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PlayOwl

Geography · Grade 4

Resources, Settlement and Transportation

Illinois sits on some of the richest farmland in the world, on top of coal and beside the Great Lakes and great rivers. Learners sort renewable and non-renewable resources, map Illinois's resources, discover why towns such as Galena, Peoria, Rock Island and Chicago grew where they did, read Chicago's population growth from a chart, and compare barges, trains, trucks and planes to explain why transportation hubs grow.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 85 minutes
  • Resources and routes check: 10 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, plot points, highlight a text, pin a map, match pairs and type a number
See plans Included with Family, Teacher and School plans. Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Classify natural resources as renewable or non-renewable and explain why even renewable resources need care.
  • Describe Illinois's main natural resources (prairie soil, corn and soybeans, coal, water, wind) and where in the state they are found.
  • Explain why settlements grew at rivers, portages, resources and railroad hubs, using Chicago and other Illinois towns as examples.
  • Compare barges, trains, trucks and planes, choose a mode for a shipment, and explain why transportation hubs grow.

Lessons

  1. Renewable or non-renewable? 7 steps4 practiceabout 20 min
  2. The resources of Illinois 7 steps4 practiceabout 20 min
  3. Why towns grow where they do 7 steps4 practiceabout 22 min
  4. Networks and hubs 7 steps4 practiceabout 18 min
  5. Resources and routes check 10 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

  • Globe ExplorerSpin a real 3D globe, flip to the flat map, and find continents, oceans and countries.
  • Pin the PlanetDrag the pin onto wonders, cities and exact latitude and longitude points.
  • Mapmaker QuestFollow directions to make a map, then read its legend, compass rose and scale.

More 4th grade geography

Guide for grown-ups