Lesson Planning Guide

Lesson Title: Physical and Human Characteristics

Author: Hannah Johnston Grade: Fourth

Learning Objective:
I can define physical characteristic and human characteristic.

Curriculum Connection:
Aligns with Westbrook Fourth Grade Geography and Culture Social Studies
Learning Standards
We are learning about states and regions, landforms and Native
Americans.
Aligns with Maine Learning Results ( Grades 3-4) D.1.
D.1. Students understand the geography of the community, Maine, the
United States, and various regions of the world.
b. Create visual representations of the world, showing a basic understanding
of the geographic grid, including the equator and prime meridian.
Identify the Earths major geographic features such as continents, oceans,
major mountains, and rivers using a variety of geographic tools.

Graduation Standard 5: Geography: Analyze the physical, human, and

environmental geography of Maine, the
Performance indicator
a. Use and explain a variety of geographic tools to identify physical features
and political boundaries around the world.

Long term learning target

I can create an accurate map of Maines geological features.

Knowledge of Students:

Prior Knowledge
Yesterday the students talked about the purpose of a map. A map is a visual
representation that can give you information about a place.
Students will use their experience living in Westbrook and Maine to
understand new information today. Ideally, they will have traveled around
the state. For example, they have seen a mountain and a river before.
Strengths
The activity will appeal to both visual and kinesthetic learners.
Enrichment: When students are finished with the activity, they will be
encouraged to look through books and/or brochures to learn about one or
 two specific features in Maine. They will then write a few sentences about
that place.
Potential Barriers
Some students may feel overwhelmed by the task of finding pictures in a
magazine/brochure. In order to support these students, I will make an
example and do guided practice with them. Additionally, I will be on the rug
in the classroom. I will instruct students that need extra help to come to the
rug. This group can then help each other as I support them.
The worksheet will be set up as a graphic organizer, to help students sort
and organize features.
ELL students will be able to complete this activity because of its visual
nature. To support them, I will add new vocabulary to the word wall.

Assessment: (name method and specific criteria)

Selected response/short answer- students will use magazines and

brochures to find examples of physical and human characteristics.

Instructional Strategies:
1. Using visuals: To introduce the topic, and hook the students, I will show
students fun pictures of physical and human features. This will enhance
instruction.
2. Daily re-looping of previously learned material: I will review the
material that we covered yesterday. This will constantly reinforce learning
and give me something to build on.
3. Reading and writing across the curriculum- Students will read about
physical vs human characteristics.
4. Guided Practice- students do something based on a teacher guidance. The
students will think about what geographic features of Maine and Westbrook
are.
5. Hands on learning: is an educational strategy that directly involves
learners by encouraging them to do something in order to learn about it. For
this lesson, students will be looking through magazines/brochures to find
pictures.
6. Ecological approach: involves all aspects of a childs life, including
classroom, family, neighborhood, and community, in teaching the child
useful life and educational skills. The students will be learning about physical
and human characteristics through their community and state.
7. Word Wall-This is an interactive literary tool used to teach students
relevant vocabulary in a structured way. (physical characteristics, human
characteristics)
8. Graphic organizers- The students will be given graphic organizers to fill out
with presidential information. This will clearly tell the students what
information they need to find,

Lesson Procedure: (with time frames)

Introduce learning target, review long term learning target (3 min)
Yesterday we talked about maps and the purpose of maps.
Today we are going to talk about what makes places unique.

Activator (5 min)
What makes Maine unique?
Show students pictures of a variety of places from Maine Downeast Magazine
Instagram
Enthusiastically enjoy the pictures and notice differences
Reading (5 min) Geographic Features Hand Out
Explain that unique features are divided into two categories: Physical and
Human
Students and teacher will read through the hand out. (will also be projected
on the board)
Guided Practice (7 minutes)
Focus on Westbrook and Maine. What attributes define it as a geographic
place? What physical and human characteristics do we have? Remember
maps tell us about a place.
Is the neighborhood rural or urban?
Who lives in the community/Maine?
Do the people of your community
speak several different languages or only one?
Do we have buildings? parks?
How cold does it get in the winter?
How warm in the summer?
Does it rain much?
Are there mountains, beaches,
rivers, or deserts nearby?
On the board, write a handful of things that define Maine.Some of the most
important include population density, temperature, annual precipitation, and
the ruggedness of the terrain...
Independent work (20 minutes)
look through magazines and brochures to find examples of physical and
human characteristics in Maine. Indicate which it is. Determine how many
examples based on amount of time left in the block.
I will get these brochures from Portland Transportation Center.
 I will get magazines from my aunt, who has a large collection of Maine and
Downeast Magazines

Materials, Equipment:
1. Ipad
2. Projector
3. Magazines and brochures
4. Whiteboard and markers
5. Glue sticks
6. Scissors
7. Features handout

Other adults in the room:

Mrs. D for the beginning of the lesson. She leave the classroom around 11:35

Resources
http://nationalgeographic.org/archive/xpeditions/lessons/04/gk2/eart
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