The+Armadillo+from+Amarillo+Reinforcing+Activity


 * The Armadillo from Amarillo

Benchmark 3-5 B. Identify the physical and human characteristics of places and regions in North America.**

The book //Armadillo from Amarillo//, tells the story of an armadillo who desires to know more about the geography around him as well as his location on a map. He visits different cities and regions and describes the varying geographic features.

Give each student a copy of the United States map (see below).After reading the story once with your students review the places that Sasparillo the armadillo visited on the map. (This may require going back into the text to look with your class). Discuss the different types of geography the armadillo saw while traveling around Texas (ex. forests, canyons, plains, prairies).

Ask students about their own locations on the United States map. Have the class create a list of the geographical features of the community and area in which you live. After discussing your particular area, expand the list to include other geographic features that are not represented in your town. Help the students come up with as many as they can in a separate list.

Ask students where they think that some of the geographic features that they listed are present in the United States. Create a key with the class to color in the map with these features. (Ex. triangles for mountains, green for grasslands, yellow for arid regions.) Note: This can be as simple or complicated as the teacher decides to make it based on the grade and ability level of the students.

Sasparillo the armadillo mentioned that he was not well suited to live in Amarillo because of the climate. Remind students of this and reread this section. Lead students into a discussion about how geographic features affect human populations. For example, most people live by water or near fertile land rather than at the tops of mountains or in arid deserts. This is due to the fact that fertile areas are better for farming etc. After, use the newly colored in map to show students how the geography affects how and where people live.

As an extension of this lesson use the internet to research the percentage of people living in the different regions of the United States.

Other Ohio Academic Content Standards: Economics, People in Societies, History.