What you will be able to do
identify a land, water, weather, or built feature; use two features to describe a place; explain that weather changes and one day’s weather does not describe every day
Land, Water, Weather, and Places
How do land, water, weather, and built features help describe a place?
Activate what you know
Look through a safe window or at a landscape picture. Point to one thing made by nature and one thing built or changed by people
- landthe solid surface of Earth
- body of wateran area of water such as a river, lake, or ocean
- weatherconditions in the air outside at a particular time and place
- natural featurea part of a place formed by nature, such as a hill, river, or forest
- built featurea part of a place made or changed by people, such as a bridge, road, or building
- placea location with features and meanings that help make it recognizable
1
Places Have Natural and Built Features
Natural features include hills, plains, valleys, rivers, lakes, oceans, forests, and deserts. Built features include homes, schools, farms, roads, bridges, parks, and water systems. People build in and around natural features, and those choices can change a place. We can describe a place by naming several features and their relationships. ‘A town beside a river has a bridge across the water’ is more useful than saying only ‘It has water.’ Maps and photographs help us notice, but they may not show every feature
2
Weather Is One Part of Place
Weather includes temperature, wind, clouds, rain, snow, and other conditions at a particular time and place. Weather can change within a day. We should say, ‘The photograph shows rainy weather at that moment,’ not ‘This place is always rainy.’ People respond to features and weather. They may build bridges across water, shade structures in sunny areas, snow-removal systems where snow falls, or raised paths near wet ground. A design can help people while also affecting land, water, plants, and animals
Use More Than One Feature
A clear place description combines details: land or water, weather at the observed time, and something people built or use
Sort, Then Reconnect
Let the learner sort features into natural, built, and weather groups. Then reconnect them by describing how two features appear together in one place
Today’s Weather Is Not the Whole Place
One snowy, rainy, hot, or windy day does not prove that a place always has that weather. Descriptions should name the observed time
Build a Place Description
Choose a teacher-provided landscape photograph. Name one natural feature, one built feature, and the weather shown. Combine them into one clear sentence without claiming the weather is permanent
Land, water, weather, and built features help describe places. Natural and human-made features are connected, while weather can change from one observation to another
Practice and answer guide
Work through all 8 questions. Open an answer only after you have written or explained your response.
- 1. Which is a natural feature? A. a river B. a bridge C. a school building
Check answer
A river
- 2. Which is a built feature? A. a road B. a hill C. an ocean
Check answer
A road
- 3. Name one kind of weather
Check answer
Accept rain, snow, wind, clouds, sunlight, heat, cold, or another valid weather condition
- 4. Draw a place with one natural feature and one built feature. Label both
Check answer
Accept a place with an accurately identified natural feature and built feature
- 5. A photo shows rain at a park. Is it accurate to say the park is always rainy? Explain
Check answer
No. The photograph shows weather at one time; more observations are needed to describe other times
- 6. A bridge crosses a river. How are the built and natural features connected?
Check answer
The bridge is built to carry people or vehicles across the natural river, or an equivalent relationship
- 7. Which sentence gives the clearest place description? A. A town beside a river has a bridge across the water. B. There is stuff. C. The place has one thing
Check answer
A town beside a river has a bridge across the water
- 8. The same playground is cloudy in the morning and sunny later. What changed, and what stayed the same?
Check answer
The weather changed from cloudy to sunny. The playground remained the same place