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Pre-Visit
Activities : Sculpting South Carolina : Procedures
Third
- Fifth Grade Online Curriculum : Communities
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Materials
- Map
of South Carolina with the geographic regions delineated (full-page
version)
- Topographic
map of South Carolina
- Glue
- Various
materials to represent each geographic region. Suggestions
for materials to use for each region:
- Mountain:
Medium-sized rocks (to represent the high elevation
and rocky terrain of the Mountain region)
- Piedmont:
Clay, shaped into hills, with small pieces of cat litter
or fish tank gravel placed on top (to represent the
rolling hills and clay soils of the Piedmont region)
- Sandhills:
Large grain sand or rice (to represent the sandy soils
of the Sandhills)
- Coastal
Plain: Small grain sand or grits (to represent
the flat land of the Coastal Plain region)
- Coast:
Cornstarch and salt (to represent the sandy beach and
the saltwater of the ocean)
- Reference
materials or internet access for use in determining climate
and geographic information for each region, as well as the
wildlife communities
Top
Procedure
- Have
students explore reference materials to discover information
on the physical characteristics (elevation, soil types,
geologic history, average annual precipitation, average
annual temperature) of the five geographic regions of the
state (Mountains, Piedmont, Sandhills, Coastal Plain, Coast) .
- Present
students with individual maps which identify the state’s
regional boundaries.
- Have
each student team use materials in Materials section
to make a 3-D model that will represent some of the characteristics
they have learned about each region, such as elevation and
soil types. For example, large rocks are glued in the
Mountain region and cornstarch is glued in the Coast
region to show that the Mountains have the highest elevation
and the Coast has the lowest elevation. The students' maps
should visibly show through the materials they select for
each region that elevation decreases across the state as
you travel from the mountains to the sea.
- Using
the 3-D models of the state, encourage students to compare
the regions based on the attributes (elevation, temperature
and precipitation) that make each region unique. Discuss.
- Ask student teams to
pick a particular region and to describe in writing the elevation,
precipitation
and basic geology of that region and to describe how they think these abiotic,
physical factors impact which animals and plants can survive there (what type
of communities are found there).
