California Activity 1

River Systems: Then and Now Activity 1: California Connection

Overview In this lesson, students will explore the local river system: the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. They will view digital maps of the area and read nonfiction text to gather information about how people have used the rivers to help build their communities.

Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.2

Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.7

Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

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Grade: 6

Lesson Objective

✦ Identify the ways in which people have used the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers.

✦ Create a graphic organizer to present the central idea from a nonfiction text.

Materials

✦Video: “A journey through Sacramento, California: the city and the great outdoors” by Discover America. http://youtu.be/y4aXGLtlnxE ✦Google Earth Tours: The Golden State & Major Rivers of the World

✦Google Drawing ✦Nonfiction Text: “California Connections: The Giving Power of the Bay Delta” ✦Cornell Notes Template ✦Chart Paper ✦Students’ address list

CALIFORNIA CONNECTION The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta

http://youtu.be/y4aXGLtlnxE

http://youtu.be/y4aXGLtlnxE


Key Vocabulary river system alkaline fresh water salt water delta agriculture

hydraulic mining dredging

Engage the Learner

Time: 15 minutes

Explain to students that in this unit, they will explore the power of river systems and the effects on the land and its people. They live at the heart of one of the most well-known and bountiful river systems in the world: The Sacramento-San Joaquin river system.

Their investigations will help them answer the following question:

How do rivers affect the land and its people?

View the video: “A journey through Sacramento, California: the city and the great outdoors”

As students watch the video, have them think about places they might recognize or places they’ve been.

Lead a discussion about some familiar sights and locations.

Possible places of interest:

Discovery Park

Nimbus Fish Hatchery (4th grade field trip)

Old Sacramento (4th grade field trip)

Sutter’s Fort (4th grade field trip)

State Capitol Building

Explain to students that they will be learning more about the history and importance of the Sacramento River to their community and their state of California, as well as exploring other rivers around the world.

Explore the ConceptTime: 30 minutes

(In computer lab or classroom with a computer for each student.)

This is a time for students to explore and experiment with Google maps and how to use the tools. Start by searching for your school, followed by students’ homes. (Have a list of student addresses’ for students who might not know their address.)

Provide students with a list of California locations. (Sacramento River, San Joaquin River, American River, Feather River, Bay Delta, Lake Shasta, Mono Lake, Lake Tahoe, Salton Sea. ) Students will

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search these areas and explore how to use Google Maps. (Some important features to explore: Search, Zoom, Street View, Pictures, 3D view, etc.)

Explain the Concept and Define the TermsTime: 30minutes

Using a projector, view Google Earth. Lead students through a tour of California. Locate lakes, rivers, and bodies of salt water using Google Tours. (See sidebar in Course Overview for a tutorial on how to create a Google Earth Tour.)

Talking Points:

Locate fresh water (rivers and lakes)

Locate salt water (seas and oceans)

Locate alkaline lakes, meaning they contain salt water (Salton Sea and Mono Lake)

Make sure students know the difference between each type of body of water.

Zoom in to the Bay Delta west of Stockton. Explain that this the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. On chart paper, list “What I Know About California History” in this area. Students should draw from 4th grade Social Studies standards.

Sutter’s Fort and the first state capital.

Miwok and Ohlone nations lived here.

Spanish Missions

Gold Rush of 1849

Major cities of the area: Sacramento and Stockton

Explain that they’ve learned about these historical events and places, and in this unit they will explore how the river was integral to their development and progress.

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Elaborate on the ConceptInteracting with Text

First Read Session: 30 minutes

Distribute California Connections: The Giving Power of the Bay Delta. Students will read this text with a partner. As student read, tell them to keep in mind the many ways people used the river and its resources over time.

Model: Choose a student to role play Partner Reading with the teacher.

Partner A will read a paragraph, while Partner B follows along.

At the end of the paragraph, Partner B will paraphrase what was just read.

Partners switch roles.

Partners continue until the finish the selection.

Second Read Session: 30 minutes

Using the Cornell Notes template, students will reread California Connections: The Giving Power of the Bay Delta. With their partner, students extract the central ideas and details that will help answer the question “How did people use the river and its resources?” Their notes should include examples from the text. Keep the notes because they will be a resource for the culminating assessment for Activity 1.

Return to Google Earth and tour Major Rivers of the World. As you explore other rivers lead a discussion on the locations of these rivers. Students should understand that 6 of the 7 continents have at least one major river system.

Questions to guide discussion: (from California Education and the Environment Initiative, Unit 6.2.1 River Systems and Ancient Peoples)

How do you think the rivers have affected where people live on the contents?

(Answer: People probably live close to the rivers or their tributaries.)

Why would people want to live near rivers?

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Universal Access

✦ Partners should be heterogeneously paired to assist students who are Approaching Grade Level or English Language Learners

Universal Access

✦ For At Grade Level or Advanced students, use a blank Cornell Notes template.

✦ For Approaching Grade Level or English Language Learners, use the template with sentence starters.


(Answer: People use rivers to get around, to provide fresh water for drinking and for watering crops, and to supply other resources, such as fish.)

If you could guess where archaeologists have found the oldest evidence of human settlements, which areas of the world would you choose?

(Answer: Place near major rivers, such as Egypt, the Congo, India, China, the Middle East, Brazil, Russia)

Finish the discussion by explaining that just as California’s history was shaped by river, other places around the world were also shaped by their river systems. As they continue this unit, they will explore Ancient Mesopotamia, “the land between two rivers.”

Evaluate Understanding of the Concept (Assessment)

In order to demonstrate understanding, students will create a graphic organizer listing the different ways in which people have used the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system in California’s history.

Students may choose a graphic organizer, such as a cluster web, tree map, or another of their own design.

Using Google Drawing, students will create and/or design their graphic organizer to present the learned information.

Students may use their Cornell Notes and or California Connections: The Giving Power of the Bay Delta text as a resource.

Students must use examples from the text.

Answer Key and Rubric: Responses should include the following information:

1. Ohlone and Miwok people traveled on the waters, got salt from the bay, and made use of the animals and plants there. (3 points )

2. The Spanish built a mission, grew crops, raised livestock, and hunted ducks, geese, antelopes, elk, and grizzly bears. (3 points)

3. Gold miners and gold mining companies mined the rivers or used the water from the rivers to mine for gold in rock. (3 points)

4. After California became a state, farmers settled in the Delta area to grow crops—mostly alfalfa and wheat. (3 points)

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Universal Access

✦ For Approaching Grade Level or English Language Learners, use the bubble map with Main Idea identified.

✦ At Grade Level Learners may choose a graphic organizer.

✦ Encourage Advanced Learners to design their own graphic organizer.


5. When farms grew bigger, people began to use the rivers and bays for shipping. Stockton was built as an inland port. (3 points)

6. People in other parts of the state needed water, so the government built the Central Valley Project to bring water from the Bay Delta to the people. (3 points)

Closure Time: 5 minutes

Explain to students that today they explored many digital maps to learn about the geography of Mesopotamia. They identified geographical features in the area of Mesopotamia. Tomorrow they will use their knowledge about these geographical features and read about how they affected the people living there in ancient times. They will explore some of the problems that resulted and how the people solved those problems. Teacher might pose the question: What problems might have resulted based on what you know about the geographical features in the area?

Graphic Organizer Rubric

Good (5 points) Fair (4 points) Poor (2 points)

Central Idea and Details

Identifies correct central idea and places it in a prominent location.

Uses the title of the article as the central idea. Places it in a prominent location.

The central idea is not stated or unclear. The main idea is not placed in a prominent location.

Organization Organized logically, with 6 details that support the central idea.

Arranged adequately, with less than 5 details. The details support the central idea.

Poorly arranged with insufficient details.

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Nonfiction Text: California Connections: The Giving Power of the Bay Delta

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Possible Answer Key

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Graphic Organizer Blank Template

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Cornell Notes Template

Main Idea Notes: Supporting Details, Examples, Definitions

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Conclusions/Inferences/Questions from Text

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Cornell Notes Template

Main Idea Notes: Supporting Details, Examples, Definitions

Europeans Arrive

The Lure of Gold

After Statehood

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Flood Control

Farming Grows

…And Cities Grow, Too.

Conclusions/Inferences/Questions from Text

I can conclude that ______________________ because ________________ and _______________________.

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Documents

California Activity 1