3rd Grade Social Studies Unit 4

Big Idea:

Communities adapt to and change their physical environment.

Student Expectations:

Priority TEKS

3.4(A) [Supporting] Describe and explain variations in the physical environment, including climate, landforms, natural resources, and natural hazards.

3.4(D) [Readiness] Describe the effects of human processes such as building new homes, conservation, and pollution in shaping the landscape.

Focus TEKS

3.4(B) [Readiness] Identify and compare how people in different communities adapt to or modify the physical environment in which they live such as deserts, mountains, wetlands, and plains.

3.4(C) [Supporting] Describe the effects of physical processes such as volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes in shaping the landscape

3.4(E) [Readiness] Identify and compare the human characteristics of various regions

Ongoing TEKS

3.17(D) [Tools to Know] Use various parts of a source, including the table of contents, glossary, and index as well as keyword Internet searches, to locate information

3.17(E) [Ways to Show] Interpret and create visuals, including graphs, charts, tables, timelines, illustrations, and maps

3.17(F) [Tools to Know] Use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps and graphs

3.18(A) [Ways to Show] Express ideas orally based on knowledge and experiences

3.18(B) [Ways to Show] Use technology to create written and visual material such as stories, poems, pictures, maps, and graphic organizers to express ideas

3.18(C) [Tools to Know] Use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation

3.19(A) [Tools to Know] Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution

3.19(B) [Tools to Know] Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a decision, gather information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a decision

Student Learning Targets:

• I will describe climate, landforms, natural resources, and natural hazards in a given physical environment.
• I will identify how people modify and adapt to physical environments.
• I will describe the effects of volcanoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes on landscapes.
• I will write about how and why people modify physical environments.

Essential Questions:

• Why would people have to modify their physical environment?
• How can you compare the differences between the effects that a volcano would have on the environment to the effects of a hurricane?
• How is the physical environment shaped by natural disasters?
• How can a community be protected from the effects of rapid change?

Extra Information:

Adopted Textbook: American Legacy, Studies Weekly

District Grading Policy

Texas Gateway Online Resource Center