Objectives
The students will be able to define terms: continent, country and state.
The students will be able to locate on a map and globe the continent of North America, the Country of the United States, the states of Alaska and Hawaii.
Vocabulary
continent, country, state
Materials Needed
United States Political Map, globe, and map marker
Lesson
Show the students the globe and pass it among them. The globe is a model of the planet Earth. Tell the students that today they will learn more about the land areas on the globe.
Write the word continent on the board. A continent is a very large area of land. Tell the students there are seven (7) continents on Earth.
We live on the continent of North America. Locate North America on the globe. Have a student circle the words North America and another student outline the shape of North America on the globe.
Write the word country on the board. Ask the students the name of our country. Write the words United States on the board. Have a student circle the words United States on the globe. Have another student outline the shape of the United States on the globe. The United States is a country on the continent of North America.
Tell the students that there are 50 states in the country f the United States. Two of the states, Alaska and Hawaii, do not touch the other states. Circle Alaska and Hawaii on the globe. Alaska and Hawaii are part of the United States.
Pull the United States Map down all the way. In the top left corner is an inset map labeled Location Skills. Position the globe so that the same area shown on the inset map is facing the students on the globe. The definitions of continent, country and state, and an example of each, are presented in the inset map. Underline the word continent. Restate the definition and outline the shape of North America. Compare this to the globe. Follow the same procedure for country and state. (Ideally, a student should do this, but it may be too high for them to reach.)
Emphasize the definitions and comparative sizes of these three features.
Remind the students that Alaska and Hawaii do not touch the other states. On the map of the United States, Alaska and Hawaii are presented in the lower left corner. Emphasize that this shows their shapes only. Again, show on the globe where each state is really located.
Lesson .pdf file (Printable Lesson)