Procedure:
- Ask
students to think about the question: What is a county? Then ask them to
share their ideas with a partner. Discuss students’ answers with the
entire class.
- Using
guided discussion format, have students suggest a list of characteristics of
a county. It may be helpful to use a wall map or a large fold out map of
your own county to help with this process. As students propose various
characteristics, list them on the board or overhead.
Some possible characteristics include the following:
smaller
than a state but bigger than a city or town
made
up of several cities and towns
has
its own government
government
is located in the county seat
has
a system of roads
has
definite boundaries
provides
some goods and services for people living in the county
has
a sheriff
- Re-introduce
the definition of a regional community by writing the definition on the
board or overhead. A regional community a regional community is a region
made up of other communities. It is smaller than a state. The small
communities within the regional community share some common characteristics
such as a system of roads and provide common services to the people living
there. Working in groups of two or three, ask students to discuss how a
county qualifies as a regional community. Have student groups share their
answers with the class. Ask students to predict answers to the following
questions:
How
many counties are there in Michigan?
Which
peninsula, the upper or lower, has the most counties?
How
many counties are there in the Upper Peninsula?
How
many counties are there in the Lower Peninsula?
- Have
students use a Michigan Counties map to find the correct answers to the
questions from Step 4. There are 83 counties in Michigan; the Lower
Peninsula has more counties; there are 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula
and 68 counties in the Lower Peninsula.
- Divide
students into groups of three and assign one group to each of the following
counties: Ottawa, Luce, Mason, Marquette, Saginaw, Monroe, Oakland, Clinton,
Genessee. (Other assignments may be given based on the location of your
school.) Give each group a copy of 3rd
Grade Social Studies Unit 1 Lesson 5 Student Resource for
them to record requested information about their assigned county.
- Demonstrate
to students how they will attain information through the Internet.
Using a computer, go to Michigan
Counties on the World Wide Web at http://www.multimag.com/county/mi.
Click on Bay County and model the data collection process for students by
reading the information about Bay County and filling in an overhead of the
Data Collection Sheet. Sample answers for the Data Collection Sheet for Bay
County are:
Name
of County: Bay
Location: Northern base of Michigan’s ‘thumb’
History
Fact: Important in lumbering in late 1800s
Natural
Feature: Saginaw River
Important
Cities and Towns: Bay City
Interesting
Fact: Surrounds the Saginaw Bay on Lake
Huron
- Have
the small groups complete the data collection process for their assigned
county by accessing the website in Step 7. You may also print out the
information sheets for the various counties from the website and provide
them to the respective groups. Using the data, students record information
on their Data Collection Sheet for their assigned county.
- After
students have recorded the necessary information, have each group plan and
deliver a short presentation about their assigned county using the
information they researched. Encourage students to create a visual display
to enhance their presentation.
Assessment
The
short oral presentation about their assigned county can serve as an assessment
for this lesson. Students could also write a short paragraph summarizing
important characteristics of their researched county or of counties in general.
Application
Beyond School
Students
could do a “Family County Search” by researching questions such as:
Extensions:
Arts
Students
use art skills when creating a visual display for their presentations.
English
Language Arts
When
students research and organize information they use a variety of literacy
skills.
Mathematics
When
students explore maps they use direction and orientation. They classify the
number of counties Upper, Lower, and make accurate counts of the counties.
Technology
Students
use technology when they use the Internet to research and technology tools to
create a presentation.
