Texas Regions Trivia Game

Cover-One State

If you don't have a copy of the TPW magazine, you may print a copy of One State, Many Places.

Using the Texas travel tourism map, students learn the characteristics of the general regions of Texas: Panhandle Plains, Prairies and Lakes, Pineywoods, Gulf Coast, South Texas Brush Country, Hill Country, and Big Bend Country.

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the diversity of Texas' region.

METHOD

Students team-teach region facts to the rest of the class and then compete in a trivia game.

MATERIALS

Learn About Texas region fact sheets, printed from www.tpwd.state.tx.us/kids/about_texas/regions/ , a two-sided Trivia Q&A sheet, writing materials, scissors, timer or watch with a second hand.

PROCEDURE

  1. Divide the class into teams. Assign a region to each team and give each team a printed copy of information on their region (general characteristics, wildlife and history) and a two-sided Q&A sheet. Tell the students that they will create a game based on their region. The Q&A sheet contains blocks for 6 questions and answers about their region. Cut the Q&A sheet into question cards. Click on a region of Texas to find information, game and craft ideas and animals to color.regions325.gif "regions Pineywoods Gulf Coast Panhandle Plains Prairies and Lakes Big Bend Country Hill Country South Texas Plains

     

    Big Bend Country
    Gulf Coast
    Hill Country
    Panhandle Plains
    Piney Woods
    Prairies and Lakes
    South Texas Plains

  2. Each team will study their region and then prepare questions for the trivia game. Since this is a game, remind students that they should not let other groups see or hear their questions. Each team should prepare six questions about their region, one each about a prominent physical feature, the name of a major river in that region, history, wildlife, precipitation and plants.
  3. Instruct the teams to prepare a presentation of not more than 20 minutes to teach the rest of the class the facts on their region. The presentation must include locating the region on a Texas map, general features and major cities in the region. Their presentation must include the information needed to answer their questions, but the information should be given so that the actual questions are not obvious. Give the teams ample time to research their topics and plan their presentations. All team members should participate.
  4. Have teams teach their Texas trivia to the rest of the class. It might work best to have team-teaching several days in a row, rather than all in one day. Students are allowed to take notes during the presentation.
  5. Hold a Texas trivia study session. Teams should study their notes from the presentations and drill each other on facts.
  6. Hold the Texas trivia competition according to the following rules:
  • Each group asks all of their questions as a set. The order of the groups should be decided randomly.
  • Questions are directed to the remaining teams.
  • Each team has 30 seconds to discuss the question before they are required to give an answer (there should be some sort of official timer, whether it is a student watching the clock, a mini-hourglass, etc.).
  • One point is awarded for each correct answer.
  • The team with the most points wins. Tie-breaker questions should be used in the case of a tie.
  • After the game is over, ask students to name the trivia facts they felt were most important. List these on the board and discuss them in more detail.
  • ASSESSMENT

    Ask students to name two important facts about the regions of Texas.

    ENRICHMENT

    As a class, develop a board game based on the regions of Texas. Put the game in the library so other students may play and learn from it.

    Using the vocabulary and Learn About Texas pages, create a list of terms that are significant in the study of the regions of Texas. Break the class into two teams and play a version of "Pictionary" by having students illustrate the concept/term while teammates guess. If the team does not guess the correct term within a certain time frame, the other team can earn points if they guess the word.

    The questions and answers from this game make great work station or independent desk activity work when the questions and answers are copied separately and used as matching flash cards.