Natural Texas & Its People: Texas Regions

Lesson 90-110 min. In this two-day lesson, students will be able to identify, describe, and compare the distinct characteristics of each region of Texas. Brought to you by The Portal to Texas History

TEKS:

7.8 7.8(A) 7.20(B) 7.22(C)

We'd like to hear what you have to say about this lesson. After reviewing it, please take the following short survey to help us improve it and others, now in development.

Tell us what you think

Tell other teachers, parents, and students about us.

Follow

Like what you see? Follow The Portal on Facebook or Sign Up for our newsletter .

TX4T is replacing our older Resources 4 Educators site. You can access Resources 4 Educators here while we make the transition.

Description

Overview

In this two-day lesson, students will be able to identify, describe, and compare the distinct characteristics of each region of Texas.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What are the significant environmental characteristics of each region of Texas?
How might the distinct characteristics of each region affect early American Indians who settled there?

Teacher Tools

Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used

PDF Preview: All - Teacher Tools - Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used - Adobe PDF All - Teacher Tools - Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used - MS Word All - Teacher Tools - Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used - Adobe PDF

Downloadable/editable versions of this lesson plan, including a step-by-step guide through the lesson. When applicable, a list of primary sources used in the lesson is also included.

Student Activities

Warm-up Day 1 – Exit Ticket Day 1

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 1 – Exit Ticket Day 1 - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 1 – Exit Ticket Day 1 - MS Word All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 1 – Exit Ticket Day 1 - Adobe PDF

In this printable Warm-up / bell-ringer activity, students make observations about the area of Texas they live in, including information about typical climate, landforms, and plants and animals.

In this Exit Ticket, students will refer to their warm-up observations about their own region. They identify what they were right about, what they were not quite right about, and what new information they learned. Share what they wrote with the class.
Warm-up Day 2 – Exit Ticket Day 2

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 2 – Exit Ticket Day 2 - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 2 – Exit Ticket Day 2 - MS Word All - Student Activities - Warm-up Day 2 – Exit Ticket Day 2 - Adobe PDF

In this printable Warm-up / bell-ringer activity, Students choose two regions they took notes on yesterday to compare and contrast characteristics using a graphic organizer.

In this Exit Ticket, students will complete a short, constructed response comparing two regions they studied. Share what they wrote with the class.
Slideshow

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Slideshow - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Slideshow - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Slideshow - MS PowerPoint

This ready-to-use classroom slideshow presentation contains the warm-up exercise (above), the daily objective, the “We will / I will” statements, and the essential questions for the lesson.

It guides the class through the assignment providing larger versions of images, visual representations of the directions, and supports for reading and answering questions including sentence stems for in-class responses. It concludes with the exit ticket.

This slideshow provides the reading passages that students will use to complete their student work.
Grade Level Student Work

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Grade Level Student Work - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Grade Level Student Work - MS Word All - Student Activities - Grade Level Student Work - Adobe PDF

For this printable assignment students use the reading passages in the slideshow presentation to complete their chart for each region. Students record information about the climate, landforms, plant and animal life, and natural resources for each region. This assignment should take approximately two class periods.

Grade Level combines requires students to write three to five notes from the readings on each of the following categories for each region: climate, landforms, plant and animal life, and natural resources of each region. Students will answer multiple-choice questions about significant information from each region. They will make a prediction which region they believe early people would be more likely to inhabit and support their claim with evidence from their notes.
Foundation Student

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Foundation Student - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Foundation Student - MS Word All - Student Activities - Foundation Student - Adobe PDF

Foundations Level requires students to complete their regions chart by circling or highlighting from a list of characteristics provided in each category for each region. This allows for a reduction in writing and gives answer options to choose from. Students answer multiple-choice questions about significant characteristics of each region, with one answer choice eliminated. They make a prediction about where they believe most people in Texas would live based on their notes.
Advanced Student

PDF Preview: All - Student Activities - Advanced Student - Adobe PDF All - Student Activities - Advanced Student - MS Word All - Student Activities - Advanced Student - Adobe PDF

Advanced Level requires students to write three to five notes from the readings on each of the following categories for each region: climate, landforms, plant and animal life, and natural resources of each region. Students will also write a one sentence summary describing the three most significant defining characteristics of the region above. At the end, students will write an essay comparing two regions of their choice from the lesson.