VS.10b

Describing the major products and industries of Virginia's five geographic regions.

READY RESOURCES

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• In this lesson, students will identify products and industries from the five geographic regions.
  
  
• Review the five geographic regions of Virginia with the following map:
  http://www.doe.virginia.gov/...va_regions_without%20counties_map.pdf
• Create a large bulletin board size map of Virginia where students can place pictures of products and industries.
  
  
• Find a Virginia Products map and make it into an overhead transparency (An Atlas of Virginia). View and discuss the products from each region and conclude why certain products are available in that region. Find pictures of apples, coal, seafood, information technology, tobacco, and poultry. Make picture label cards and place on Virginia classroom map. Give students a blank map of Virginia and have them draw and label the products in the correct place on their maps.
  
  
• Poll the class and ask students about how many of their parents or relatives work for the federal government. Remind them that many people who live in Northern Virginia work for the federal government because of its close proximity to Washington, D.C., and that there are many military bases in the Tidewater and Piedmont regions. Both civilians who work on military bases as well as those who serve in the military are federal government employees.
  
  
• Ask students if they know of friends or relatives who work in other industries, such as shipbuilding, tourism, farming, textiles, recreation, coal mining, or state government.
  
  
• Make picture label cards of Virginia industries such as shipbuilding, tourism, federal military installations, farming, textiles, recreation, coal mining, and federal and state government to be placed on the Virginia classroom map. Have students draw and label the industries in the correct place on their maps.
  
  
• Review the different products and industries that characterize each region.
  • Coastal Plain (Tidewater)
    Products: Seafood
    Industries: Shipbuilding, tourism, federal military installations
  • Piedmont
    Products: Tobacco products, information technology
    Industries: Technology, federal and state government, farming, textiles
  • Blue Ridge Mountains
    Products: Apples
    Industries: Recreation
  • Valley and Ridge
    Products: Poultry, apples
    Industries: Farming
  • Appalachian Plateau
    Products: Coal
    Industries: Coal mining
  
  
  
• Optional activity: Show Virginia Pathways Episode 2, Segment 3, Industries.
  
  
• Have the students create a brochure about Virginia that includes the major products and industries of each region. Use the following Web sites:
  • Virginia Places at http://www.virginiaplaces.org
  • Virginia Travel Corporation at http://www.Virginia.org
  • Social Studies Curriculum Virginia Studies Poster Sets http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters
  
  
  
• Word Splash.
  
  
• Use the blank map of the regions of Virginia and have students draw symbols of the products and industries in each region.
  Click here for blank map of regions of Virginia
  
  
• Complete this Virginia Research Idea. Ask students to research a product in Virginia and answer some questions: Where is it grown? Who uses it? Is it exported? What is the climate of the area where it is grown? What type of soil does it need? Which region of Virginia is it found? Is it a native crop?
  
  
• Make connections between the products and industries of each region in Virginia by researching the Web site of Virginia Travel Corporation.
  http://www.virginia.org/
  
  
• Research the products of the regions of Virginia using the following Web site:
  http://www.virginiaplaces.org/regions/index.html

TEACHER BACKGROUND RESOURCES

WEB SITES

• http://www.virginia.org
  The Web site of Virginia Travel Corporation.
  
  
• http://www.lva.virginia.gov/exhibits/political/twentieth.htm
  This site presents a concise political history of the last 100 years in Virginia.
  
  
• http://www.vahistorical.org/storyofvirginia.htm
  This site consists of ten concise, easy-to-read chapters on Virginia history from prehistoric times to the present.
  
  
• http://www.vastudies.org
  This site offers access to six video episodes and accompanying print materials for fourth-grade study of Virginia history and economics.
  
  
• http://www.virginiaplaces.org
  This site contains information on the geography, the people, and the development of Virginia.
  
  
• http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters
  This site offers classroom posters for the Virginia Studies course. Look at entries under Twentieth-Century Virginia to find posters related to this unit.
  
  
• http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer
  http://www.sdcoe.net/score/actbank/torganiz.htm
  A collection of graphic organizers is available at this site.
  
  
• http://www.doe.virginia.gov/...va_regions_map.pdf
  This site contains a map of Virginia with the five geographic regions outlined and explained.