Download The Southeast - Library Video Company

TEACHER’S GUIDE
• Have students learn more about the Mississippi River system by participating in a Mississippi River scavenger hunt.A wonderful lesson plan,
including printable worksheets and useful links, can be found at:
www.education-world.com/a_lesson/00-2/1p2120.shtml
• In small groups, have students learn the official state songs of the states
located in the Southeast region.Assign each small group a state. Useful
resource: www.50states.com/songs/
• Have students research the weather in certain Southeastern states for a
week.After students collect their data, they should display their data on
bar graphs. Useful resource: www.weathercentral.com/weather/us/
regions/southeast.html
• Have students write and illustrate a cookbook featuring the foods of the
Southeast region. Useful resource: www.chefrick.com/
• Mardi Gras is a major celebration which takes place in the state of
Louisiana each year. Have students research the historical background to
this famous celebration and learn its traditions. Useful resource:
www.educationworld.com/a_tsl/archives/00-1/lesson0038.shtml
TEACHER’S GUIDE
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Suggested Print Resources
• Faber, Harold, Milton Meltzer & Patricia Calvert. La Salle: Down the
Mississippi. Marshsall Cavendish; 2002.
• Salas, L. & Tom N. Shattuck. Wilderness Road, 1775. Capstone Press,
Mankato, MN; 2003.
• Wright-Frierson,Virginia. Island Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk on a Barrier
Island. Simon & Shuster, New York, NY; 2002.
The Southeast
Grades K–4
Suggested Internet Resources
Periodically, Internet Resources are updated on our web site at
www.LibraryVideo.com
• www.mississippiriverinfo.com/
This interactive web site is useful for the study of the Mississippi River.
• earlyamerica.com/lives/boone/index.html
On this web site, students will be able to read The Adventures of
Daniel Boone, published in 1784 and written by Boone himself.
• www.danielboonetrail.com
This is an interactive web site where students can view and learn more
about the Wilderness Trail.
TEACHER’S GUIDE
Julia McMeans, M.Ed.
Rudolph Lea, Educator
Curriculum Specialists, Schlessinger Media
COMPLETE LIST OF TITLES
• California
• Florida
• Michigan
• New York
• Texas
• The Midwest
• The Northeast
• The Southeast
• The Southwest
• The West
Teacher’s Guides Included
and Available Online at:
5
eography is the study of the Earth’s surface and
the ways in which people interact with it. It helps
us to understand the unique features of regions, landforms, climates and natural resources. Geography is
also the study of people; where they live, how they
live and why and how they move from place to place.
Through the study of geography we can understand
the impact people have upon the environment, and
the effect the environment has upon people.
Geography is not about the rote memorization of
capital cities or mountain ranges, but rather an understanding of why cities sprang up where they did, and
how one mountain range may be different from
another. Geography is a framework through which we
can understand, interpret and make sense of an everchanging world.
G
• State Capitals
• The United States
• U.S. Commonwealths
& Territories
800-843-3620
Teacher’s Guide and Program Copyright 2004 by Schlessinger Media,
a division of Library Video Company
P.O. Box 580,Wynnewood, PA 19096 • 800-843-3620
Executive Producer:Andrew Schlessinger
Program produced and directed by JWM Productions, LLC.
All rights reserved.
K7653
V8808
Program Summary
Big swamps, huge rivers, the blues, rock and roll, country and western and
zydeco, peanuts, pecans, cotton, barges, buttermilk biscuits and oranges…
why, we must be in the Southeast region of the United States!
The Southeast region contains 12 states: Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky,
Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. Many of the states in the Southeast region
border the Atlantic Ocean, while others border the Gulf of Mexico. This
region also has wetlands, like the Okefenokee Swamp, and part of the
Appalachian Mountains. In fact, the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, part
of the Appalachian chain, has more visitors each year than any other national
park.
The mighty Mississippi River, which flows from Minnesota to the Gulf, provided early settlers with a steady means of transporting people and goods
from place to place. Eventually, as people began to build dams along the river,
it became an important source for the creation of hydroelectric power.
The climate in the Southeast region is moderate, meaning that a variety of
crops can grow there. Cotton, oranges, pecans and peanuts are just a few. But
the Southeast has many other natural resources, including coal from West
Virginia and Kentucky, oil, which comes from wells off the Gulf Coast, and
natural gas.
People in the Southeast live in big cities like Atlanta and New Orleans, and
suburbs like Decatur. They also live on farms and on the barrier islands,
which are small islands, like Hilton Head, that are located along the Southeast
Atlantic Coast.
Vocabulary
landforms — The natural shapes that make up the Earth’s surface. Deserts,
mountains and plains are examples of landforms.
region — An area that has physical and human characteristics that distinguish it from other areas.
Atlantic Ocean — A large body of salt water. The Atlantic Ocean is one of
four oceans on the Earth’s surface.
Gulf of Mexico — The section of the Atlantic Ocean that extends into the
southeastern part of the United States.
erosion — The wearing away of the Earth’s surface.
plateau — An area of land that is usually high and flat.
fall line — The drop from higher land to lower land where rivers flow
down creating waterfalls.
mouth — The point at which one river flows into another river.
source — The point of origin of a river.
(Continued)
2
tributary — A smaller river or stream that flows into a larger body of water.
hydroelectric power — Power that is generated by running water.
port — A trading center along a waterway where ships load and unload
people and goods.
8. Explain Daniel Boone’s contribution to the Southeast region.
9.What types of boats have people used along the waterways of the
Southeast region?
10.What sorts of music have their origins in the Southeast region?
delta — New land that is formed from the deposited dirt from a river.
product — Something that people produce, usually to sell. Cotton is an
Follow-up Discussion
example of a product.
natural resource — Something found in nature that people can use. Coal
is an example of a natural resource.
irrigation — Bringing water to soil so that crops will grow when there is
too little rain.
barrier islands — Low, sandy islands that lie along the Southeast Atlantic
Coast.
growing season — The number of days during which there are no freezing temperatures.The growing season in the Southeast is approximately 180
days.
cash crop — A crop that is grown to sell.
• The Great Smoky Mountains have more visitors each year than any
other park. Have students discuss why they think this might be.
• The cotton gin, invented by Eli Whitney, revolutionized the textile
industry. Have students discuss the positive and negative outcomes of
improved technology in industry.
• Have students discuss why they think so many important cities in the
Southeast (such as Richmond, Savannah, and New Orleans) are located
along rivers.
• The Southeast has both renewable and nonrenewable resources. Have a
discussion with students regarding the difference between these
valuable resources.
Pre-viewing Discussion
Follow-up Activities
• Discuss with your students why they think the study of geography is
important.What are the advantages of studying different regions of the
United States?
• What questions might students have about the Southeast region? What
predictions can they make about certain aspects (climate, landforms, etc.)
of this particular region?
• The Okefenokee Swamp is one of the largest swamps in the Southeast
region. Have students speculate about what they think a swamp might be
like.What sorts of plants and animals might live in or near a swamp? What
might a swamp look like?
• The Mississippi River is an important waterway in the Southeast region.
Have students discuss the many uses for rivers. How does a major waterway benefit a region?
• Daniel Boone was an important figure in the development of the
Southeast region. In small groups, have students conduct research into
the life and achievements of this American legend. Students should
come up with creative ways to present their research to the class.
Useful resource: www.bocomo.org/dboone.htm
• Have younger students create a Southeast alphabet book.Assign small
groups of students a letter or two from the alphabet and have them
draw and label something that is typically Southeastern. Individual
group pages should be compiled to create a book.
• In small groups, have students plan a trip or vacation to the Southeast
region of the United States. Each group should tell what recreational,
cultural and historical places they would like to visit. Students may also
include maps and directions to various places. Students should then
present their travel itineraries to the class.
• Both Eli Whitney and Robert Fulton were inventors whose inventions
greatly influenced the Southeast region. Have students conduct research
into the cotton gin and the steamboat to find out more about the inventors, the inventions and how they changed life in the Southeast. Useful
resources:
www.eliwhitney.org/
xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/transport/fulton.html
(Continued)
Focus Questions
1.What sorts of landforms can be found in the Southeast region?
2.What states comprise the Southeast region?
3.Which two coasts border the Southeast region?
4.What is the relationship between growing season and climate?
5. Name some natural resources that can be found in the Southeast region.
6. How is a delta formed?
(Continued)
7.What is the Cumberland Gap?
3
4