Lesson Title: Around the U.S.

in 80 minutes
Grade Level: 7th grade social studies
Estimated Lesson Time: 90 minutes
Abstract/Summary
Students will explore the history and characteristics of a variety of national
landmarks throughout the United States. They will learn the locations of
numerous landmarks and will create a virtual tour throughout the U.S.
which stops at these landmarks where they will provide a detailed
description about each one.
Student Prior Knowledge
Students know how to operate a computer with relative ease. Basic
knowledge about the different regions in the United States and how to
locate them on a map. Students

Standards
SS. 7.G.2: Understand physical and cultural characteristics of places.
SS.7.G.2.1: Locate major cultural landmarks that are emblematic of the United
States.
SS.7.G.2.Su.b: Locate a major physical landmark that is emblematic of the
United States, such as the Grand Canyon, Everglades, Great Salt Lake, or Great
Plains.
SS.7.G.2.Pa.a: Associate a major cultural landmark with the United States, such
as the Statue of Liberty.
SS.7.G.2.3: Explain how major physical characteristics, natural resources,
climate, and absolute and relative location have influenced settlement,
economies, and inter-governmental relations in North America.
1
Goal/Purpose
Students will recognize, locate, and describe different cultural and physical
national landmarks as means of remembering and understanding their
cultural significance to the United States.
Learning Objectives
Students recognize different cultural and physical landmarks in the U.S.
based off of pictures.
Students locate different national landmarks on a map.
Students describe features of a variety of national landmarks.
Students create a virtual tour of the U.S. featuring different national
landmarks which demonstrates their association of the landmarks with
different regions throughout the U.S.
Resources
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/usa_game/jigsaw_usa.htm
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/USA-georegion.html

Kahoot.it
Google Maps
U.S. capitals music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=_E2CNZIlVIg

Procedures/Instructional Activities
1. Begin class with teacher-made Kahoot! Quiz that tests their knowledge of
national landmarks (5 minutes).
2. Watch YouTube music video to refresh the students minds about the U.S.
states and their capitals (5 minutes).
3. We discuss the landmarks students already know about and pin their
location on a class map. (7 minutes)
4. Teacher introduces students to other landmarks that were not mentioned
and provides a brief description to accompany a picture slideshow
featuring the different national landmarks. (20 minutes)
5. Teacher introduces assignment and leads a tutorial on how to use Google
Maps Tour Builder (20 minutes).
6. Students spend the rest of class time making their own tour of the United
States stopping at their favorite landmarks. (They can either finish it at
home or spend 15-30 minutes the next day to complete it to be turned in.)
Assessment Plan
Students will create a google map tour demonstrating their knowledge of a
different national landmarks and their history. A rubric will be used to
evaluate the students maps.
Accommodations
ESOL modification- In order to make sure all of the students have an
equal opportunity at being successful during this lesson plan, ESOL
students will be able to use google translate in order to write their
descriptions about the landmarks. They will also be provided with an
outline of the days lesson and the assignments rubric in their native
language in order to make sure they have a clear understanding of what is
going on in class that day and what is expected of them in their work.
Learning disability modification- For students who have difficulty writing
and/or putting their thoughts on paper, they can record themselves
speaking about their landmarks on the tour instead of writing a paragraph.
However, students must speak in a cohesive manner that makes sense to
the grader.
Learning disability modification- For any students with dyslexia, they may
wear a pair of headphones while creating their project in order to listen to
different articles about national landmarks so they can collect information
about them to include in their written responses.