What Are the Regions of South Carolina?

Designed by: Tamra Paschal    School: Satchel Ford Elementary

Grade Level: Third      Subject: Social Studies

Core Curriculum Objective: Identify and describe the natural regions of South Carolina. (3SSG10)

Overview: Students will identify and describe the *5 natural regions of South Carolina after seeing the location and discussing the features of each region. Students will then use an outline of South Carolina to create a clay map of the state's natural regions and a map key. *I am referring to the Inner Coastal Plain region and the Outer Coastal Plain region as the Coastal Plain region. The lesson can be easily adjusted to cover 6 natural regions. **This lesson introduces the regions prior to them being studied individually.

Focus Question(s): What and where are the 5 natural regions of South Carolina? What are their features?

Time Frame: Two 1 hour class periods

Resources/Materials: 

Large map of South Carolina 
4 pieces of yarn as long as the width of the S.C. map with poster putty on each end
10 to 15 sentence strips marker 
poster putty or removable mounting squares 
copies of blank South Carolina maps (1 per student) 
2 zip-lock bags for each child copies of matching sheet (one per child) 
scissors 
5 different colors of modeling clay (not Play-do) 
Each child should get a little less than an inch of each color. 
Cut and bag the clay prior to the lesson. 
assorted South Carolina Wildlife magazines 
computer and AverKey 
television 

web site: http://www.scaquarium.org/splash/3.htm

Culminating Assessment: Students will use 5 different colors of clay on an outline of South Carolina to represent the 5 natural regions of the state. They will create a map key that identifies the name of the region represented by each color of clay. Students will provide a sentence that describes the features of each region. The teacher will use the following rubric to score the activity.

South Carolina Natural Region Rubric

Instructional Activities: 

Activity 1: Prior to the activity, write each of the following on sentence strips with a marker. Put poster putty or mounting squares on each strip.

Blue Ridge Mountains Piedmont Sandhills Coastal Plain Coastal Zone high elevation, a part of the Appalachian Mountains in S.C. 100 miles wide and is at the bottom of the mountains has sand everywhere, used to be a beach largest natural region in S.C., flat area beside Coastal Zone currently has beaches, borders the Atlantic Ocean

Students should have prior knowledge of maps and map keys. Allow students to share the places in S.C. they have visited. Compare and contrast these places based on student descriptions. Have students sit in front of a large S.C. map. Ask how many have seen a state map before. Help a student locate his/her town. Show the class how the state resembles a piece of pie. Share that S.C. is one of the few states that have both mountains and beaches. Explain that South Carolina is made of 5 natural regions. Define a region as an area that has common characteristics. Clarify this concept by explaining how people live in these different regions and they have things in common like their accents, how they dress, and how they live. These regions also have common (the same kinds) plants, landforms, and animals.

Show the group the sentence strip that says Coastal Zone. Ask a volunteer where he/she thinks the Coastal Zone of S.C. would be on the map. Follow with Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plain, and Sandhills. Feel free to give clues to students having difficulty, such as, Piedmont means foot of the mountain. After each region is identified, use the yarn pieces to divide the regions. Match each feature sentence strip with its region, discussing the features as you go. Return to the areas visited by students. Ask if they can identify the region they visited. Using the computer, AverKey, and television, go to the S.C. Aquarium website: http://www.scaquarium.org/splash/3.htm The site offers previews of the exhibits based on the 5 regions of S.C. Show pictures of nature scenes from South Carolina Wildlife and have students infer which region being shown in the pictures or have groups of 4 students locate examples of regions in the magazines.

Give each student a zip-lock bag and a Matching Regions and Features handout. Have students cut the strips apart. Keep the large map labeled. Have each student mix their strips up and match their regions and features, in order, from the mountains to the sea. Have them do this at least twice while monitoring progress and problems closely. Assist as needed. Remove the regions and features from the large map and let the students choose a partner to play the matching game. Continue to monitor closely. Have students put strips in bags to take home. HOMEWORK: Play the matching game several times. Be prepared to show what you know. (Students having difficulty with concept may need S.C. History book to reference.)

Activity 2: Display the large map of S.C. from previous day. Randomly place regions and features sentence strips on board. Review the previous day's lesson. Hand out outline of South Carolina and bags of modeling clay. Explain culminating activity. Distribute the 5 colors of clay. Students may choose which color represents each region. They will create a map key that identifies the region represented by each color and provide at least one complete sentence describing each region. Demonstrate how clay needs to be worked and spread thinly. Students will complete culminating activity and the teacher will assess according to rubric.

Display the completed maps in hall.

Facts and idea for matching game from Horizons of South Carolina, copyright 1990 Walsworth Publishing Company, Inc

Matching Game