Introduction

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Have you ever wished you could take a tour of the United States? Well, you can! You will be part of a team of scientists who will be taking a virtual tour around the United States to collect information to make maps, write an article for a magazine, and make a visitor's guide for a state.

The Task

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Your team has been assigned the task of creating a thematic map of the United States. The map will actually have 4 different themes: landforms, climates, crops, and natural resources. Each person on your team will specialize in one of the four themes. A secondary task will be for your team to write an article for Weekly Reader about how landforms, climates, crops, and natural resources are related. Each member of the team will also have 2 individual tasks 1) create a visitor's guide for your favorite state in your virtual tour of the United States and, 2) construct a three-dimensional model of a landform from that state.

Resources

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On-line

• State Regions - This FactMonster site is organized by regions of the country. Follow the link at the bottom of each page to the next region to find out about each region's climate, geography, traditions, and history.
• Stately Knowledge - This site gives useful and interesting facts on each of the 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. Make sure you check out the link at the bottom of each state's page called, "more facts about state".
• Postcards From - This site is discovering America by visiting the 50 states in 50 weeks. To read about the present week's state, just click on "today". To see a list of all the states they have visited, click on "Post Card Gallery" in the blue column on the left. Once there, choose a state. After selecting a state, there are other options above and below the card. Fun facts and the map are interesting.

Off-line

• States and Regions, McGraw-Hill Social Studies textbook
• Atlas
• Encyclopedias
• Atlas Software
• State books

The Process

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To accomplish your team's tasks of creating a map and writing a magazine article, each team member needs to play the part of one of the four scientists. The four scientists are listed below. To find out the specific tasks for each scientist, as well as background information for that theme, click on the name of the scientist.

• Geologist
• Meteorologist
• Agriculturalist
• Environmentalist

The Virtual Tour

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I recommend visiting the states in the order they are listed. This will take you "around" the United States. As you tour each state, your team will need to record the climate, agricultural products, landforms, and natural resources data on a team assignment sheet (1 per team). After you have toured 4 states, you will need to meet with the teacher to discuss your data (bring your assignment sheet with you to the meeting).

Requirements

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Your team will be required to do the following:

 1. Complete a thematic map of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii (25 points)

• Include all 50 state names
• Include names of bordering countries
• Include map title and key
• Include symbols for crop, climates, landforms, and natural resources for each visited state  

2. Write an article for the Weekly Reader Magazine (10 points)

• Explain the relationship between crops, climates, natural resources, and landforms.

Each team member will be required to do the following:

3. Turn in a record sheet detailing information gained as individual scientist (i.e. geologist, meteorologist, agriculturalist or environmentalist).

• Include all 18 locations

4. Create a Visitor's Guide for your favorite state from the virtual tour (15 points)

• Choose your favorite state from the virtual tour
• Collect information and pictures that a visitor would find interesting or helpful
• Create a visitor's guide (tri-fold brochure) to publish your information and pictures

5. Construct a 3-dimensional model of a landform

• Choose a landform from your favorite state
• Collect information on size
• Use information to construct model to scale

Evaluation

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Thematic Map (all team members will receive the same grade for the thematic map)

To receive a grade of a 4, your map must:

• Locate and name all 17 virtual tour states and Washington, D.C
• Locate and name 32-33 of the other states correctly
• Name the northern and southern bordering countries correctly; name the 3 bodies of water bordering the United States on the east, south and west; name the 5 Great Lakes correctly
• Include a map title and key; each theme must have its own symbol system
• Correctly identify the landforms, winter and summer climates, crops, and natural resources for 17-18 of the states on the virtual tour

To receive a grade of a 3, your map must:

• Locate and name 16 of the virtual tour states and Washington, D.C.
• Locate and name 30 -31 of the other states correctly
• Name the northern and southern bordering countries correctly; name the 3 bodies of water bordering the United States on the east, south and west; name the 5 Great Lakes correctly
• Include a map title and key; each theme must have its own symbol system
• Correctly identify the landforms, winter and summer climates, crops, and natural resources for 15-16 of the states on the virtual tour

 To receive a grade of a 2, your map must:

• Locate and name 15 of the virtual tour states and Washington, D.C.
• Locate and name 28-29 of the other states correctly
• Name the northern and southern bordering countries correctly; name the 3 bodies of water bordering the United States on the east, south and west; name the 5 Great Lakes
• Include a map title and key; each theme must have its own symbol system
• Correctly identify the landforms, winter and summer climates, crops, and natural resources for 13-14 of the states on the virtual tour

To receive a grade of a 1, your map must:

• Locate and name 14 of the virtual tour states and Washington, D.C.
• Locate and name 26-27 of the other states correctly
• Name the northern and southern bordering countries correctly; name the 3 bodies of water bordering the United States on the east, south and west; name the 5 Great Lakes
• Include a map title and key; each theme must have its own symbol system
• Correctly identify the landforms, winter and summer climates, crops, and natural resources for 11-12 of the states on the virtual tour

Article for Weekly Reader Magazine (all team members will receive the same grade for the article)

To receive a grade of a 4, your article must

• Discuss 4 landforms and their relationship to each other
• Include an example from your virtual tour  

To receive a grade of a 3, your article must

• Discuss at least 3 landforms and their relationship to each other
• Include an example from your virtual tour

To receive a grade of a 2, your article must

• Discuss at least 2 landforms and their relationship to each other
• Include an example from your virtual tour

To receive a grade of a 1, your article must

• Discuss at least 2 landforms and their relationship to each other

Visitor Guide for favorite virtual tour state (you will earn an individual grade for the visitor guide)

To receive a grade of a 4, your visitor guide must

• Include at least 5 pictures or photos from the Internet or magazines
• Include at least 5 points of interest or pieces of information
• Be done neatly

To receive a grade of a 3, your visitor guide must

• Include at least 4 pictures or photos from the Internet or magazines
• Include at least 4 points of interest or pieces of information
• Be done neatly

 To receive a grade of a 2 , your visitor guide must

• Include at least 3 pictures or photos from the Internet or magazines
• Include at least 4 points of interest or pieces of information
• Be done neatly

 To receive a grade of a 1, your visitor guide must

• Include at least 3 pictures or photos from the Internet or magazines
• Include at least 3 points of interest or pieces of information
• Be done neatly

3-dimensional landform (you will earn an individual grade for the landform)

To receive a grade of a 4, your landform must

Conclusion

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This quest took you to Washington, D.C. and 17 of America's fifty states. You have visited every type of landform and climate

in the United States. You have discovered the United State's vast natural resources. You have also discovered the many

different types of crops grown in the United States. One of the goals of this quest was for you to discover the different

landforms, climates, crops, and natural resources throughout the United States. An even greater goal was for you to begin to

see the relationships between landforms, climates, crops, and natural resources. A third goal was for you to develop and apply

map skills in completing your own thematic map of the United States. Last, but not least, was the personal skills developed and

applied in working as a member of a team.