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Regions of the United States

Project Description

Many of the people the students will study about lived long ago or in different regions of the country from where our students live. Many of these people had the same feelings or faced challenges in their lives similar to the challenges our students will face.

George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In a broader sense, students who can examine and analyze the events of the past have a powerful tool for understanding the events of today and the future.

In this project, students will identify one of the five regions of the United States and tell what the states of that region had in common. They will describe how significant historical events affected the development of these regions. They will identify historical individuals who contributed to the development of these regions and tell how their contributions were significant.

Students will show what they learned through PowerPoint presentations or oral reports.

How do events, trends, and individuals shape the history of various regions of the United States?

• What do the states of this region have in common?

• How did certain significant historical events affect the development of this region?

• Which historical individuals contributed to the development of this region?

• Why were their contributions significant?

• Which event or individual had the greatest effect on the historical development of this region?

Unit Prerequisites

General knowledge of United States history
Basic computer skills, including the capability to search the Internet
Ability to create a PowerPoint presentation

Performance Actions
 

Access:

• Examine what the states of various U. S. regions have in common.

• Gather information on events that affected the historical development of these regions.

• Search the Internet to learn about historical individuals who played a major role in the development of these regions.

Interpret:

• Analyze the commonalities of different states in a region.

• Decide which historical events played the greatest role in the development of regions.

• Gauge which historical individuals had the greatest effect in the development of regions.

Produce:

• Form an opinion on which person or event affected the historical development of a region the most.

• Generate proof to back up your opinion.

• Produce a PowerPoint presentation to share your ideas.

Communicate:

• Articulate your beliefs to the class.

• Inform your classmates of your reasons for thinking that way.

• Persuade the class that your event or person had a greater effect on a region than any other person or event.

Evaluate:

• Assess other students’ findings.

• Critique the way other students presented their arguments.

• Evaluate whether your PowerPoint presentation did a good job of presenting your position.

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