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Description
OVERVIEW
Students will be able to identify key characteristics of Texas today related to natural and human geography. Students will be able to make connections between the human geography of Texas today and settlement patterns of early Texas people.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
- What are the defining characteristics of Texas today, and how do they compare with early Texas history?
Teacher Tools
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Lesson Plan, Teacher Guide, Primary Sources Used
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
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Warm-up and Exit Ticket
In this printable Warm-up / bell-ringer activity, students consider what they would put in a time capsule for people 500 years in the future to learn about Texas today. This activity encourages students to consider what aspects of Texas life and culture today are significant to history.
In this Exit Ticket, students will answer a multiple-choice question based on a map depicting the “Texas Triangle” – the highest populated area of Texas. Students determine which answer best summarizes the significance of the shaded area on the map based on the major themes from the unit.
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Slideshow
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 question 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.
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Grade Level Student Worksheet
This printable worksheet assignment provides information about the economy, population centers, and culture of Texas today. It includes a map-labeling section of significant geographic locations in and around Texas including major cities and the states, country, and body of water that border Texas. Students answer questions to check for comprehension.
Grade Level work combines short, constructed response and multiple-choice questions. The map-labeling segment includes a word bank and dotted lines to display the borders of the 4 Texas regions.
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Foundation Student Worksheet
Foundations level work requires less writing, offering multiple choice questions and prediction / inference responses asking for fewer examples or less information. The multiple-choice questions eliminate one answer choice. The map-labeling activity allows students to write the correct letter from the map beside the geographic location it represents, rather than labeling directly on the map to reduce writing.
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Advanced Student Worksheet
Advanced level work involves more writing, including short, constructed response questions. The map-labeling segment does not include the borders of the four Texas regions – students must draw an approximation of those borders.
Sources
Previews and links to sources referenced in this lesson.
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![[Houston skyline]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==)
[Houston skyline]
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Alabama-Coushatta Indian Dancer
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Apache and Alabama-Coushatta Members
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Texas American Indian Heritage Society Dancers
- South Plains Texas wind turbines
- Relief map of Texas
- Texas Population Map
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