Unit Plan 1 (Grade 4 Social Studies): Our State and Its Regions
Students explore their state’s physical and cultural regions and compare urban, suburban, and rural communities using maps, questions, and local examples to understand how geography shapes ways of life.
Focus: Identify physical and cultural regions of our state and compare urban, suburban, and rural communities. Students use maps, questions, and local examples to understand how geography and human activities create different regions and ways of life.
Grade Level: 4
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Inquiry/Skills)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students take a “road trip” through our state to explore how different places can feel and function differently. Using maps, photos, and short texts, they identify major physical regions (landforms, waterways, climate patterns) and cultural regions (types of work, traditions, languages, landmarks). They also compare urban, suburban, and rural communities, thinking about how people live, work, and move in each. Throughout the week, students practice asking compelling and supporting questions about their state and its regions.
Essential Questions
- How is our state divided into different physical and cultural regions?
- What makes a community urban, suburban, or rural, and how are these places similar and different?
- How do landforms, waterways, and resources help shape where people live and what they do in different regions of our state?
- How can asking good questions help us learn more about our state and its communities?
- Why is it important to understand the regions and places where we live?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Locate our state on a map and identify major physical regions (e.g., plains, hills, mountains, rivers, lakes) using labels and simple map symbols.
- Describe what a cultural region is and identify examples in our state (e.g., farming areas, industrial areas, historic or cultural centers).
- Compare urban, suburban, and rural communities in our state using at least three features (population, buildings, land use, transportation, activities).
- Use inquiry skills to create one compelling question and several supporting questions about our state and its regions.
- Create a “Our State & Its Regions” map and short explanation that shows physical/cultural regions and highlights urban, suburban, and rural examples.
Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 4.C3.Geo.1 — Identify physical/cultural regions of the state; compare urban/suburban/rural distributions.
- Example: Map agricultural vs. industrial regions and describe differences.
- 4.C3.Inq.1 — Form compelling and supporting questions about our state and regions.
- Example: “How did geography shape our state’s earliest settlements?” and “Where did towns first grow?”
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can point to our state on a map and name at least two physical regions.
- I can explain what a cultural region is and give at least one example from our state.
- I can tell how urban, suburban, and rural communities are alike and different.
- I can write at least one big question and a few smaller questions about our state and its regions.
- I can make a map and short explanation that show our state’s regions and types of communities clearly enough for someone else to understand.