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Explore America Geography Activity Instructions

Place
Describe That Place!
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Materials Needed: Explore Geography Picture Dictionary (one per student or student group) and Explore America Activity Sheet : "Describe That Place!"

Teacher Directions: This activity will give students practice using geographical terms to describe places. Select a place (e.g., the Northwest Coast). Show a map and pictures of the area and discuss the physical characteristics of the place with students. Then write selected geographical terms (e.g., plateau, mesa, canyon, lake, river, plain, mountain, cliff, coast, inlet, ocean) on the board. Some of the terms should be characteristics of the place and others should not.

Ask students to underline the geographical terms on the board that describe the place. Have students use the terms to describe the place.

Example

The Northwest Coast is next to the Pacific Ocean. There are many inlets along the Northwest Coast. The tallest mountains in the area are Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood. The Columbia, the Snake, and the Willamette are important rivers in the Northwest.

Write the names of places students have studied on the board, along with a list of geographical terms. Organize students into pairs or groups of three. Have each group choose one place. Hand out a copy of Explore America Activity Sheet: "Describe That Place!" to each group. Review the directions with students. They are asked to look up geographical terms in the Explore Geography Picture Dictionary, and then use the terms to write a description of a place. This activity makes a good end-of-unit review activity and can be used as a performance assessment.

	Make it Easier: Look up the geographical terms and read the definitions as a group. Show a picture of a place students have studied. Write the description on the board as a group.
	Make it Quicker: Review the geographical terms during class and have students write the descriptions as homework.
	Make it More Fun: Assign each group a different place. After student groups have completed the assignment, have them read their descriptions aloud. Ask class members to identify the place being described and locate it on a map. Or, have students read their descriptions aloud, then ask class members to choose from four choices (e.g., "Is it the Northwest Coast, the Southwest, the Northeast, or the Great Plains?").
	Make it More Challenging: Have student groups do research to find out what the place they have described looks like now.

Describe That Place!

Explore Geography Picture Dictionary Geography Activity Instructions
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