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GeographyTonja L. RootEarly Childhood and Reading EducationValdosta State UniversityValdosta, GA 31698

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Geography StandardsFive themes1. location2. place3. relationships within places (human-environmental interaction)4. relationships between places (movement)5. regions

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Parts of the Study of Geography

1. subject matter: essential

knowledge

2. skills: asking geographic questions, acquiring, organizing & analyzing geographic information, & answering geographic questions

3. perspectives: spatial & ecological

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Geographic Skills• Asking geographic

questions: Where? Why there?

• Acquiring geographic information: from a variety of sources & in a variety of ways

• Organizing geographic information: to assist with analysis & interpretation of data

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Geographic Skills (cont.)

• Analyzing geographic information: look for patterns, relationships & connections

• Answering geographic questions: develop generalizations & conclusions based on geographic knowledge

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Six Essential Elements• World in spatial terms:

relationship between people, places & environments through mapping

• Places and regions: how lives are grounded in places & human constructs called regions

• Physical systems: physical processes shape surface & interact with plants & animals to create, sustain & modify ecosystems

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Six Essential Elements• Human systems: population &

human activities from culture to economices, to settlement, to conflict & cooperation

• Environment & society: intersection of physical & human systems

• Uses of geography: to understand past, interpret present & plan for future

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World in Spatial Terms• Books charted on a world

bulletin board• Written descriptions of

continents posted• Illustrations of books

displayed• Mental maps drawn

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Places and Regions

• Region: area of Earth’s surface with unifying geographic characteristics which affect humans

• Expository writing frame:The ___ Native Americans lived in ___. Their homes were ___ made of ___. They ate ___. They ___ and ___.

Organizes information, shows elements of reports, serves to compare & contrast

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Physical Systems: Climate & Weather

Physical process categories• atmosphere (climate & meteorology)

• lithosphere (plate tectonics, erosion & soil formation)

• hydrosphere (circulation of oceans & hydrologic cycle)

• biosphere (plant & animal communities & ecosystems)

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Environment & Society: Protecting Earth

• How human actions modify the physical environment• Causes & implication of

different kinds of polution, resource depletion & land degradation• Unit parts: endangered

species, endangered environment & pollution

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Uses of Geography: Reflective decision-making

Steps to social action:1 . Identify & define problem2 . Identify value assumptions3 . Identify alternatives4 . Predict consequences5 . Reach decisions & justify

decisions6 . Realize tentativeness of decision7 . Act on decision

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