3.SS.1.3: Conduct interviews with family members, neighbors, friends, or school staff to discover why they call Idaho home.

3.SS.2.2: Use cardinal directions, map scales, legends, and grids to locate the United States, Washington D.C., Idaho, the state capital, Boise, and their own community on a map.

3.SS.2.4: Compare and contrast city/suburb/town and urban/rural farm/factory, as well as agriculture/industry.

Lesson Overview:

Discovering Idaho and our Communities

3-4 days

Materials:

• World map and United States map with Idaho highlighted

• Idaho state map with a focus on Boise

• Cardinal direction charts

• Blank maps of Idaho

• Map scales, legends, and grids for activities

• Interview worksheet template

• Venn Diagram worksheets

• PowerPoint or visuals to show images of city, suburb, town, farm, and factory life

• Chart paper and markers

Learning Objective:

Instructional Activity:

Illustration

How I Will Use It In My Lesson:

• Interactive Mapping Games: Use digital tools or physical maps for a treasure hunt activity where students have to locate places like Washington D.C., Boise, and their towns using cardinal directions and map legends. Turn it into a fun competition with prizes or points to motivate participation.

• Questions: "How do you think people in other parts of the country find Idaho on a map? Do you think it's easy or hard to find?"

• "If you were a bird flying over Idaho, what different types of places would you see? How would you know you’re in a city, farm, or town?"

• Pre-Assessment Worksheet:

  • Give students a simple worksheet where they identify and label Idaho on a map and answer questions about urban vs. rural or city vs. town life. This can help identify areas where they might need extra support or are already confident.

  
  

  Activity:

  • Introduction (15 minutes): Begin with a discussion about Idaho and ask students why they think people live in Idaho. Write their ideas on the board.

  • Map Activity (20 minutes):

    • Show the class a world map and zoom in on the United States. Using cardinal directions, guide students to find Idaho, Washington D.C., and Boise.

    • Pass out blank Idaho maps and have students label their community and the capital of Idaho (Boise). Students will also practice using a map grid and legend to find specific places.

  • Interview Assignment (20 minutes):

    • Explain that students will be interviewing a family member, friend, or school staff to find out why they call Idaho home.

    • Pass out the interview worksheet with guiding questions (e.g., "Why did you or your family move to Idaho?", and "What do you like about living here?"). Students will take the sheet home and bring it back the next day.

Learning Objective:

• Students will identify Idaho as a State and conduct interviews with a member of their community to further their understanding of communities in Idaho.

How I Will Use it In My Classroom:

• Reasons for Living in Idaho: Students will explore personal and community stories about why people live in Idaho by conducting interviews with family, friends, or school staff.

• Maps: Both digital (via projector) and printed versions of world maps, U.S. maps, and Idaho state maps. These will include map grids, legends, and scales for students to work with directly.

• Visual Aids: Real-life images (printed or displayed digitally) of different types of communities (e.g., city, suburb, rural farm, factory).

Activity:

• Introduction (10 minutes):

  • Introduce the concepts of city, suburb, and town, as well as urban vs. rural. Use visuals to show examples of each (e.g., a picture of Boise for a city, a picture of a small town, a farm for rural).

• Venn Diagram Activity (30 minutes):

  • Hand out a Venn Diagram template and have students compare two types of communities: city vs. suburb, or rural vs. urban.

  • Discuss the differences between agriculture (farming) and industry (factories), and have students give examples of each in Idaho.

• Class Discussion (15 minutes):

  • Have students share their diagrams and lead a class discussion about the different types of communities and jobs in Idaho (e.g., Boise is an urban area with industries, while other parts of Idaho are rural with farms).

Learning Objective: Students will be able to identify community members and their personal "whys" for living in Idaho, and understand the difference between suburban and rural communities.

How I Will Use it In My Classroom:

During the Engage Stage (Initial Discussion):

• Formative Assessment Through Discussion: During the class discussion about why people live in Idaho, I will gauge student understanding by listening to their ideas and prior knowledge. Writing their responses on the board provides a visual representation of their collective knowledge. I can ask probing questions to assess depth of understanding, such as:

  • "Has anyone moved to Idaho from somewhere else? Why did they move?"

  • "What do you think makes Idaho special compared to other states?"

• Pair or Group Sharing: After completing the interview assignment, students will share their findings in small groups. This allows me to assess not only their understanding but also their communication skills.

• Class Discussion: We will regroup as a class to share what each group learned. I will prompt students to compare and contrast the reasons different people live in Idaho and encourage them to ask questions or express curiosity.

• How I Know Students Meet the Learning Objectives:

  1. Formative Assessment (Map Activity and Observation):

     • During the map activity, I will check each student’s ability to locate Idaho, Boise, Washington D.C., and their community, and observe how well they use cardinal directions, grids, and map legends. Successful completion of this task will show they have met the geographic aspect of the objective.

  2. Summative Assessment (Interview and Sharing):

     • The interview assignment and the subsequent sharing session will serve as a summative assessment for understanding why people live in Idaho. I will evaluate the depth of their questions, the clarity of their explanations, and how well they can compare and contrast different reasons for living in Idaho.

Activity:

Sharing Interviews (30 minutes):

• Students will partner up and share the interviews they conducted. Afterward, select a few students to share their findings with the class.

• Discuss common reasons people call Idaho home.

• Mapping Activity (20 minutes):

  • Revisit the map of Idaho and discuss key geographic features. Students will use a map scale and legend to find distances and features in Idaho.

  • Practice locating Washington D.C., Idaho, Boise, and their community using cardinal directions.

Closing (10 minutes): Review the key places on the map and discuss Idaho’s geography. Facilitate a large group discussion where students can ask questions to further their understanding.

Learning Objective: Students will be able to share their interviews with their peers, continue practicing their mapping skills, and participate in an effective whole-class discussion to ask clarifying questions.

How I Will Use it In My Classroom:

Connection to Life Beyond the Classroom:

• Personal Relevance: Students will draw from their interviews with family or community members to highlight reasons why people call Idaho home. This real-world connection allows them to explore personal and community identity beyond the classroom.

• Local Context: They will apply geographic skills by including maps on the poster, showing Idaho, Boise, and their community, helping them connect classroom concepts with the state they live in.

Application to Real-World Problems:

• Focus on Community Building: Students will brainstorm how they could make Idaho more attractive or supportive to new residents. For example, they could propose ideas for supporting different industries (agriculture, technology, or tourism) or improving city/rural connections.

• Problem-Solving Focus: Some posters could focus on challenges Idaho faces (e.g., urban sprawl, maintaining rural industries, or environmental preservation) and offer creative solutions for balancing community growth with preserving Idaho’s natural beauty and resources.

Activity: Project Connection

The poster project is a culmination of these two activities:

• Interview Results: They include personal stories, giving them a deeper understanding of the reasons people live in Idaho and fostering a real-world connection.

• Geographic Skills: They apply map skills learned during the lesson, incorporating maps into their final project, which connects geography to local, state, and national contexts.

In essence, the project blends the exploration of personal stories with the application of geographic concepts, creating a meaningful learning experience that extends the classroom lesson into the students' own lives and communities.

Learning Objective: Students will be able to dissect personal stories and apply their map skills in order to create a final project poster.

How I Will Use it In My Classroom:

• Ongoing Formative Checks: I will assess students' understanding during class discussions, map activities, and peer-sharing moments. This will allow me to provide immediate feedback and ensure that students are on the right track before they complete the final project.

• Rubric Alignment: I will use a rubric that directly reflects the learning objectives and content standards. The rubric will focus on geographic accuracy, personal interview integration, community comparison, and presentation skills.

  • Accuracy and Application of Geography: Did they accurately locate Idaho, Boise, and their community on a map? Did they use cardinal directions, grids, and scales properly?

  • Incorporation of Interview Data: Did they collect meaningful stories from their interviews, and did they thoughtfully incorporate these into their project?

  • Comparison of Communities: Did they effectively compare and contrast different types of communities and industries (city/suburb/town and urban/rural, agriculture/industry)?

  • Collaboration and Creativity: Did they work well in groups and create a visually appealing, informative project? Was their presentation clear, and did they explain their thinking?

Activity:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HuLpJBp7G4nyx6nLwdYkTS__5dkhrqrV3kJBJRjcX5s/edit?usp=sharing

Learning Objective: Students will be able to follow the instructions on the rubric provided to guide their thinking and creativity for their projects.