Students explore the five regions of the United States and discover how each one’s land and climate shape the way people there live, work, and play.
Students will be able to…
The desert Southwest and the snowy Northeast are in the same country — but they feel worlds apart. How do the five U.S. regions differ?
Project this map and tap each region. Have students record its location, land, climate, and a state or two.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
A desert and a snowy forest — both the USA?
Students investigate the map.
Students analyze.
Students conclude.
Students represent a region.
Aligned to the C3 Framework for Social Studies and Common Core literacy in social studies.
Use maps and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions.
Use maps of different scales to describe the locations of cultural and environmental characteristics.
Explain how culture influences the way people live and adapt to their environments.
Interpret information presented visually (maps) and explain how it contributes to understanding.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students plan a pretend road trip across all five regions, noting the land, climate, and one landmark in each. A printable road-trip planner is in the Social Studies library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.