Grade 4 Spring — US National Geography and Westward Expansion (1803–1890): Whose Land, Whose Story, Whose Future?
History · GEO
G4 (D2.Geo.1-6.3-5; CA HSS 4.1 extended national; TEKS 5.6; NYS 5.2)
hist.g4.s.geo.us_physical_geography
Identify US national physical geography — major landforms, rivers, lakes, climate zones across 5 regions plus Alaska and Hawaii
Locate and describe the United States' major physical features: 5 regions (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West) plus Pacific Northwest sub-region plus Alaska and Hawaii; major mountain ranges (Appalachians, Rockies, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, Coastal Range); major rivers (Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Columbia, Colorado, Rio Grande, Hudson); the Great Lakes (Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario); Great Plains; deserts (Mojave, Sonoran, Great Basin); climate zones. Apply NCGE Five Themes (LOCATION/PLACE/HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION/MOVEMENT/REGIONS). Vocabulary: region, watershed, landform, climate zone, plain, range, basin, plateau.
Mastery threshold
80%
Min instances
10
Typical minutes
50
Spaced intervals (days)
1, 3, 7, 14, 30, 60
Prereqs
Successors
- Identify the 50 states and their capital cities; locate the US in North America; apply basic US map literacy
- Apply distance, scale, and route-mapping skills to overland trails — Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, Pony Express, Lewis and Clark route
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hist.g5.f.geo.colonial_geography
(not yet loaded)
Common misconceptions
- Treating regions as just political divisions rather than physical-geographic regions
- Conflating climate zone with region
- Forgetting Alaska and Hawaii are part of US national geography
- Treating 'frontier' as an empty space (it was never empty — Indigenous nations had lived there since time immemorial)