Mapping Landforms of South Carolina

Designed by: M.B. Wright, Satchel Ford Elementary School

Grade level: Three     Subject: Social Studies

Core Curriculum Objective(s): Students will identify the five landform regions of South Carolina and locate major bodies of water using a map

Overview: Using South Carolina maps, students will identify the five land regions of the state and explore how the regions are different. Students will locate major bodies of water and explore how they are connected to each other.

Focus/ Essential Question (s): What are the five land regions of South Carolina, and where are they located? What are the major bodies of water in S.C. and where are they located?

Time Frame: Three fifty minute class periods

Resource materials:

South Carolina maps with the counties and rivers labeled (laminated) 

Transparency pens 

Maps of S.C showing divisions of landforms 

Computer 

Aver Keys (optional) 

www.topozone.com 

www.maps.com 

www.nationalgoegraphic.com/resources/ngo/atlas/usstates/ss

Culminating assessment: Each group will outline the five-landform regions on laminated map. Students will use the maps to describe each landform. Students will locate a major river basin and follow the river systems in S.C. on a map using a transparency pen.

South Carolina Landform Rubric 

Instructional Activities:

Activity One: Break class into five groups. Give each group a laminated map of South Carolina with the counties labeled. Ask the students what they notice about the map. Each student also gets a paper map of S.C. with the land regions outlined. Hand each group a transparency pen, and have them outline and label the land regions onto the large laminated map. They need to follow the counties where the boundaries are. After each group has outlined the five land regions ask them to discuss what they notice about the different areas and have them write down why they think S.C. is divided like it is. Ask students to locate where they live and what region they live in. When all students have completed this discuss some of the unique characteristics associated with the land regions and why S.C. is divided like it is. Tell students that the coast of South Carolina used to be located at the edge of the sandhill region and that is why that region's boundary is so curvy. Ask students where they think the sand came from and explain that the weathering of the rocks from the mountains washed down to the sandhill region. Explain that it was once under water and that is why the sandhills region goes so far up the state. Students should also notice that all of the dividing lines are at an angle or parallel to the ocean. Using the Averkeys go to the following web site so that the students can see different maps of S.C. www.topozone.com www.maps.com www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/atlas/usstates/ss After looking at different maps of S.C., ask the student what they notice about the maps. How are they alike and different? There are so many different kinds of maps, and they are used for different things. A topographic map for example is used to look at an area from above so that someone can see a large area. Some maps are used to locate streets, so that a person can find their way around town. Have students think of other ways these maps could be used.

Activity Two: Working in the same groups review what they learned yesterday about the land regions, and maps. Discuss reasons why we need rivers in S.C. Ask the students what would happen if there were no rivers, or lakes. They should notice that people would not have drinking water or water to use at their house. Using the same maps, students are going to locate the major river basins in S.C. and see how they relate to each other. The teacher will assist as needed. First, have each group use the pen and go from the Sassafras Mountains to the coast without crossing any rivers, they can however, cross over swamp. Tell students that they are riding horses that are scared of water and they are living in a time when there were not cars, buses, trains, or planes. They can only pass swamps, no rivers or lakes. Student should notice that rivers and streams are a major part of our state and they are all related somehow. They also take up a lot of our state, and are important for things like transportation, water, food, and power. Second, have each group choose a major river basin to follow, and have them draw the connecting rivers and streams that lead into that basin. Students will notice that one river basin is intricate and interconnected. Students should notice that one piece of trash thrown in a river or in a storm drain does not disappear; it has to follow the basin down until it reaches the ocean, and then it pollutes the ocean. Each group should hold up their map for other students to look at, and that group needs to tell about some things they noticed about that particular river basin. For example, they could say that they noticed that it took up almost half of the state, or that the river basin seems to go through major towns in S.C. When students have finished you can hang these maps on the wall for fellow students and visitors to see.