ALEX Learning Activity

  

Would you live in my state?

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: TaNeezia Cook
System:Hale County
School:Greensboro Middle School
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 2208
Title:
Would you live in my state?
Digital Tool/Resource:
Adobe Spark
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

In this learning activity, each student will be assigned a state, research their state, and create a video presentation about the settlement patterns of their assigned state using Adobe Spark.  Their video presentation should include reasons to live in that state and persuade others to move into their state.  This activity will give the students an opportunity to learn about other locations in the United States through peer presentations.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Resource Development Summit.

  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Social Studies
SS2010 (2010)
Grade: 7
Geography
7 ) Classify spatial patterns of settlement in different regions of the world, including types and sizes of settlement patterns.

Examples: types—linear, clustered, grid

sizes—large urban, small urban, and rural areas

•  Explaining human activities that resulted in the development of settlements at particular locations due to trade, political importance, or natural resources
Examples: Timbuktu near caravan routes; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Birmingham, Alabama, as manufacturing centers near coal and iron ore deposits; Singapore near a major ocean transportation corridor (Alabama)

•  Describing settlement patterns in association with the location of resources
Examples: fall line settlements near waterfalls used as a source of energy for mills, European industrial settlements near coal seams, spatial arrangement of towns and cities in North American Corn Belt settlements

•  Describing ways in which urban areas interact and influence surrounding regions
Examples: daily commuters from nearby regions; communication centers that service nearby and distant locations through television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet; regional specialization in services or production

Unpacked Content
Strand: Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government
Course Title: Geography
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Analyze and describe spatial patterns of settlement in different regions of the world.
  • Evaluate the influence of changes in settlement over time.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • linear
  • clustered
  • grid
  • settlement
  • settlement patterns
  • urban area
  • spatial interaction
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Different types of settlements by type, size, major functions, such as linear, clustered, grid, large urban, small urban, and rural.
  • Ways in which urban areas interact and influence surrounding regions.
    Examples: daily commuters from nearby regions; communication centers that service nearby and distant locations through television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet; regional specialization in services or production
  • Regions where human activities resulted in the development of settlements at particular locations due to trade, political importance, or natural resources.
    Examples: Timbuktu near caravan routes; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Birmingham, Alabama, as manufacturing centers near coal and iron ore deposits; Singapore near a major ocean transportation corridor (Alabama)
  • Settlement patterns in association with the location of resources.
    Examples: fall line settlements near waterfalls used as a source of energy for mills, European industrial settlements near coal seams, spatial arrangement of towns and cities in North American Corn Belt settlements
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Classify types and sizes of settlements.
  • Determine geographic and cultural reasons for settlement locations.
  • Evaluate relationships between different settlement regions.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • There are spatial patterns of settlement in different regions of the world.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science
DLIT (2018)
Grade: 7
R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

Unpacked Content
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students will:
  • produce a multimedia artifact.
  • review artifacts created by others.
  • revise an artifact based on peer or teacher feedback.
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • feedback is important in a design process.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • create a multimedia artifact.
  • critique the work of others.
  • revise their work based on feedback received.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • much like the writing process, design of a multimedia artifact nets the best results when creators have the opportunity to be given feedback and revise as needed.
Learning Objectives:

I can use appropriate digital tools to produce, review, and revise an authentic engaging presentation.

I can describe ways in which urban areas interact and influence surrounding regions in my assigned state.

I can describe ways settlement patterns are associated with the location of resources in my assigned state.

I can explain human activities that resulted in the development of settlements at particular locations due to trade, political importance, or natural resources in my assigned state.

I can classify spatial patterns of settlement in my assigned state, including types and sizes of settlement patterns.

  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
During/Explore/Explain
Activity:

This learning activity should be used during a lesson on settlement patterns.  The students will be assigned one of the 50 states and learn how to use Adobe Spark to create a video presentation about their assigned state. Students can work individually or in pairs.  The project would work better if done individually because it will give the class of students a better opportunity to learn about more states. The students will be given a State Information Research document to help them research information to use when developing their video presentation. 

Assessment Strategies:

Students' video presentation will be assessed using the requirements from the State Information Research document.


Advanced Preparation:

The teacher and students will need to be familiar with Adobe Spark.  The Teacher may want to view and share the following tutorial video with the class.  will need to be familiar with Adobe Spark and students will need to be familiar with Adobe Spark.

Variation Tips (optional):
 
Notes or Recommendations (optional):
 
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: settlement patterns