After the third stop of our United States region tour, we pretend to travel on a big rig. We visit Monument Valley, home of the original Navajo Indian reservation; Phoenix, Arizona; Hoover Dam; the Grand Canyon; Carlsbad Cavern National Park in New Mexico; El Paso, Texas; the Alamo; the capitol building in Austin, Texas; and Oklahoma, where we take part in a land rush activity.

One of our main stops in the Southwest is the Hoover Dam. Students must act as construction managers who are presenting plans for the building of the dam. They must address the challenges of drying so much cement, what shape to make the dam, and what to do with the water when building the dam. Students work in groups to present solutions to these problems.

View more photos and information about the Southwest Region tour on our classroom website.