US Physical Geography — 5 Regions, Major Landforms, Rivers, Great Lakes

Locate YOUR state on MG-2. Tell partner which region your state is in and one neighboring state.

• Walk room to support state location
• Affirm regional placement
• Note state-pair patterns by region

Direct teach the 5 regions with hand gesture (right arm = Northeast/Southeast; left arm + low body = Southwest/West/Pacific Northwest; midline = Midwest; separate gesture for Alaska + Hawaii). Name 5 major mountain ranges with location (Appalachians = Southeast/Northeast spine; Rockies = West central; Cascades = Pacific Northwest; Sierra Nevada = California-Nevada border; Coastal Range = Pacific coast). Name 7 major rivers + their watersheds. Name 5 Great Lakes via mnemonic HOMES (Huron/Ontario/Michigan/Erie/Superior).

• Geography matters because landforms shape what humans can do — and what work it takes.

  model Sierra Nevada — this is the same mountain range Chinese laborers had to blast through to build the transcontinental railroad's Central Pacific section, which we'll study in lesson 14.

  prompt Which mountain range runs north-south through California and Nevada?

• Tell partner which region your state is in.
• Name two states in YOUR region and one mountain range or river in your region.

Children examine MG-2 as a cartographic source — who made this map? What does it include and exclude? (Note that Native Land Digital overlay is on a removable layer.)

M-4-S-GEO-02-A Map

MG-2 tactile-relief version on classroom table; children can run fingers along Appalachian ridge, Rocky Mountain ridge, Mississippi River channel, Great Lakes basins. Includes Alaska and Hawaii inset boxes also tactile.

MG-2 Map

US 50-State Physical and Political Map (tactile-relief version available): full continental US plus Alaska and Hawaii insets; all 50 state outlines in faint gray with capital-city dots and state-name labels in 12pt; major landforms in raised-relief tactile version (Appalachians, Rockies, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, Coastal Range, Ozarks, Great Smoky Mountains); major rivers (Mississippi/Missouri/Ohio/Columbia/Colorado/Rio Grande/Hudson) in blue; Great Lakes labeled (Superior/Michigan/Huron/Erie/Ontario); Great Plains shaded; deserts (Mojave/Sonoran/Great Basin) shaded; climate zones lightly indicated via 5 color washes; 5 region-boundary lines overlaid (Northeast / Southeast / Midwest / Southwest / West) with Pacific Northwest sub-region and Alaska/Hawaii separately. Translucent overlay layer (removable): historic Indigenous-homelands map circa 1500 CE based on cartographic work by Native Land Digital (native-land.ca, used with permission) showing 100+ nation-names across the continent. Style: cartographic accuracy, child-readable labels, tactile-raised landforms.

• Region card sort: sort all 50 state cards into 5 region piles + Alaska + Hawaii piles.

  scaffold Use MG-2 as reference; work in pairs.
• Apply NCGE Five Themes to ONE region (your own region): LOCATION (lat/long), PLACE (physical features), HUMAN-ENV INTERACTION (how do people use the land?), MOVEMENT (what comes in/out?), REGIONS (sub-regions).

  scaffold Use NCGE Five Themes anchor chart.

M-4-S-GEO-02-B Chart

18x24 chart showing the 5 NCGE themes (LOCATION/PLACE/HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION/MOVEMENT/REGIONS) each with child-facing definition and a US-region example. Color-coded per theme.

• Name the 5 US regions.
• Name 2 mountain ranges and 2 rivers in the US.
• Which region is YOUR state in?

• Restate why geography matters for human history
• Preview tomorrow's 50-states + capitals work

• Find a US map at home or online. Identify ONE landform within 200 miles of your home you have visited or seen. Write 2 sentences.