Unit 4: Louisiana Today

Unit Description

Louisiana Economics: Louisiana’s history, culture, and economics have been greatly impacted by its unique geography. Over the course of human history in Louisiana, humans have manipulated and changed parts of Louisiana’s natural landscape. While some changes were beneficial to both humans and the environment, others have negatively impacted the land and the people inhabiting it. Louisiana’s economy has been strongly impacted by its geography throughout its history. While Louisiana relied on its rivers, fertile soil, and long growing seasons to produce cash crops such as cotton and sugar early on, today, Louisiana relies heavily on its natural gas and oil deposits located in the Gulf of Mexico.

Louisiana Government: When Louisiana became a U.S. state, its people and leaders needed to learn how to function under the United States democracy. Today, Louisiana citizens understand how our democracy works. By understanding our role in local, state, and national government, we can begin advocating for ourselves and changing injustices in our world.

Essential Question

What do Louisiana's government and economy define the state identity today?

Themes

    • History is often told from the perspective of the oppressor, which eliminates the voices of the oppressed and promotes a single story. As a result, oppressed peoples fight back in different ways in an attempt to (re)claim their freedoms.
    • Land features create different societies and also create conflicts between people.
    • A region’s economy typically becomes reliant upon its resources and environment. However, people modify their environments in order to meet their diverse needs.
    • People create and further governing bodies in order to serve their various needs and interests.
    • All humans have fundamental rights and we must fight to protect them.
    • People enter conflicts to increase their power and defend their way of life.
    • Social and practical innovations affect how people live throughout the course of history.

Standards Addressed

    • 8.2.2- Explain the importance of the Mississippi River as it relates to historical events
    • 8.2.5- Analyze causes and effects of major events and evaluate their impact
    • 8.3.1- Locate and describe the physical features of Louisiana
    • 8.4.1- Analyze how the physical features and natural resources of Louisiana affected the migration patterns of cultural groups
    • 8.5.1- Describe how natural phenomena impact the physical environment of Louisiana
    • 8.5.2- Analyze and predict consequences of environmental modifications on Louisiana and its inhabitants
    • 8.6.1- Compare the foundation, function, and powers of the Louisiana and United States Constitutions
    • 8.6.2- Compare and contrast the preambles of the Louisiana and United States Constitutions
    • 8.6.3- Describe the role of various forms of local government in Louisiana
    • 8.7.1- Explain how the United States and world foreign policy have affected Louisiana
    • 8.7.2- Evaluate the role and importance of Louisiana ports in the international economy.
    • 8.8.1- Describe ways in which citizens can organize, monitor, or influence government and politics at the local, state, and national levels
    • 8.8.2- Explain the importance of being an informed citizen on public issues, recognizing propaganda, and knowing the voting issues.
    • 8.9.1- Analyze the role of specialization in Louisiana economy
    • 8.9.2- Apply the laws of supply and demand to demonstrate the effects on Louisiana products and resources.
    • 8.9.3- Analyze and explain factors affecting the production and allocation of goods and services in Louisiana, the United States, and the world.
    • 8.10.1- Analyze how scarcity of resources affects the choices of individuals and communities.
    • 8.10.2- Explain choice/trade-offs, cost/benefits, and opportunity costs related to making personal economic decisions.
    • 8.10.3- Describe historical factors influencing economic growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana.
    • 8.10.4- Explain the impact of inflation and unemployment on different groups.
    • 8.10.5- Use a variety of research and present findings about education and training for jobs and careers

Unit Outcomes

Students will know:

    • The purpose of government.
    • The purpose of the U.S. Constitution
    • Important constitutional changes in Louisiana’s history
    • How Reconstruction influenced Louisiana’s original state constitution.
    • How the concept of federalism is present in our government
    • The purpose of checks and balances
    • The rights and responsibilities of every American citizen
    • The geographical features that make up Louisiana and impact the economy
    • How natural resources dictate a region’s lifestyle and examples of this in Louisiana
    • How humans have transformed Louisiana’s landscape
    • Examples of natural, human, and capital resources
    • The impacts of scarcity on economic decision making
    • How scarcity and interdependence are related

Students will be able to:

Historical Thinking:

  • Annotate documents
    • Use the different steps for different types of documents when analyzing their contents
  • Source documents
    • Identify author’s point of view/position on a historical event
    • Identify author’s purpose in producing the document
    • Consider the source’s audience
  • Contextualize Sources
    • Understand how context influences content of the document
    • Recognize documents are products of particular points in time
  • Close read sources
    • Identify author’s claims about an event
    • Evaluate evidence and reasoning the author uses to support claims

Writing:

  • Strong body paragraphs
    • TOSEEC
    • Topic Sentences
    • 2 types of evidence
  • Strengthening evidence
    • Context
    • Extended Response
    • Introducing Text Evidence
  • Strengthening Elaboration
    • Elaboration
    • Concluding Sentence
    • Context pt. 2

Unit Vocabulary

  1. supply—the amount of a good or service available to purchase
  2. demand—the amount of goods or services consumers want to buy
  3. good—physical items you can buy or own
  4. service—activities people do for others for a fee
  5. consumer—a person who buys a good or service
  6. producer—a person who creates a good or service
  7. need- something a person must have in order to survive, such as food, clothing, shelter, or health care
  8. want- something a person can live without, but would like to have, such as an iPhone, a pair of Jordans, or a brand new sports car
  9. scarcity—when there are not enough resources to meet the demand
  10. trade offs - the result of an economic decision; when you choose to buy something instead of something else.
  11. opportunity cost—what is given up in an economic decision
  12. economic benefit—what is gained in an economic decision
  13. economy - the wealth of a region, made up of the region’s careful management of available resources
  14. colonial - the time period pre-statehood
  15. antebellum- the time period before the Civil War when slavery and large plantations dominated the South
  16. industrialize: the change from an agricultural economy to manufacturing
  17. manufacture: to make something on a large scale using machinery
  18. petroleum- the liquid that can be extracted from the ground to produce oil and gas
  19. petrochemical- a chemical obtained from petroleum and natural gas
  20. unemployment—the percentage of people who are out of work and looking for jobs.
  21. specialization - when a person, business, region, or country focuses on producing just one or a few goods and services
  22. interdependence - relying on each other; when two or more countries rely on each other for trade
  23. international trade- trading between countries
  24. revenue- income; money made
  25. port - a town or city with a harbor where ships load and unload; spurs economic activity
  26. tariff—a tax on imports designed to help protect American and Louisiana industries from foreign competitors
  27. bayou- A slow-moving river.
  28. swamp- A seasonally flooded forest
  29. wetland/Marsh- A grassy freshwater wetland
  30. oil refinery- a plant where crude oil is processed to be more useful.
  31. coastal erosion- the wearing away of Louisiana’s wetlands and coastline; also known as wetland loss
  32. human factors- caused by people
  33. natural factors- caused by environmental events such as weather
  34. levee- man-made structure used to protect places we live from being flooded
  35. land subsidence - the sinking of the Earth’s surface.
  36. canal- a man-made waterway constructed to improve routes for boats
  37. salt-water intrusion- the introduction of salt water into fresh water; often caused by canals and human factors
  38. invasive species - an animal or plant that is not native to the land; often causes damage to the ecosystem
  39. hurricane- a violent storm with wind speeds over 74 mph
  40. sea level rise- the gradual rise of ocean levels caused by melting glaciers; the product of global warming
  41. pollution- the introduction of a substance that is harmful to the environment.
  42. government- the system through which a community is organized. Makes, enforces, and carries out laws
  43. federalism—separation of powers between national, state, and local governments.
  44. shared powers- powers that the federal and state governments are both responsible for
  45. separation of powers—the division of powers between executive, judicial, and legislative branches
  46. checks and balances—a system to allow each branch of government to have a check over the other; prevents governments from becoming too powerful
  47. executive branch - responsible for enforcing laws
  48. legislative branch - responsible for making laws
  49. judicial branch - responsible for interpreting laws and declaring laws unconstitutional
  50. unconstitutional - not following the rules outlined in the Constitution
  51. veto- official rejection of a bill
  52. bill— and idea from the legislative branch that can be processed into law
  53. impeach- charge a public official with misconduct, often leading to removal from office
  54. constitution—Outlines the purpose, powers, and structures of the U.S. government
  55. preamble– The introduction to a constitution.
  56. parish- primary local government division, called a county in other states.
  57. Police Jury- an elected group of citizens in most Louisiana parishes who make local decisions
  58. municipalities- cities, towns, and villages that make up parishes
  59. city government - responsible for local governing of cities
  60. right—something a U.S. citizen earns by being a citizen, but is not required
  61. responsibility—something a U.S. citizen must do
  62. petition - a formal request such as a call, e-mail, letter, or collection of signatures to ask your representative for action
  63. non-violent demonstrations- public speeches, organizing marches, protests, conventions, or assemblies, sit-ins, boycotts, strikes, hunger strikes that demand action