REGIONS
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
WGS.3B Describe the physical environment of a given region [and determine how weather,
tectonic forces, wave action, freezing, and thawing, gravity, and soil-building processes have
contributed to forming this physical environment].
WGS.5A Analyze causal relationships between the culture of a given place or region and its
economic, social, and political characteristics.
WGS.9A Identify types of soils, climate, vegetation, language, trade networks, river systems,
and religion as examples of some of the unique physical and human factors that constitute a
region.
WGS.9B Identify and describe the differences among formal, functional, and perceptual regions
as well as difficulties in determining boundaries for these regions.
A NOTE ABOUT VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION. In order to help students develop a
deep understanding of content vocabulary, Robert Marzano recommends a six step process that
goes far beyond copying glossary terms.
The Six-Step Process for Teaching Vocabulary from Marzano, R.J. (2004) Building Background
Knowledge for Academic Achievement. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and
Curriculum Development [ASCD]
Explain – provide a student friendly description, definition, or example of the new term.
Restate – the definition in the student’s own words.
Show – a symbol, picture, or graphic to represent the term.
Discuss/Oral practice – in structured ways with all students [pairs, groups] and use words
so that students can add to their academic vocabulary.
5. Refine/Reflect – periodically revisit words and ask students to refine their word lists.
6. Apply – using learning games and written text to reinforce terms in new contexts.
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A NOTE ON NOTE-TAKING. You may wish to have students take structured notes of the key
ideas and details. You will need to guide and model note-taking, then gradually release
responsibility to students. Take care to emphasize their summarizing, creating visual reminders,
and recording meaningful examples, rather than copying teacher- or book-generated definitions.
Remember to give students time to record ideas at regular intervals.
1. DEFINING PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL REGIONS
KEY CONCEPT: Regions are areas that share common characteristics. Geographers
define regions to help them simplify and explain the very complex world. Many factors -both physical and human -- can be used to define a region.
CONCEPT-BUILDING.
Use Texas as a model for helping students to look at the many different ways geographers define
regions. The Texas State Almanac, starting on p. S28 in the WG text, provides many maps to
help students understand these concepts.
As you work with students to examine various maps of Texas, review land and water form terms
which might include:
sea level
sea coast
harbor
elevation/altitude
plains
gulf
bay
plateau
downstream
upstream
tributary
delta
bayou
For this lesson, students might create two-column notes with the following structure:
REGIONS
What are:
Reminders, examples, symbols, short explanations
Landform/Waterform regions?
Vegetation regions?
Climate regions?
Political regions?
Economic regions?
Population regions/centers?
Cultural regions?
In an interactive discussion, help students develop their understanding of the following:
Physical characteristics such as soils, climate, and vegetation can determine regions. The
Gulf Coastal Plains region in Texas is one example of a physical region.
 Landform/Waterform regions. Regions defined by their dominant land or water
forms (e.g., coastal regions, plains regions).
Have students carefully examine the map on p. S31 in the WG text. Encourage them to
describe the general physical patterns they notice (e.g., that the southern and eastern areas
of the state are closer to sea level.) You may wish to have students turn to pp. 34 – 35 in
the WG text to see a visual overview of land and water forms that might be found in the
physical map of Texas. Then direct students to examine the precipitation map on p. S33
in the WG text, then flip back and forth between the two maps. Ask students what
connections they observe (e.g., precipitation increases as elevation decreases).
 Vegetation regions. The type of native vegetation varies with soil, precipitation, and
temperature.
Texas includes all four major vegetation regions found in the United States (see p. S32 in
WG text).
 Climate regions. Climate, the average weather of a place over time, is affected by
temperature and precipitation.
Texas has three major climate regions – Humid sub-tropical; semi-arid prairie/grasslands;
and desert [arid] (see p. S32 in WG text).
Human/Cultural characteristics can also determine regions. Texas is often considered part
of both the South and Southwest region of the U.S.
 Political regions – political divisions such as cities, counties, states, and countries.
Instruct students to examine the Texas: Political map on p. S30 in the WG text. Ask them
to make note of county names that are familiar to them (some counties are named after a
place; some are named for historical figures).
 Economic regions – areas with concentrated economic activity for
manufacturing/industry or agriculture; also areas with high levels of trading,
shipping and transportation centers.
Direct students to examine the Economic Activities of Texas map on p. S34 in the WG
text. Ask students what economic regions they might define if they were geographers.
 Population regions/centers – densely and sparsely populated regions; urban and
rural regions.
Direct students to examine p. S35 in the WG text and make generalizations.
 Cultural regions – areas associated with certain cultural characteristics such as
religion, language, custom, tradition.
For instance, Texas is a Southern state, a Southwestern state, a border state, and in the
“Bible belt”…each of those regional labels creates a certain mental image of the place we
call Texas related to a set of cultural values and characteristics associated with that
regional label.
2. THREE TYPES OF REGIONS
INTRODUCTION. Provide pairs of students with a map of the school. Ask them to discuss and
jot down notes about any “regions” of the school they may have noticed. As pairs report out their
ideas, such as the office region, the 9th grade hall, the T-buildings, the new wing, the gym area,
the social area, record their ideas. After students have been introduced the three types of regions,
return to their lists and have them identify which type of region each is (e.g., the office area might
be considered a formal region).
CONCEPT-BUILDING.
Help students to develop an understanding of the three types of regions: formal, functional,
and perceptual.
Formal region – formed by common physical or human characteristics. These regions are
used in formal ways such as in textbooks or reference materials.
Students were taught about the regions of Texas in seventh grade. Other examples of formal
regions include counties, the Middle East, Central time zone. Formal divisions and
conferences (the Pac-10 Conference) are examples as well. The boundaries of regions can
change over time as places change in terms of their physical or human characteristics. For
instance, deserts spread into areas that used to be part of agricultural regions.
Functional region – organized around a central point with surrounding areas connected to
that point by transportation systems, communication systems, and/or some economic
association.
An example is the Houston metropolitan area. Ask students to hypothesize about why
Houston is considered the “hub” (draw a wheel with a hub) of a functional region. Discuss
the role of the Port of Houston as a transportation hub. (The “Galleria area” could be
considered a functional economic and cultural area in Houston that grew from the original,
much smaller Galleria shopping mall.) Point out that as Houston has grown, the borders of
the “metropolitan area” have expanded.
Perceptual region – loosely defined and often includes or reflects people’s perceptions or
ideas about some common identity or set of traits.
Examples might include Southern California, East Texas, the Gulf Coast, “The South.”
WRITING PROMPT: Ask students to write about an area that they know about, perhaps their
neighborhood, that is “perceived” (seen) as a region (e.g., Fifth Ward).
3. CLIMATE REGIONS
INTRODUCTION. Ask students to brainstorm with a partner as many words as they can to
describe the climate of Houston. As students report out, record student descriptions and
emphasize that both precipitation and temperature make up climate, which can be defined as the
average weather of a place over time.
CONCEPT-BUILDING.
Have students examine the climate regions map on pages 24 – 25 of the McDougal Littell Student
Atlas of the World, or pages 60 – 61 of the textbook. Remind students that climate, the average
weather of a place over time, is influenced by temperature and precipitation.
Ask students what they notice about the location of the climate regions (Climate regions tend to
stretch laterally around the earth.) Direct students to locate the equator. Ask them what climate
region is most common at the equator. Show students a globe and ask why this might be so.
Instruct students to find Texas on the map and to identify how many climate regions are located
within the boundaries of Texas. Ask students to notice the border between the Semiarid and
Humid Subtropical regions in Texas. Ask students to think about how they would experience that
border if they were driving through that part of the state. Would the change happen sharply or
more gradually? Ask students to think about how geographers decide where to draw the lines.
If using the atlas, ask students to make note of the ocean currents. Ask students to hypothesize
how the ocean currents might influence climate regions.
Writing Prompt. Ask students to pick two contrasting climate regions and to imagine how the
cultures of the people who live in those two regions might differ as as result of the differences in
the climate.
4. LOOKING CLOSER AT CULTURAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD
INTRODUCTION. Instruct students to write their best definitions of economic, social, and
political. Have several students share their definitions or examples.
CONCEPT-BUILDING.
Work with students to deepen their understanding of the following concepts (you may wish to use
the Frayer model for one or more of these terms):
 Economic -- the use of resources and capital to meet the basic needs of a group
of people; how people answer the economic questions What to produce? How to
produce? and For whom to produce?
 Social – includes cultural aspects such as language, religion, leisure activity,
customs, traditions, food, clothing, etc.
 Political – a plan of government organization in which groups of people manage
their resources and behavior through laws. Some systems of government include
democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship. Governments are either limited
or unlimited.
The SPRITES organizational chart provides a model to help students organize information about
a region/country/area. Remind students of the SPRITES model, which was first introduced in
Grade 6.
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Setting – Where is this place? (describe the physical characteristics)
Politics – What is the government? How is governance decided?
Innovations/Ideas – What contributions has this group made to our lives?
Religion – What is/are the dominant religious practices?
Technology – What tools or inventions have they contributed?
Economics – What is the economic system? What jobs do people here have?
Social (Society) – What is the social structure? What are customs and traditions?
Assign students to regional groups. The regions used in the World Geography Studies course
syllabus include:
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Canada and the United States
Latin America
Europe
Russia and the CIS
Africa
 Southwest Asia – often called the
Middle East
 South Asia – the Indian sub-continent.
 East and Southeast Asia
 Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE.
Refer students to the Table of Contents of the text to find the appropriate maps and text to find
out more about human characteristics of their assigned region. In addition to detailed maps of
each region found in the text at the beginning of each regional unit, students should use the
McDougal Littell Student Atlas of the World and/or the special purpose maps found in the
textbook, such as World Language Families WG text pp. 74, World Religions WG text pp. 76,
and Population Density WG text pp. 80.
After students work together to identify the text and atlas resources they will draw from, you may
wish to have each student select one or two individual focuses.
Have students work in regional groups to summarize on a SPRITES chart the key cultural
information about their assigned region. Then instruct students to create a group poster with
symbols designed to represent each of the SPRITES categories for their region. (Your students
might benefit from your creating an exemplar of the poster which you discuss and post before
asking them to create one.)
ASSESSMENT. Have all group display their posters. As a culminating activity, students could
do a “gallery walk,” recording on a blank SPRITES chart similarities with their own region’s
cultural characteristics.