At a Glance:
| Grades: | 4 |
|---|---|
| Subject: | History; Social Studies |
| Topic: | Understanding Regional Economic Development and Growth |
| Lesson Length: | 1 hour |
Standards / Framework:
What will students learn in this activity?
Students will recognize and understand the impact resources have in the development and growth of their region, either locally or statewide.
What should students know before this activity?
Students should have an understanding of what a resource is, e.g., natural or man-made, and a basic understanding of supply and demand.
How can teachers introduce this lesson?
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Brainstorm items deemed popular by your students, e.g., PS5, iPhone.
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Discuss why these items are important to them, asking questions that relate to supply and demand, such as:
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Why are these items popular?
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Why do people stand in line to purchase these items when they are first released?
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Are these items a need or a want?
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Read and discuss the sample comic.
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Discuss resources that are necessary in your region, e.g., gold in California, steel in Pennsylvania, cotton in South Carolina.
What will students do?
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Have students research a resource, e.g., current or historical, that is important to the development and growth of their region.
- For planning and prewriting, provide students with a mind map graphic organizer. Have students place the name of their resource in the center and add the before, during, and after titles.
- Research the resource and add notes to the mind map.
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Using the sample comic as a guide, create a before, during, and after comic showing the impact that resource had on the region.
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Panel 1: Show what the region was like prior to the resource being developed, found or brought to the region.
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Panel 2: Illustrate the impact of the resource during the highest demand.
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Panel 3: Show what the region looked like after the resource declined in demand, or make a prediction of the future of the region if the resource continues to be in demand.
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How can teachers wrap up the lesson?
- In 30 seconds or less, students will use the “elevator pitch” strategy to give the big ideas of how their selected resource impacted their region.
How can teachers differentiate this activity?
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
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Have students classify all the resources as either a man-made resource or a natural resource.
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Allow students to work in groups or pairs.
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Provide sentence frames as needed.
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Use a graphic organizer to plan ideas.
Related Resources:
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Comic to print or display: Comic.
- Mind Maps: Option 1, Option 2.
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Digital resource for creating a mind map.
Energy
Rock Cycle
Suburban
Urban
Nature
A Long Walk To Water
