2nd Scavenger Hunt:North America's Physical Features

Activity/Project Title: Scavenger Hunt: North Americas Physical Features

Subject Area: Social Studies/Geography Grade Level: 2nd Lesson Length/Number of Sessions: 2 one-hour lessons Content (Concept/Understanding or Skill/Ability): Using a map (Google Earth) to locate important physical features and countries of North America Prerequisites: Introduction to Google Earth (creating placemarks, paths,and using the ruler), the basics of Google SearchGoogle Earth Tutorials http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/tutorials/index.html State Standards addressed: History/Social Science 2.2 Students demonstrate map skills by describing the absolute and relative locations of people, places, and environments. 2. Label from memory a simple map of the North American continent, including the countries, oceans, Great Lakes, major rivers, and mountain ranges. Identifythe essential map elements: title, legend, directional indicator, scale, and date. NETS*S (National Educational Technology Standards*Students): 2a, 2d, 3b, 3d, 4b Instructional Goals & Objectives:Demonstrate map reading skills by being able to locate various places on Google Earth.Construct placemarks and paths to indicate important physical features of N.A.Label placemarks with factual information.Measure distances from one countrys border to anothers; i.e. the distance from the northern border of Panama to the southern border of the United States (as the crow flies).Name 7 of the countries of North AmericaDescription of Activity/Procedure (Introduction Direct Instruction Guided Practice/Check for Understanding Independent Practice Closure):Show a video of one of North Americas physical features or a country. Discuss.Review with the children creating placemarks, paths, and using the ruler.Pick one of North Americas physical features and create a placemark with info.Create a path with the Add Path tool.Measure distance from one feature or country to another using the Ruler tool.Assign one physical feature and one country to each student group for them to placemark (location and information).Have each student group measure distances. Either tell them what to measure or let them decide.Student groups report back to the class and share what they have learned.Materials/Equipment Needed:Computers with Internet access and Google Earth downloaded.Laptop connected to a projector for either in class demos or computer lab demos.Video Links:Rocky Mountains, COhttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&sitesearch=&start=30http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&sitesearch=&start=50Rocky Mountains, Canadahttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&sitesearch=&start=30Great Lakeshttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=Great%20Lakes&hl=en&sitesearch=http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=Great%20Lakes&hl=en&sitesearch=Costa Ricahttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=Costa%20Rica&hl=en&sitesearch=Panamahttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Rocky%20Mountains&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=Panama&hl=en&sitesearch=Assessment/Evaluation:Ability to comfortably use Google Earth and its tools (placemark and ruler)Accuracy of placemarks (location)Quality of the information/facts found to describe the physical featuresPresentation to classFollow-up Activities/Next Steps/Future Lessons:Create a Google Docs Presentation. Each student group will do a different physical feature and a different country (exclude the United States and Canada).Contributor:Donna AxelsonCupertino, CA

Additional Resources:

Scavenger HuntNorth Americas Physical Features

Create placemarks in Google Earth for some of North Americas physical features. Include some interesting facts in the placemark.Using the Google Earth Ruler tool, measure the distances between various of the countries and some of the physical features.CountriesCanadaUnited StatesMexicoCentral America Belize Guatemala Honduras El SalvadorNicaragua Costa Rica PanamaCaribbean Sea Cuba Jamaica Puerto Rico Haiti Dominican Republic Other islandsWater FeaturesPacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Arctic Ocean Caribbean Sea Gulf of Mexico Gulf of California Hudson Bay Bering SeaPanama Canal Great Lakes (HOMES) Great Salt Lake Lake Managua Lake Winnipeg St. Lawrence River Mississippi River Rio Grande Colorado RiverPhysical FeaturesAlaska Range (Mt. McKinley)Rocky Mountains (US & Canada)Sierra Madres (Mexico and CentralAmerica) Great Plains (US & Canada) Sonoran Desert (U.S. & Mexico) Mojave Desert

Placemarks for the Rocky Mts., Mississippi River, & the Great Lakes are visible.

Measure the distance from the northern border of Panama to the southern border of the United States (as the crow flies).