For our final social studies grade for the year the goal was to research and present information about the West Region.

However, everyone had a choice of a final project!


Some people chose to make posters (below). Others wrote and performed a play.  Two people wrote songs (below).  One person created a travel brochure and one person wrote a research paper.

Here are two songs about the West Region.  One is to the tune of The Story of Us, and the other is to the tune of Call Me Maybe.

Below are the posters some students created.  Great job to everyone on their projects!  Tests are important, but they're not the only way to show how much you've learned.  These projects don't just show how much you know about the region; they also show how creative and expressive you are.  Good work, everyone!    

Whenever we've studied a region in fourth grade, we've looked at 6 main characteristics of that region:

Natural Resources including the food and other useful things nature provides

Products including those things we can make from those resources

Landforms which is the way the land is shaped


Bodies of Water which are like landforms...only water.  Not land.

Landmarks which are famous places to visit

Recreation which are specific places you can visit for fun.

Along with the history of the region, this photo shows you, at a glance, the characteristics of the Southwest Region.   

There are different landforms in the Southwest Region that we don't really have many of here in the Northeast.  As a result, the landscape there looks very different.

Below are pictures of the Southwest at sundown.   

Now that we've learned about all 5 regions, we started to look at where the products we enjoy really are from! 

All you need to do is look on the side of your box of food.  There will be a postal code for the state.  For example, MA is the postal code for Massachusetts.  If you know the code, and you know what region the state is in, you can see if it matches your guess about where the natural resources are from.

Do you notice any patterns in what types of food are from each region?

Today we had a visit from Mr. Kidawski, an actor from Young Audiences of Massachusetts (Historical Perspectives). In his show, he "becomes" Abraham Lincoln so we get to learn about his life. We saw what happened to him when he was a kid and heard how he felt about it. We also got to hear how his early experiences made him make choices later on when he became an adult, why he decided to run for president, and the decisions he made for our coutnry when he was our leader.

What's something you learned about President Lincoln?

Today we learned how the Great Lakes can connect, even though one is much lower than the others!

Since I've been to Foxton Locks in England, I thought I could explain it best by showing you a video of how those locks work.  They're smaller than the system used for the Great Lakes, but they're just as ingenious.

As you watch the video below (it's about 7 minutes long, and you don't need sound), see if you can identify the:

• Reservoir
  
• Crank
  
• Lock
  
• Door
  

Although he wasn't the same person who came to our school earlier this year, we had fun watching a "new guy" draw a map of the United States.

This time the learning focus was on the states and capitals. Most of the icons he drew weren't explained, but each was important to that state. Not only that, but there was a really catchy song that went with it! If you'd like to watch this video, you can visit the Marbles the Brain Store website. Clicking the link will bring you to a shopping site (the map is for sale) but if you scroll down you can watch the video, commercial free, for free.

The Southeast Region is a popular vacation spot because it is has so many recreational areas!  Have you ever been to Florida on vacation?  Then you've had fun in the southeast region.

The tourism industry (also known as recreation) isn't all about fun and games.  It also creates a lot of jobs and tax money for the region.  

The tax money that is collected in a state is related to the economy.  When there is a good balance of people earning, saving and spending money, it's good for the economy.

Since you know the southeast region has an ocean, farms, and theme parks, what jobs do you think are available in the region?  What are some products (not groceries or clothes) from the southeast region that generate tax money for these states?  Answer in the comments below.

When you hear people talking about the economy, they are talking about money.  

The economy has to do with how much money a city, state or country has (not how much your parents have!).

Some things that are important to keeping the economy in good shape is having jobs and people to do them, having products and people to buy them, fun things that people want to spend money on, and taxes to keep public services running.  

This term we've expanded our social studies vocabulary.  We've been learning about how bodies of water are each different.  Here are some bodies of water that are found in the Southeast Region.

Have you ever visited any of the bodies of water above?  Answer in the comments below.