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2nd grade · Social Studies · Unit 8 of 15

Regions of the United States

Deserts, mountains and coasts

What your child practices

Comparing desert, mountain, tropical and coastal regions of the United States, and words for landforms: bay, hill, island, mountain range, peninsula, plateau and valley.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 2.9 · comparing the physical characteristics of regions of the United States and their landforms

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Landforms: mountains, plains, plateaus (high, flat land) and islands.
  2. The Great Plains are wide, flat grasslands in the middle of the country.
  3. Hawaii has tropical regions.

Example: A plateau is… A plateau is raised up like a mountain. But its top is flat. Answer: high, flat land

Regions of the United States in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 8 of 15 in 2nd grade Social Studies, after Alabama's Resources & Trade and before Years, Decades & Centuries.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    An island is land…

    • with mountains all around
    • with water all around it
    • inside a cave
    • in a desert

  2. Question 2

    A tropical region is…

    • icy all year
    • always dark
    • dry and cold
    • warm all year and often rainy

  3. Question 3

    A peninsula is land…

    • with water on three sides
    • under the sea
    • with water on every side
    • with no water nearby

  4. Question 4

    Which region would be best for growing cactus?

    • the bottom of a lake
    • icy tundra
    • tropical rainforest
    • desert

  5. Question 5

    A desert is a region that gets…

    • lots of snow
    • very little rain
    • rain every day
    • floods every week

  6. Question 6

    Which word names land with water on three sides?

    • valley
    • peninsula
    • plateau
    • island

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