Geography Lesson Report

EDEC 31233

Becca Wilson

Texas Christian University

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Part I – Updated Lesson Plan

Geography Lesson
Grade 5

TEKS: 113.16.b.7.D - locate on a map important physical features such as the Rocky
Mountains, Mississippi River, and Great Plains.
113.16.b.6.A - apply geographic tools, including grid systems, legends, symbols, scales, and
compass roses, to construct and interpret maps

Materials: two large US physical maps, basic landform map and landform map of US to display,
copy of colored map key with elevation for each student, colored pencils, island templates for
each student

Learning objective: Students will be able to decode a map key with regards to elevation,
identify various physical features on a landform map, and create a map that includes varying
elevations.

Procedure:
1. Hold up political and physical maps side by side. Can anybody tell me the difference
between these two maps? Answer: One of these maps displays physical features.
2. Does anyone know what physical features are and give us an example? (Examples:
mountains, rivers, plains, lakes, oceans, plateaus)
3. Project Appendix A on document camera. Physical features are bodies of water and
landforms that are represented on maps. Anything that describes the way the earth looks
is a physical feature. (Be prepared to give definitions of unfamiliar terms - provided in
Appendix A)
4. Let’s talk about where we can learn about physical map features. Pass out copies of a
colored map key to students. *point to map key on large map* This is a map key. As you
can see, it shows us how to read the map according to its colors.
5. Darker colors represent higher elevation. Does anyone know what the word elevation
means? Answer: Elevation is how far something on the earth is from sea level. For
example, Pikes Peak in the Rocky Mountains has an extremely high elevation, because of
how far away the peak is from sea level. Pikes Peak 14,114 ft. above sea level!
6. Has anyone ever been to a place with tall mountains?
7. In Fort Worth, we are only 653 ft above sea level. Is this elevation higher or lower than
Pikes Peak? Answer: Lower. What color do you think Fort Worth would be on this
physical map?
8. Project Appendix B on the document camera. Another way we can look at physical
features on a map is through a landform map. These maps often use color to show
mountains, hills, plateaus, plains, and more. They also show major bodies of water.
9. How does this map show elevation? Answer: Different colors.
10. On this map, what colors represent higher elevation? Lower? Answer: High - purple,
Low - green
11. Have students come up as volunteers to point at different areas of the map on the
projector. Have them point out lakes, rivers, oceans, peninsulas, mountains, islands,
plains, and plateaus.
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12. What are the highest mountains in different areas of our country? In which states are they
located? Think to yourself for a couple minutes. After 1 minute, allow students to discuss
with a partner. Who wants to share their answer with the class? Answer: Rocky
Mountains (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana), Appalachian Mountains
(Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania)
13. Pass out blank island templates to each student. Students will now be working
individually to create their own islands.
14. Each person will be responsible for creating an island that includes at least one mountain
range, plains, a lowland (low elevation), and one body of water. Students will need to
color their island according to elevation rules on a map key.
15. After 5-7 minutes, allow a couple students to present their islands to the class.

Informal Assessment: Students should be able to accurately identify physical features during
the class discussion.

Formal Assessment: Students’ islands should contain at least one mountain range, lake, and
river. The map should be colored according to the given map key for elevation.
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Appendix A:

Appendix B:
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Part II - Description

For this lesson, I worked with seven fifth-graders in a small group. Because I worked

with a small group, I did not project any of the maps and instead passed them around the group.

We started by examining and comparing the physical and political maps, and although the

students recognized differences in the two maps, they were not able to identify the names of the

maps. Next, I went through the steps as outlined on the lesson plan. The students were able to

identify mountains, rivers, and oceans as landforms, but this was the extent of their knowledge.

Because of this, I spent time teaching each of the landforms on Appendix A explicitly. The

students then explored the map keys. As I introduced the concept of elevation, many of the

students were unfamiliar with this term. Because of this, I went back to the large physical map of

the United States to point out the map key and its similarities to the ones the students were

looking at. I also discussed areas of high and low elevation in the U.S., such as Pikes Peak and

Fort Worth. The students understood that Pikes Peak had a higher elevation than Fort Worth

because it was further above sea level. Next, we examined the landform map of the United

States. This map was given to help them further identify landforms and where they exist in the

United States. The students worked with partners to find which states the Rocky Mountains were

found in, and although they were a bit distracted by others in the classroom, they were able to

complete this activity and share correct answers. Finally, I gave each pair of students a blank

piece of paper so that they could create their own island. After giving them the guidelines, I

allowed them to work for around 15 minutes to complete the assignment. The students were very

engaged in this activity and used their map keys and the large physical map of the United States

to create areas of varying elevation on their islands. After all students had completed their

islands, we shared them as a group.

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Part III – Analysis

Throughout this lesson, my goal for the students was to be able to identify physical

features, or landforms, on a map, and reflect understanding of elevation through the process of

creating an island that contains various landforms and elevation levels.

The students in my group partially achieved the objective. Throughout the lesson, the

students were very engaged and actively participating. As I introduced new terms such as

elevation and plateau, the students were eager to know what these terms meant and how to

recognize them on the map. During the second part of the lesson where students were tasked

with identifying states where certain landforms occurred, the students were very successful and

gave correct answers. Students could also conceptualize and explain why Fort Worth had a lower

elevation than Pikes Peak, showing that they understood the differences of elevation in a realistic

context. However, when introducing the “create an island” activity at the end of the lesson, it

seemed that the students did not necessarily translate the new information they had learned over

to the activity. For example, the students were all able to successfully incorporate a body of

water onto their islands, in most cases a river. In contrast, most students did not grasp the

concept of shading for various elevation levels. They recognized that darker colors meant higher

elevation, sometimes meaning a mountain range or plateau was present, but they did not

understand how to shade correctly on a map. Some students shaded green next to brown, because

they misinterpreted the “brown to be the mountain and the green to be grass”. In essence, the

students understood the content but were not able to apply it to a new situation.

The lesson was meaningful for students because they were given the opportunity to apply

new content to creative expression, drawing and coloring. Through this, the students were able to

demonstrate their understanding in the best way possible for them as individuals. There were
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parts of my lesson that could have been more meaningful, however. For example, when

introducing the idea of elevation to students, I asked them if they had ever seen a mountain. Out

of my group of students, only one student had actually seen a mountain, so this part of my lesson

was only meaningful to one student. I should have planned for a situation where students had not

been exposed to other parts of the country (or world), but I neglected this, and therefore missed

an opportunity to connect the lesson with students’ lives. A follow-up question I should have

asked in this situation could have been to ask if students had ever seen mountains in a movie or

on television. Another way my lesson was meaningful was that it related elevation to the place

that the students currently live. By asking students why Fort Worth is a lower elevation than

Pikes Peak, it forced the students to think about what the land looks like where they live and

compare it to a place with mountains.

Based on my observation of the students’ responses to my initial questions in the lesson,

this lesson was challenging for them because they did not know the term elevation before this

lesson, nor had they been exposed to many physical maps. I also think the students lacked a lot

of geography skills in general. This made learning about elevation, a very abstract concept on a

map, difficult. The students needed a lot of support when it came time to draw maps that

contained elevation, especially since some students had never even seen areas of varying

elevation in their lives. This seemed to be an appropriate level of challenge, however, because

the students soaked up the new content and were able to apply it to the US landform map with

minimal support. I think this lesson also presented challenges because it switched from a

physical map and key, to a landform map, and then back to a physical map for creating the

island. The students had trouble distinguishing between the physical map key and the US

landform map key when it was time to create their islands. In the future, I might reorder the
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lesson to have students create the island immediately after learning about the physical map

features and then using the US landform map as supplement. In terms of developmental-

appropriateness, I think the lesson was appropriate for this particular group of students. Because

they did not have much experience working with landforms and elevation, they were able to

work in that perfect zone of proximal development, because I was able to support and assist them

throughout the lesson. In the same sense, the students came to the lesson already possessing

basic map-reading skills, so they knew what a key and a scale were, and they knew how to locate

areas on a map based on labels and location. This made this lesson ideal because they could draw

upon knowledge they already possessed while also constantly adding to their schema as they

worked.

I made many in-the-moment teaching decisions throughout the implementation of this

lesson. For instance, I planned this entire lesson thinking I would teach to the whole class, but I

ended up having to teach to a small group of seven students. This changed the way I presented

materials to the students, because I did not use a document camera. It also changed the way I

asked whole group styled questions, especially during the activity using the US landform map.

Instead of using think-pair-share, I could simply go around the group and assign landforms to

individuals. Beyond this, however, I made many on the spot decisions. During the lesson, I

discussed with students that a higher elevation sometimes means a mountain is present, such as

Pikes Peak. In discussing this, students asked questions about Mt. Everest. I did not plan for this,

but I happened to travel to Colorado a couple weeks ago and remembered looking up the

elevation for Mt. Everest while I was there, so I was able to give them the approximate elevation

in relation to Pikes Peak. This was a great addition to the discussion because I ended up asking

how the area Mt. Everest is in would look on a physical map of the world, and the students
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answered that it would be “very dark brown!”. This experience allowed me to draw upon my

knowledge and connect their questions to the content we were learning. Another teaching

decision I made was to have students work as partners to create their islands. I chose to do this

because the students at this point in the lesson were having trouble focusing, and we were short

on colored pencils. This made it easier for students to work as partners to create the islands, and I

think this was better in hindsight because the students were able to discuss with each other how

to shade their islands, giving them not only the support of me as the teacher but also of each

other. The students had a blast creating their islands, and especially naming them. I also had

students add a map key to their islands so that I could more accurately assess their understanding

of the shading, even though this requirement was not present in my initial lesson plan. I also had

the students label the colors in their key by landform instead of elevation level because they were

struggling to conceptualize the elevation colors since they had just previously worked with the

US landform map, as I discussed earlier. Finally, because I worked with a small group instead of

the entire class, when they were finished I had students present their islands to just the small

group instead.

Overall, my lesson was successful because students were able to apply knowledge of a

new concept, elevation, to a creative and engaging formative assessment. The students had a lot

of fun and seemed to enjoy getting some geography instruction when they normally would be in

math class.