The National Geography Standards Geography for Life The National Geography Standards

Geography studies the relationships between people, places, and environments by mapping information about them into a spatial context.

The Six Essential Elements and the Eighteen National Geography Standards The geographically informed person knows and understands:

Essential Element One The World in Spatial Terms Standard 1 Standard 2 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information. Standard 2 How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments. Standard 3 How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surface.

Essential Element Two Places and Regions Standard 4 Standard 5 The physical and human characteristics of places. Standard 5 That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexity. Standard 6 How culture and experience influence people’s perception of places and regions.

Essential Element Three Physical Systems Standard 7 The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface. Standard 8 The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth’s surface.

Essential Element Four Human Systems Standard 9 The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surface. Standard 10 The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaics. Standard 11 The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surface.

Essential Element Four – cont. Human Systems Standard 12 The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement. Standard 13 How forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth’s surface.

Essential Element Five Environment and Society Standard 14 How human actions modify the physical environment. Standard 15 How physical systems affect human systems. Standard 16 The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

Essential Element Six The Uses of Geography Standard 17 Standard 18 How to apply geography to interpret the past. Standard 18 To apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

Social Studies Standard Articulated by Grade Level The Arizona Social Studies Standard Articulated by Grade Level June 2005

Strand 4: Geography The goal of the geography strand is to provide an understanding of the human and physical characteristics of the Earth’s places and regions and how people of different cultural backgrounds interact with their environment.

Strand 4: Geography Geographic reasoning is a way of studying human and natural features within a spatial perspective. Through the study of geography, students will be able to understand local, national, regional, and global issues.

Strand 4: Geography Students will interpret the arrangement and interactions of human and physical systems on the surface of the Earth.

Strand 4: Geography As these patterns have changed over time and are important to governments and economies, geographic reasoning will enhance students’ understanding of history, civics, and economics.

Concept 1: The World in Spatial Terms The spatial perspective and associated geographic tools are used to organize and interpret information about people, places and environments.

Concept 2: Places and Regions Places and regions have distinct physical and cultural characteristics.

Concept 3: Physical Systems Physical processes shape the Earth and interact with plant and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems. These processes affect the distribution of resources and economic development.

Concept 3: Physical Systems – cont. Science Strands are summarized as they apply to Social Studies content in Grades K-8. In High School, the Performance Objectives are a summary of skills and content for grades 9 -12. These concepts are reinforced in Social Studies classes, but assessed through Science.

Concept 4: Human Systems Human cultures, their nature, and distribution affect societies and the Earth.

Concept 5: Environment and Society Human and environmental interactions are interdependent upon one another. Humans interact with the environment- they depend upon it, they modify it; and they adapt to it. The health and well-being of all humans depends upon an understanding of the interconnections and interdependence of human and physical systems.

Concept 6: Geographic Applications Geographic thinking (asking and answering geographic questions) is used to understand spatial patterns of the past, the present, and to plan for the future.

Geography Concepts All 6 geography concepts are covered at every grade level. Geography skills and geographic thinking are connected to history, civics, and economics content when appropriate.