets from the classroom.
3. Students create a script that tells how the human characteristics of the place are affected by the physical characteristics of the place.
4. Students perform their puppet shows for the class, for a visiting class or parents, etc. / Materials:
· Art materials for creating puppets
· Paper for writing a script
TEKS: 1.6A; 1.6B; 1.6C; 1.8A; 1.9A; 1.18A; 1.18B
Instructional Note:
· If students need help getting started, an interview format could be suggested. One puppet could interview the other puppet about the topic.
· This Evaluate may take more than the allotted time if students present one show at a time. It may be helpful to have students rehearse their plays while the teacher circulates, and then invite a neighboring class (a grade or two older works very well) to watch the show.