North Carolina rivers

Students will locate 28 rivers within the state of North Carolina, noting names and origins of names, directions of flow, navigability, and development of population centers in relation to the rivers.

A lesson plan for grades 3–4 Social Studies

By Mike Stevenson

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Related pages

• The road taken: This lesson will introduce and reinforce main transportation routes for people and goods in North Carolina. Students will enhance map skills including using cardinal and intermediate directions, using a mileage chart, and planning transportation routes. Students will reinforce their knowledge of resources found in North Carolina as well as name and identify the three regions of North Carolina.
• North Carolina regions: Working in cooperative groups, the students will learn about their assigned regions of North Carolina. A list of questions will be generated. When the research is completed, the students will design a way to orally present the information to the class. This also will integrate Visual Arts and Informational Skills.
• The regions of North Carolina: In this lesson, students analyze the differences between North Carolina's geographical regions: the Mountains, the Piedmont, and the Inner and Outer Coastal Plain.

Related topics

• Learn more about North Carolina, bodies of water, geography, maps, regions, rivers, and social studies.

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Learning outcomes

Students will:

• learn about the geographical features of their state as they learn the names and locations of rivers within North Carolina.
• see and state the relationship between rivers and potential economic development in a region.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

Two 45-minute periods

Materials/resources

Resources

• North Carolina road map for each 2-3 students
• outline maps of North Carolina for locating rivers
• overhead transparency of outline map
• map of North Carolina from the computer to project (or a large pull-down map of North Carolina)

Classroom Environment

Normal classroom space is sufficient. Students will need to work at tables or desks in groups of two or three.

Set-up

Markers, highlighters, and/or colored pencils should be ready for use by students.

Technology resources

Computer hooked up to projection device, document camera, or overhead projector

Pre-activities

• Students should have experience with locating places (e.g. cities) in North Carolina, an understanding of the mountain, Piedmont, and coastal regions of the state, familiarity with the compass rose and success in reading directions of northwest, northeast, etc.
• As a simple pre-test, have students list rivers in the state whose names they know. This lesson should allow students to easily increase their awareness of names and locations of rivers in North Carolina.

Activities

Day 1

1. During the first session, review the map of North Carolina with your class so that they can recall and locate the three regions of the state, their community, and North Carolina’s major cities. Record their answers and mark the three regions of the state on the map. Working from their knowledge of river names in the state, develop a class listing of as many rivers as possible. (10 minutes)
2. Use a textbook and/ or a map to locate rivers in NC. Among these are:
   

   Alligator Broad Cape Fear Cashie Chowan Catawba Dan Deep French Broad Haw Hiwasee Little Little Tennessee Lumber

   Nantahala Neuse New Pamilco Pasquotank PeeDee Pungo Roanoke Tar Toe Trent Tuckasegee Uwharrie Yadkin

   Do not try to create a complete listing at this time, but model for students how the rivers can be located on the map and drawn free-hand onto projected map. (10 minutes)

3. Once students have seen this process, create working teams of 2-3 students. Provide each team with a North Carolina road map and their outline map of the state. Assign each team a section of the state to search, and instruct students to locate rivers found in the section they are assigned.
4. As they locate a river and have agreement within the team, they should use a highlighter to show the river name and its course on the road map. An approximation of its course should be drawn onto the outline map. The names of the rivers they locate should be added to their working list begun earlier in the class period.
5. Due to the difficulty of using the road map, small print, etc. this portion of the class is likely to take the remaining 25 minutes. Prior to the close of this class, call students to a reporting time. Have each working team report on the names of 1-2 rivers which have now been added to their working list. Explain that the next period will be spent completing their list of NC rivers.

Day 2

1. With the map available showing rivers identified during Day 1, have students summarize their team’s progress on Day 1. Have each team move from its first section of the state used on Day 1 (mountains, for example) to one of the other two sections. Each team should use its NC road map to search the section for rivers and record them on their list. Point out to the students that they may be able to locate up to 28 rivers in our state.
2. Allow 20-25 minutes for students to complete their survey of each section of the state and to record river names. Share results by team having team members come to the map to point out locations and to mark the courses.
3. Using the summary listing of rivers and the NC road map, lead a discussion of how the locations of the rivers and their direction of flow might affect the development of the state’s economy. Possible questions:
• How can we determine, using a map, the direction a river’s course takes?
• In what ways can a river offer economic assistance to a community?
• Rivers that flow from North Carolina into a bordering state may not be as useful. Why not?
• Studying the map, list North Carolina’s major cities found on one of our rivers. What conclusions can we draw regarding the lack of city locations on our rivers?
• Studying the coast of our state, can you find which cities may be able to serve as ports where shipping from around the world might dock?
• Would our rivers be of assistance in travel in the 1700s or 1800s? Why or why not?
4. Complete Day 2 with the discussion from questions found above.

Assessment

Students will be assessed using paper and pencil testing in the following ways:

1. Given an outline map of North Carolina, students must be able to name and locate — by drawing in the rivers’ course — at least 4 rivers located in each region of the state - mountains, piedmont, and coastal plain.
2. Students must be able to write a paragraph explaining how North Carolina rivers have influenced (positively and/or negatively) growth and development in the state. Students should mention direction of flow, suitability for navigation, and absence of viable ports.

Supplemental information

Additional books:

• The Encyclopedia of North Carolina from Somerset Publishers
• For History’s Sake by H.G. Jones
• North Carolina: The History of a Southern State revised edition by Hugh Talmage Lefler and Albert Ray Newsome