Cyber Community A U.S. Regions Quest

byJoyce Connolly

Introduction

It is the year 2020 and your class is setting up a new cyber community. It is the class' responsibility to find the best location in the United States to create this ideal community.

Task

The class will be divided into five teams. Each team will be given a region of the United States. You will need to research the physical features, climate, natural resources, natural disasters, states and major cities in your region.

West Middle West Southwest Southeast

Northeast

The Process

Each team will need to complete the following steps so that class can compare possible locations.

On the first day your group needs to:

Define the following terms: region physical features climate natural resources natural disasters state

Brainstorm a list of: physical features natural resourcesnatural disasters

The Process (pg2)Click on Land Information to print out a worksheet for

researching data.  Next click on Region Research Sheet and print the worksheet to collect information for your Excel spreadsheet.

Record your information into the Excel spreadsheet.

Write a paragraph detailing whether your region would have a suitable location for our cyber community. Make sure to give 3 reasons to support your opinion based upon the information you gathered. Find a place in your region that could support our cyber community. Name the state, the latitude and longitude, and the nearest major city.

The Process (pg3)

• Create a PowerPoint Presentation to convince the class of the finer points of your region.

• Create a travel brochure to represent your region. Click on Microsoft Publisher Brochure Instructions to see how to use the software to create your brochure.

• Create a map of your region showing: • the physical features • the natural resources • the states and the major cities• major attractions

ResourcesBooks:

World Tour Guide Book

Regions Near and Far Atlas

  CDROM's:

Groliers Encarta

World Book

ResourcesInternet Sites:• States and cities:

– http://www.yahooligans.com/content/ka/almanac/world/00014.html – http://www.nps.gov/parklists/TI_maps.htm– http://www.theus50.com/fastfacts.shtml– http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/regions.shtml– http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/

• Physical Features:

– http://www.for.nau.edu:80/~alew/uslndfrm.gif – http://fermi.jhuapl.edu/states/maps1 – http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form– http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/statesbw/regions.shtml

ResourcesNatural Resources:

– http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/United_States/Regions/– http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnis/web_query.gnis_web_query_form

Climates: – http://www.csuchico.edu/~donald/syllabi/Climatic_stndry.JPG – http://www.kapili.com/terrarum/climate – http://encarta.msn.com/encartahome.asp – http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/USclimate/states.scroll.html – http://weathereye.kgan.com/cadet/climate/climate.html

Natural Disasters: – http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwEvent~Storms – http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001459.html – http://www.yahooligans.com/content/ka/almanac/disaster/index.html 

EvaluationYou will be evaluated using a Rubric. Some of the things you will evaluated on

are: • writing a clear, detailed paragraph • creating a map that includes physical features,

climate, natural resources, natural disasters, state and major cities

• completing the spreadsheet by entering all necessary parts

• completing the land information worksheet by answering all the necessary parts

• working cooperatively within your group • documenting sources • presenting information to the class