4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

Lesson 6: How People Have Used the Environment of the United States
Big Ideas of the Lesson

The United States is rich in natural resources which include fertile soil, water, forests, and a
wide variety of minerals.
These resources have greatly influenced the growth and development of the country.
Many important human activities have developed from the use of these resources including
farming, mining, lumbering, and manufacturing.

Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson students study various ways people have used the environment in the United States
through an exploration of natural resource use. The lesson begins with a review of the natural
resources of Michigan and how these resources influenced the growth and development of the
state. Students then use a variety of resources including maps, tables, and informational text to
investigate how people have used the fertile soil, trees, water resources, and minerals of the
United States.
Content Expectations
4- G1.0.4:
Use geographic tools and technologies, stories, songs, and pictures to answer
geographic questions about the United States.
Key Concepts
human/environment interaction
resource use
Instructional Resources
Equipment/Manipulative
Desktop U.S. Maps
Highlighters
Overhead projector or Document Camera/Projector
Physical map of the U.S.
Student journal or notebook
Student Resource
Energy and Mineral Resources Map. 17 November 2008
<http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/NAM_US_THEM_Resources.pdf>.
Everything We Have Comes From Natural Resources. 17 November 2008
<http://www.mii.org/pdfs/have/EverythingWeHave.pdf>.

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4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

Natural Resources and the Environment. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 17 November 2008
<http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?
navtype=SU&navid=NATURALRESOURCES>.
State Agricultural Profiles. 17 November 2008 <http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/ag_facts.htm>.
State Mineral Production. Mineral Information Institute. 17 November 2008
<http://www.mii.org/pdfs/resources/ResourcesWeUse.pdf>.
Teacher Resource
Egbo, Carol. Supplemental Materials (Unit 3, Lesson 6).Teacher-made material. Michigan
Citizenship Collaborative, 2008.
Environment and Natural Resources Websites. 17 November 2008
<http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Environment_Agriculture/Environment.shtml>.
A Look at Michigan Agriculture. 17 November 2008
<http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/stats/michigan.pdf>.
Majestic Trees of America. Arbor Day Foundation. 17 November 2008
<http://arborday.org/trees/majTreesMain.cfm>.
Oil and Gas Fields Map. Mineral Information Institute. 17 November 2008
<http://www.mii.org/pdfs/study/StudyoftheEarth.pdf>.
Trees. Kentucky Division of Forestry. 17 November 2008 <http://www.forestry.ky.gov>.
Whats in a Pencil Besides Wood?. Mineral Information Institute. 17 November 2008
<http://www.mii.org/pdfs/every/pencil.pdf>.
Lesson Sequence
1. Write the term natural resource on an overhead transparency or board. Have students work
with a partner to define the term. As a class, discuss student responses and guide them to the
idea that natural resources are materials found in nature that people find useful. Ask students to
name examples of natural resources. Make a list of their ideas.
2. Utilizing the same partners as Step 1, give each pair a copy of the Review Chart located in
the Supplemental Materials. Explain that pairs should work together to review what they have
learned previously about the natural resources in Michigan and fill in the chart. Give pairs time
to work and then have them share what they have written on the chart. Summarize their ideas
by making an overhead transparency of the chart and filling it in as students share. Briefly
review how these resources influenced the growth and development of Michigan.

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4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

3. Referring to a physical map of the United States ask students how they would characterize the
physical geography of the United States. Discuss student responses and guide students in
understanding that the U.S. has great variety in landforms, climate, bodies of water, and
vegetation. Ask students to make an inference about the natural resources of the United States
based on what they know about the wide variety of its physical characteristics. Discuss student
ideas and guide students in understanding that variety in the physical environment of a country
results in a wide variety of natural resources.
4. Make and display an overhead transparency of What Do All These Things Have in Common?
located in the Supplemental Materials. Ask students to skim the information on the
transparency and then write an answer to the question in their social studies journals. Give
students time to think and write and then have them share their answers first with a partner and
then in the large group. Note that the common answer will probably be that all these things are
made from natural resources. Guide students in understanding that in fact all these things are
made trees. Explain that we often think only of wood and wood products when we think of trees
but far more products are made from trees as is shown on the transparency.
5. Give each student a copy of the Informational Text Selection on trees and the multiple choice
assessment located in the Supplemental Materials. Explain that students should read the article
and then answer the question. Encourage the use of highlighters and underlining. Note that this
can also be given as a homework assignment. An answer sheet for the assessment has been
included in the Supplemental Materials.
6. Explain that trees have been important in the United States throughout our history. Give each
student a copy of the Trees and History selection located in the Supplemental Materials and a
highlighter. Explain that students should carefully read the selection and highlight the different
ways trees have been used. When they have finished they should create a list of the uses.
7. Give students time to read the selection and make their lists. Have selected students share
their lists and create a master list on chart paper or an overhead transparency. Explain that
social scientists often find it useful to categorize items on a list. Ask students to view the master
list and think of possible categories that are evident. Note that the following labels can be used
to categorize the uses described in the reading selection:
Food for people
Food for animals
Drinks
Medicine
Everyday objects
Transportation
Buildings
Instruments
Use the labels to categorize the items on your master list.

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4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

8. Write the word Land on an overhead transparency or board. Explain that land is a very
valuable natural resource. Ask students to work with a partner to make a list of ways people in
the United States use land. Give students time to work together and then have them share
ideas in the large group as you create a master list of their ideas on the transparency or board.
Note that possible uses include: farming, range land for animals like cattle, wind farms, solar
energy farms, growing trees, mining, etc.
9. Explain that since our earliest times one of the most important uses of land in the United States
has been agriculture, or farming. Explain that students will be working in small groups to
investigate agriculture in various states in order to make generalizations about agriculture in the
United States as a whole. Explain that you will be modeling the process they will be using by
investigating agriculture in Michigan.
10. Make and display an overhead transparency of the Michigan Agriculture fact sheet located in
the Supplemental Materials and give students a copy of the sheet. Review the various
headings used on the fact sheet. Then, make and display an overhead of the Investigating
Agriculture in a State chart located in the Supplemental Materials. Using a highlighter and a
think-aloud process, guide students in identifying and summarizing significant information
about agriculture in Michigan. Record the information on the chart. Note that a completed chart
with sample answers has been included in the Supplemental Materials.
11. Place students in groups of four and give each student a copy of the Investigating Agriculture
in a State chart located in the Supplemental Materials. Explain that students should work
together to identify four different states from four different regions of the United States. Then,
each group member should gather information about agriculture in one of the states at the
following website: http://www.agclassroom.org/kids/ag_facts.htm. Information should be
summarized on the chart just as they saw modeled in the previous step. Note that as an
alternative the fact sheets on the various states can be downloaded for students to use.
12. Give individual group members time to gather information and complete the chart for their
assigned state. Then, have group members meet together and share what they have found.
Give each group a copy of the Summarizing Chart located in the Supplemental Materials and
have them work together to complete the chart for their four assigned states.
13. Make an overhead transparency of each of the group charts created in the previous step. Have
groups select a member to display and explain their group chart. After all the charts have been
shared, lead a discussion on agriculture in the United States using the following questions:
What are some of the main crops grown in the United States?
What are some of the main animals raised in the United States?
How does agriculture vary in different regions of the United States?
How do you think agriculture affects the economy of the United States?
14. Write the word Water on an overhead transparency or board. Explain that like land, water
has been a very valuable resource in the United States. Give each student a copy of the Water
Use Prediction Sheet located in the Supplemental Materials and have them write an answer to
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4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

each question in the Prediction column of the sheet. Then, give each student a copy of the
Water Use Questions and Answers Information Sheets located in the Supplemental Materials.
Explain that students should read the information sheets and analyze the visual included with
them. Then, they should write an answer to the questions on the Prediction Sheet in the column
labeled Actual based on what they have read. Note that a chart showing correct answers has
been included in the Supplemental Materials.
15. Make and display an overhead transparency of Whats in a Pencil? located in the
Supplemental Materials and give students a paper copy of the diagram. Have students analyze
the diagram and then write an inference in their social studies journals that can be made based
on the diagram. Give students time to work and then have them share what they have written
with the large group. Note that possible inferences include the following:
It takes a lot more than wood to make a pencil.
Several different things go into making a pencil.
Products from several different states are needed to make a pencil.
16. Ask students which of the natural resources studied so far in this lesson are used in making
pencils. Discuss student answers and then guide them in understanding that trees, water and
fertile soil (to grow soybeans for the oil used in erasers) are all needed to make pencils. Ask
students what other categories of natural resources are shown in the diagram of the pencil.
Discuss student responses and guide them in identifying minerals and metals as important
products in making pencils. Explain that minerals are natural resources found in the ground and
removed by mining.
17. Make and display an overhead transparency of State Mineral Production located in the
Supplemental Materials and give students a copy of the table. Give students time to scan the
table and then guide a discussion using the following questions:
What five states are the top mineral producers in the United States? Are you
surprised about any of these states? Why or why not?
What are some of the low ranking states? Why do you think this is true?
What rank does Michigan have in mineral production? Why do you think this is true?
Which minerals listed are you unfamiliar with?
What conclusions can be drawn about the United States and mineral production from
the information in the table?
18. Make and display and overhead transparency of the Oil and Gas Fields Map located in the
Supplemental Materials. Use the following questions to discuss the map and the importance of
oil and gas as a natural resource:
What regions of the United States have oil and gas fields?
What region has the biggest concentration of oil and gas fields?
Michigan has some oil and gas fields. Why are they not shown on the map?
How are these natural resources used in the United States?
Even though the U.S. has oil and gas fields it still imports a lot of oil. Why do you
think this is true?
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4th Grade United States Studies

Unit 3: Human Geography in the United States

SS040306
Lesson 6

If time permits have students access the Energy and Mineral Resources Map at the following
website: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/maps/pdf/NAM_US_THEM_Resources.pdf. This
interactive map shows the location of energy and mineral resources in the U.S. and provides a
good way to pull together the last few steps of this lesson.
19. Explain that the big idea of this lesson is that the United States has a great of variety of
resources which it uses in many different ways. Using these resources has both positive and
negative effects on the environment of the United States. Explain that this will be the big idea of
the next lesson.
Assessment
The following activities can be used for assessment: the multiple choice assessment from Step 5,
the reading activity from Step 6, the agriculture research activity from Step 11 and the water use
chart from Step 14. In addition, students could write a short essay identifying important natural
resources in the United States and explaining how they are used. As an alternative, students could
create a poster, PowerPoint or picture book that answers one of the following questions:
How have human/environmental interactions influenced the cultural development of the
United States?
How have people used the natural resources of the United States?

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