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INTRODUCTION
St. Philomena School Model Content
Standards for Geography
Everything exists in space. Geography's
concern is space. Geography uses a spatial perspective
to study the location, arrangement, and interaction
of people, places, and environments over Earth
space. By understanding and using the spatial
perspective geography offers, students can study
facts, issues, and ideas in depth.
People everywhere have a need to
know about the nature of their world, beginning
with themselves. Therefore, geography has to
do with both asking questions and solving problems,
as well as memorization of facts. Geography
is composed of three interrelated and inseparable
components: knowledge, skills, and perspectives.
Investigating the geographic dimension of human
experience begins with asking the following:
- Where is it?
- Why is it there?
- How and why does it affect the people in
this place?
- In what other places do people confront
this issue?
- How and why are these places related?
- What alternatives do people have to improve
their situation?
The answers to these and other questions constitute
geography.
The Purpose of Geography Education
Geography education fosters the
development of citizens who actively seek to
apply the knowledge, perspectives, and skills
of geography in life situations. Geography education
must be useful. Geography education must be
responsive to meet the needs of students, as
well as the societal and workplace requirements
of the community, nation, and the world. Through
rigorous instruction and an adaptable K-12 curriculum,
geography education helps prepare students to
cope with the complexities of contemporary life.
Geography serves as the bridge between the physical
and the social sciences. The study of geography
should give students a firm grasp of the place
and terrain that surrounds them; the patterns
of human development around the world; and the
interactions of peoples, places, and environments.
The need for geographic knowledge
is increasing. Technological advances and greater
international trading force citizens to have
a fuller knowledge of economic, political, social,
and environmental issues around the world. The
increased economic power and initiatives of
other nations, changes in international politics
and policies, and the ability of other nations
to affect worldwide environmental quality validate
the need for United States' students to be internationally
competent 21st-centrury voters, workers, parents,
and leaders.
The Geographically Informed Person
These geography standards seek to
foster the development of a geographically informed
person. This means being knowledgeable about
people, places, and environments, and being
able to apply that knowledge. Geographically
informed citizens understand the many interdependent
spheres in which they live, and make informed
judgments to improve their community, state,
country, and world. To meet the challenges of
the future, geographically informed citizens
should be able to:
- Know and understand facts, concepts, and
generalizations about geography;
- Apply geographic skills to observe, gather,
organize, analyze, and present information;
and
- Use geographic perspectives to evaluate,
make decisions about, and report on issues,
processes, and events.
Geography's Content Standards
The geography content standards that follow
outline what students should know and be able
to do. They integrate geographic knowledge,
skills, and perspectives that will remain useful
throughout life. The essential skills of asking
geographic questions; acquiring, presenting,
and analyzing geographic information; and developing
and testing geographic generalizations are reflected
in the content standards and are worth practicing
and mastering.
The geography standards are arranged in an
orderly progression from conceptually simple
to complex and from acquisition of basic knowledge
to the synthesis and application of knowledge.
They move from basic tools and locational information
in Standard 1 to the fundamental concepts of
physical and human geography in Standards 2-4.
Standard 5 brings the human and physical systems
together to examine their interrelationships.
Finally, content from Standards 1-5 is brought
together and applied to practical problems in
Standard 6.
Model Content Standards
Geography
1. Students know how to use
and construct maps, globes, and other geographic
tools to locate and derive information about
people, places, and environments.
2. Students know the physical
and human characteristics of places, and use
this knowledge to define and study regions and
their patterns of change.
3. Students understand how
physical processes shape Earth's surface patterns
and systems.
4. Students understand how
economic, political, and social processes interact
to shape patterns of human populations, interdependence,
cooperation, and conflict.
5. Students understand the
effects of interactions between human and physical
systems and the changes in meaning, use, distribution,
and importance of resources.
6. Students apply knowledge
of people, places, and environments to understand
the past and present and to plan for the future.
STANDARD
1:
Students know how to use and construct maps,
globes, and other geographic tools to locate
and derive information about people, places,
and environments.
RATIONALE:
Seeing the world geographically requires
an understanding of various tools to be able
to interpret and make maps; recognize relationships
in and between places; make generalizations;
and understand the concepts of distance, direction,
location, connection, and association. These
abilities and concepts are basic to what makes
geography unique — the spatial perspective.
Maps, globes, photographs, satellite images,
and geographic information systems (GIS) are
examples of geographic tools. They are essential
to portraying, analyzing, evaluating, and predicting
human and physical patterns and processes on
Earth's surface. They play a critical role in
helping people make sense of a complex world,
and they improve human capacity to move about
and plan activities.
Developing locational knowledge — for
example, knowing where places are and why they
are there - is also a part of being a geographically
informed person. Locational knowledge is developed
through both academic learning and personal
experience. This knowledge, developed through
factual learning, serves as a personal framework
for objective and personal geographic knowledge.
Geographic images and the impressions students
have of places are organized by these personal
frameworks.
Geographic literacy also demands an understanding
of how space on Earth is organized. To understand
spatial organization requires observation and
analysis as well as an awareness that the patterns
observed on Earth's surface reflect geographic
processes.
The concepts of distance, direction, location,
connection, and association help explain how
space is arranged on Earth. Other geographic
concepts explain the size and locations of settlements,
the connections or lack of connections between
and among locations, and the interchange of
people, ideas, and goods.
1.1 Students know how to use maps, globes,
and other geographic tools to acquire, process,
and report information from a spatial perspective.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying the characteristics and purposes
of maps, globes, and other geographic tools;
- Reading and interpreting information from
photographs, maps, globes, graphs, models,
and computer programs, if available; and
- Displaying information on maps, globes,
and geographic models, and in graphs, diagrams,
and charts (for example: designing map keys
and legends).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining the characteristics and purposes
of and explaining differences among maps,
globes, aerial photographs, geographic models,
and satellite images;
- Identifying several basic types of map
projections (for example, Mercator and Robinson
Projections);
- Interpreting and constructing maps, globes,
models, charts, and geographic databases;
and
- Locating and identifying countries, cities,
waterways, and physical features.
1.2 Students develop knowledge of Earth
to locate people, places, and environments.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying major geographic features;
- Locating places within their own and nearby
communities in Rhode Island;
- Locating Rhode Island in relation to the
United States and the rest of the world;
- Drawing a map of continents and oceans;
and
- Identifying a specific location on a map
using grids.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Identifying and locating each of the fifty
states in the United States;
- Identifying and locating physical and human
features in their own and nearby communities,
in the United States, and in regions of the
world; and
- Locating places using latitude and longitude.
1.3 Students know how to analyze the dynamic
spatial organization of people, places, and
environments.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Defining basic geographic vocabulary such
as the concepts of location, direction, distance,
scale, movement, and region using appropriate
words and diagrams;
- Describing how places are connected by
the movement of goods and services, ideas
and people; and
- Making and defending locational decisions
for human activity (for example, where one
would locate a new piece of playground equipment).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining fundamental geographic vocabulary
such as the concepts of distance, latitude,
longitude, interdependence, accessibility,
and connections;
- Analyzing the factors affecting the location
of human activities (for example, the location
of a planned development or dam);
- Explaining different land use patterns
in urban, suburban, and rural areas;
- Describing patterns and processes of diffusion
(for example, information networks around
the world); and
- Solving locational questions requiring the
integration of information from two or more
sources.
STANDARD
2:
Students know the physical and human characteristics
of places, and use this knowledge to define
and study regions and their patterns of change.
RATIONALE:
Knowledge of place helps people make informed
decisions about where to live, work, travel,
and seek new opportunities. Places form and
change as a result of physical and human processes.
The physical characteristics of a place are
caused by the long term interaction among natural
processes. These processes produce the landforms,
water bodies, air, soils, vegetation, animal
life, and climate on which human life depends.
The human characteristics of a place result
from the interaction of human processes. These
processes produce particular settlement patterns,
political systems, architecture, commerce, and
other activities and enterprises.
Regions are areas that display similarity
in terms of selected criteria. Regions are created
to clarify the complexity of human and physical
features on Earth's surface. Regions are geographic
generalizations that portray broader patterns
from great and oftentimes confusing detail.
Studying how and why regions change helps people
understand and interpret the past, participate
responsibly in the present, and plan effectively
for the future.
The way people think about places and regions
varies according to how they organize, interpret,
and use information. Personal attitudes, experiences,
and judgments are important in shaping these
variations. Differences in cultural background,
age, gender, and experiences contribute to the
perceptions people have about places and regions.
Understanding places and regions helps one appreciate
different perspectives and develop the cooperation
needed to resolve conflict.
2.1 Students know the physical and human
characteristics of places.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying and classifying the characteristics
of places as human or physical; and
- Describing how human and physical processes
together shape places.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing human and physical characteristics
of places; and
- Explaining how places change due to human
activity.
2.2 Students know how and why people define
regions.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to includes
- Identifying a region as an area with unifying
geographic characteristics; and
- Describing similarities, differences, and
patterns of change in regions.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Identifying a region by defining its distinguishing
characteristics;
- Explaining how and why regions change;
- Describing the relationships and interactions
among regions; and
- Analyzing the influences and effects of
regional labels and images (for example, the
Sun Belt states attract tourists, retirees,
and new businesses).
2.3 Students know how culture and experience
influence people's perceptions of places and
regions.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying ways in which different people
view and relate to places and regions.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing various perspectives associated
with places and regions;
- Explaining how culture and technology affect
perception of places and regions (for example,
United States television programs and movies
present images of the U.S. to billions of
people around the world); and
- Explaining how places and regions serve
as cultural symbols (for example, Jerusalem
as a sacred place for Christians, Jews, and
Muslims).
STANDARD
3:
Students understand how physical processes
shape Earth's surface patterns and systems.
RATIONALE:
Processes of nature create the natural environments
upon which human life depends. Understanding
Earth's natural or physical features and the
processes that produce them is essential to
the study of human life on Earth. It is therefore
essential to know the characteristics of landforms,
soil, water bodies, vegetation, animal life,
weather, and climate and how these characteristics
are distributed over Earth's surface.
There are a variety of physical processes,
such as weathering, erosion, and vegetation
change, that shape the environment over time
and space. These processes and their associated
patterns can be explained by concepts such as
system, boundary, force, threshold, and equilibrium.
Climates, landforms, and soils are physical
systems. An ecosystem — a complex physical
system — is an interdependent association
of plants, animals, air, water, and land. Ecosystems
form distinct regions within the biosphere that
vary in size, shape, and complexity. Understanding
the nature and distribution of ecosystems and
the influences of physical processes throughout
the environment is crucial to understanding
the role of humans within the physical world.
3.1 Students know the physical processes
that shape Earth's surface patterns.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying the components of Earth's physical
systems and their characteristics (for example,
air, land, water, plants, and animals and
their features);
- Explaining how Earth-Sun relationships shape
climate and vegetation patterns (for example,
as compared with other regions, polar regions
receive low amounts of sun's energy and thus
support little vegetation); and
- Describing how features on Earth's surface
are shaped by physical process (for example,
wet regions have many rivers).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing how physical processes shape
environmental patterns of air, land, water,
plants, and animals;
- Explaining how physical processes influence
the formation and location of resources;
- Describing the consequences of physical
processes of Earth's surface (for example,
tropical ocean heating supplies energy for
hurricanes); and
- Explaining how Earth-Sun relationships produce
day and night, time zones, seasons, and major
climatic variations.
3.2 Students know the characteristics and
distributions of physical systems of land, air,
water, plants, and animals.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying characteristics of physical
systems (for example, water cycle);
- Describing local environmental features
and identifying the physical system to which
they belong (for example, a lake which is
part of the water cycle); and
- Comparing patterns and distribution of
environments within a physical system (for
example, groups of plant and animal life found
in Rhode Island).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Identifying the local and world patterns
of ecosystems; and
- Describing how ecosystems work.
STANDARD
4:
Students understand how economic, political,
cultural, and social processes interact to shape
patterns of human populations, interdependence,
cooperation, and conflict.
RATIONALE:
People are central to geography in that
human activities help shape Earth's surface.
Human settlements and structures are part of
Earth's surface, and humans compete for control
of Earth's surface. The geographic study of
human populations focuses on location, movement,
and the dynamics of size. Populations tend to
locate in clusters rather than spread out evenly
over the land surface; these patterns depend
on both physical and human environments. People
make long-term, permanent migrations and short-term,
temporary journeys, often on a daily basis.
Migration is often the result of the way people
perceive a place. Population growth, decline,
and equilibrium patterns are influenced by medical,
cultural, and economic issues.
Culture defines every human society because
it encompasses identity, purpose, place, and
vision. Culture has meaning beyond a single
group in a specific place. The study of the
location, spatial patterns, and processes of
cultures provides a means to analyze how people
interact with each other and with their environments.
Culture is a force that can both unify and impede
connections and communication among peoples.
In the developed, urbanized, and industrialized
countries, economic systems are complex, fast-moving,
and technologically dependent. Developing countries
have vast, unstructured urban areas surrounded
by traditionally based rural areas. But economic
interdependence links the developed and developing
countries.
Settlements, whether rural or urban, have
many identifiable patterns, such as architecture,
sacred space, and economic activities. Settlement
patterns reflect changing cultural attitudes
toward place as well as shifts in technology,
population, and resource use.
Earth space is divided into political, economic,
social, and cultural spaces, ranging in scale
from local to global. Political spaces, which
are created by both cooperation and conflict,
may be as small as the school attendance zone
or as large as an alliance among nations. Economic
space includes a firm's marketing regions and
international trading blocs. Social and cultural
spaces range from households to the administrative
regions of world religions. The partitioning
of space into social, economic, and political
spheres of influence is dynamic and ongoing.
4.1 Students know the characteristics, location,
distribution, and migration of human populations.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying the distribution of population,
both locally and in other parts of the world;
- Identifying the characteristics of populations,
both locally in other parts of the world;
and
- Identifying the causes of human migration.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing the demographic structure of
a population (for example, the age-sex structure
as shown in a population pyramid);
- Explaining reason for variation in population
distribution; and
- Analyzing the causes and types of human
migration and its effect on places.
4.2 Students know the nature and spatial
distribution of cultural patterns.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying how the elements of culture
affect the ways in which people live.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining the spatial distribution of cultures,
both locally and in other parts of the world;
- Describing how cultures and cultural landscapes
change; and
- Comparing and contrasting elements of different
cultural landscapes.
4.3 Students know the patterns and networks
of economic interdependence.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying the location and distribution
of major economic activities in Rhode Island;
and
- Describing economic networks used in daily
life (for example, transportation and communication
networks).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Identifying the factors that influence
the location and distribution of economic
activities;
- Explaining why and how countries trade
goods and services;
- Explaining reasons for patterns of economic
activities on Earth's surface; and
- Explaining how changes in technology, transportation,
communication, and resources affect the location
of economic activities.
4.4 Students know the processes, patterns,
and functions of human settlement.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Classifying the types and patterns of settlements;
- Identifying the factors that affect where
people settle (for example, the availability
of transportation and resources); and
- Describing the spatial characteristics
of cities (for example, residential, recreational,
central business district, industrial, commercial
areas).
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining the causes and effects of urbanization
(for example, rural-to-urban migration leads
to urbanization); and
- Describing, locating, and comparing different
settlement patterns.
4.5 Students know how cooperation and conflict
among people influence the division and control
Earth's surface.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Describing how and why people create boundaries;
and
- Describing how cooperation and conflict
affect neighborhoods and communities.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing how cooperation and conflict
among people contribute to political, economic,
and social divisions of Earth's surface; and
- Describing the forces and processes of
cooperation that unite people across Earth's
surface (for example, the nations of Western
Europe have joined together in the European
Union).
STANDARD
5:
Students understand the effects of interactions
between human and physical systems and the changes
in meaning, use, distribution, and importance
of resources.
RATIONALE:
Human use of resources can have both positive
and negative effects. Increasingly, people are
called upon to solve complex problems resulting
from the interaction of human and physical systems.
Physical systems offer opportunities and constraints
for human activity. Humans control and use the
output of physical systems — natural resources
— to get food and shelter needed to survive
and prosper; natural resources provide food
and shelter. Agriculture, the foundation of
civilizations, is perhaps the most massive alteration
of physical systems. Humans sometimes face the
consequences of exceeding their environment's
capacity and resource base. Changes to the environment
created by humans play a significant role in
shaping local, global, economic, social, and
political conditions.
The concept of resources has changed over
time in much of the world. Initially, when populations
were smaller, resources were assumed to exist
in abundance and were available for almost limitless
use. The concept of preservation did not evolve
until some resources appeared to be in short
supply. Unwise resource use can negatively affect
the environment and quality of life.
Responsible resource use can enhance the
environment and quality of life. Humans interact
with the environment through technology. Technology
has enabled us to use some natural resources
at ever-increasing, possibly unsustainable,
rates. But new technologies also change our
perception of resources. For example, nuclear
reactors now generate a substantial portion
of the world's electricity and once-discarded
materials are now recycled.
5.1 Students know how human actions modify
the physical environment.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Identifying how people depend upon, adapt
to, and modify the physical environment.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing how human modifications of physical
environments in one place often lead to changes
in other places;
- Explaining the role of technology in the
human modification of the physical environment;
and
- Describing ways that humans depend upon,
adapt to, and affect the physical environment.
5.2 Students know how physical systems affect
human systems.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Describing how the physical environment
provides opportunities for and places constraints
on human activities.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining how the characteristics of different
physical environments provide opportunities
for or place constraints on human activities;
and
- Describing how natural hazards affect human
activities.
- Identifying and evaluating alternative
strategies to respond to constraints placed
on human systems by the physical environment
(for example, the use of irrigation in arid
environments); and
- Analyzing how humans perceive and react
to natural hazards.
5.3 Students know the changes that occur
in the meaning, use, location, distribution,
and importance of resources.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing the role of resources in daily
life (for example, discussing the recycling
of materials);
- Describing the worldwide distribution and
use of resources;
- Identifying how technology affects the
definition of, access to, and use of resources;
- Describing why people have different viewpoints
with respect to resource use;
- Explaining the fundamental role of energy
resources; and
- Describing ways that resources can be recycled.
STANDARD
6:
Students apply knowledge of people, places,
and environments to understand the past and
present and to plan for the future.
RATIONALE:
This standard deals with the application
of geographic knowledge, skills, and perspectives
to practical problems. Everything happens in
time and space. Therefore, a thorough interpretation
of the past must include the geographic context
of the event. This requires addressing questions
such as: Where did the event occur? In what
kind of human and physical environment did it
happen? How was the event related to events
in other places? What resources and technologies
did people have? How did they move from place
to place? What environmental constraints did
they face? Any interpretation of human events
and conditions that ignores the geographic context
is incomplete and unrealistic.
In the next century, humans will face many
complex and controversial issues concerning
the development needs of a rapidly growing human
population and the Earth's ability to sustain
that population. To cope with these fundamental
issues effectively, tomorrow's citizens must
be geographically informed.
6.1 Students know how to apply geography
to understand the past.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do includes
- Describing how places change over time;
and
- Describing how places and environments may
have influenced people and events over time.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Describing changes in the spatial organization
of a society over time;
- Describing how places and environments have
influenced events and conditions in the past;
and
- Explaining how differing perceptions of
places, people, and resources have affected
events and conditions in the past.
6.2 Students know how to apply geography
to understand the present and plan for the future.
GRADES K-4
In grades K-4, what students know and are able
to do include
- Describing issues in communities from a
spatial perspective; and
- Identifying personal behaviors that can
affect community planning.
GRADES 5-8
As students in grades 5-8 extend their knowledge,
what they know and are able to do includes
- Explaining issues in communities from a
spatial perspective; and
- Explaining a contemporary issue using geographic
knowledge, skill and perspectives.
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