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--Geography
Grades
Grades 2-up
News Content
If Lake Mead continues to dry up, many peoples water and power supplies could be affected.
Anticipation Guide
Before reading, ask students to locate on a U.S. map the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. In addition, students might look for and trace the path of the Colorado River. If the location of Lake Mead [see locator map] is clear on your map, point that out to students too. These geographic locations are important to students understanding of this weeks News for Kids news story.
News Words
Next, introduce these words that appear in the News Word Box on the students printable page: reservoir, climate, businesses, drought, population, and levels. Discuss the meanings of any of those words that might be unfamiliar. Then ask students to use one of those words to complete each of these sentences:
Read the News
Click for a printable version of this weeks news story Drought Threatens Huge Man-Made Lake.
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More Facts to Share
You might share these additional facts with students after they have read this weeks news story.
Additional Resource of Interest
Construction History of Hoover Dam
Comprehension Check
Recalling Detail
Think About the News
Discuss the Think About the News question that appears on the students news page. You might use the think-pair-share strategy with students to discuss this question. If you use this strategy
Follow-Up Activities
Math -- read the graph. Print out or project this graph of Lake Mead water levels over the years. The graph will give students a visual reference that enables them to see clearly that the lakes water levels today are among the lowest in its history. Ask the following question about the graph:
Geography -- read a map. Share with students this map, which shows the fastest growing states (in population) in the United States. Cover the text in the left margin that lists the fastest growing states. Then ask students to use the map to identify, in order, the ten fastest growing states. (Based on 2006 population data, the ten fastest growing states, in order, are 1. Arizona, 2. Nevada, 3. Idaho, 4. Georgia, 5. Texas, 6. Utah, 7. North Carolina, 8. Colorado, 9. Florida, and 10. South Carolina.)
Math -- place value. Currently, Lake Mead holds about 9 trillion gallons of water. To help students grasp the concept of a trillion, write the following numbers on a board or chart:
To provide another perspective, share with students the MegaPenny Project. There students can view images of stacked pennies in growing quantities of a thousand, a million, a billion, and a trillion.
TOPIC 1 TOPIC 2 1 one 1,000 one thousand 1,000,000 one million 1,000,000,000 one billion 1,000,000,000,000 one trillion
Assessment
Use the Comprehension Check (above) as an assessment. Or have students work on their own (in their journals) or in their small groups to respond to the Think About the News question on the news story page.
Lesson Plan Source
Education WorldNational Standards
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data
NL-ENG.K-12.11 Participating in Society
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
GRADES Pre-K - 2
NM-NUM.PK-2.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
GRADES 3 - 5
NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
GRADES 6 - 8
NM-NUM.6-8.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
GRADES 9 - 12
NM-NUM.9-12.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
MATHEMATICS: Representation
GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-REP.PK-12.3 Use Representations to Model and Interpret Physical, Social, and Mathematical Phenomena
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics
GRADES K - 4
NSS-C.K-4.5 Roles of the Citizen
GRADES 5 - 8
NSS-C.5-8.5 Roles of the Citizen
GRADES 9 - 12
NSS-C.9-12.5 Roles of the Citizen
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Economics
GRADES K - 4
NSS-EC.K-4.1 Productive Resources
NSS-EC.K-4.8 Supply and Demand
GRADES 5 - 8
NSS-EC.5-8.1 Productive Resources
NSS-EC.5-8.8 Supply and Demand
GRADES 9 - 12
NSS-EC.9-12.1 Productive Resources
NSS-EC.9-12.8 Supply and Demand
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography
GRADES K - 12
NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms
NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions
NSS-G.K-12.3 Physical Systems
NSS-G.K-12.4 Human Systems
NSS-G.K-12.5 Environment and Society
NSS-G.K-12.6 Uses of Geography
TECHNOLOGY
GRADES K - 12
NT.K-12.4 Technology Communications Tools
NT.K-12.5 Technology Research Tools
See recent news stories in Education Worlds News Story of the Week Archive.
Article by Ellen Delisio and Gary Hopkins
Education World®
Copyright © 2008 Education World
05/07/2008