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is a required course within the Social Studies Dept. Students generally take Geogrphy in 10th grade and will earn 1/2 credit for successful completion of the course.
DE Geography Standard Addressed: This unit provides students with an overview of all four DE content standards. Each of the 4 economics standards will be addressed in the subsequent units.
Essential Questions:
- Why do geographers use to divide the world?
- What is the difference between human and physical geography?
- How can we use different types of maps to represent our world?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Choropleth map
- Political map
- Physical map
- Cartographer
- Demographics
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #1: Students will identify geographic patterns which emerge when collected data is mapped, and analyze mapped patterns through the application of such common geographic principles as: Hierarchy, Accessibility, Diffusion, or Complimentarity.
Essential Questions:
- Examining the settlement patterns of the urban United States, explain where the largest population-cluster is and why it is located there.
- Today, the fastest growing demographic in the US are Latin Americans. What are some of the factors drawing migrants from the Central American region to the US? What regions are being effected the most?
- Canada has a wealth of natural resources. How have various trade negotiations affected the use/abuse of these resources?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Urban, Rural, Suburban
- Megalopolis
- NAFTA
- Urbanization
- Cultural Diffusion
- Migration
- Zone of Transition
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #2: Students will understand the Earth's physical environment as a set of interconnected systems (ecosystems) and the ways humans have perceived, reacted to, and changed environments at local to global scales.
Essential Questions:
- How has the physical environment affected the way humans have perceived, reacted to and changed the Latin America region?
- What are the unique physical characteristics South & Central America?
- How did European colonization of the region affect the types of crops grown in South America?
- How has the climate of Central America affected the current economy of the region?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Cash Crop
- Deforestation
- Ecosystem
- Altitudinal (elevation) Zones
- Sustenance (Subsistence) Agriculture
- Terracing
- Inca
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #3: Students will understand the processes which result in distinctive cultures, economic activity, and settlement form in particular locations across the world.
Essential Questions:
- How has the creation of nation states throughout Europe changed the cultural dynamics of the continent?
- Since the fall of the USSR, has eastern European succeeded or failed in their assimilation with western Europe? Why?
- How have former colonial powers, such as Great Britain, France and Spain, integrated immigrants from their former colonies?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Ethic group
- Nation
- State
- Communism
- Cultural identity
- European Union
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #3: Students will understand the processes which result in distinctive cultures, economic activity, and settlement form in particular locations across the world.
Essential Questions:
- How have settlement patterns developed in Africa?
- Looking at the physiography of Africa, where have the largest and most successful cultures (tribes) settled? Why?
- The African continent is divided in two by geographers - Northern Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. What are some of the ways these two regions differ?
- How has the political climate in modern Africa affected the settlement of African people?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Imperialism
- Colony
- Pandemic
- Genocide
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #2: Students will understand the Earth's physical environment as a set of interconnected systems (ecosystems) and the ways humans have perceived, reacted to, and changed environments at local to global scales.
Essential Questions:
- How have humans reacted to and changed environments in the Middle East at both local and global scales?
- The Middle East is known mostly for its production of oil. How has the use of this resource affected the region and the world?
- The Middle East has been host to several wars within the last 50 years. What are some of the factors that have caused these conflicts?
- How have humans impacted the Aral Sea?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Reasons for Trade
- Irrigation
- Proportional Circle Map
- Globalization
- Arab
- Muslim
- Islam
- Jewish
- United Nations
- Religious Tension
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Standard #4: Students will apply knowledge of the types of regions and methods of drawing boundaries to interpret the Earth's changing complexity.
Essential Questions:
- How have different methods of drawing boundaries resulted in the distinct developments of regions in Asia?
- What are three of the major political regions of the Asian continent? How have these changed in the last century?
- Asia has a very diverse economic culture. Locate the Four Tigers on a map and identify what the significance of each is. How do these countries compare to other Asian nations?
- Asian countries have at times been divided up haphazardly by colonial powers, not taking into account cultural differences between Asian people. Provide one example of this and what the situation is today.
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Hindu
- Buddhism
- Caste System
- Hierarchy
- Centripetal Force
- Centrifugal Force
- Types of Regions (Formal, Functional, Fiat)
- Silk Road (Silk Route)
Suggested Lessons:
DE Geography Standard Addressed: Students will apply knowledge of the types of regions and methods of drawing boundaries to interpret the Earth's changing complexity.
Essential Questions:
- How have different methods of drawing boundaries resulted in the distinct developments of regions in the Pacific Rim?
- What is the Ring of Fire? How has it affected the development of the Pacific Rim nations?
- The Pacific Rim consists of various economic, religious and climate regions. What are some similarities, if any, that you find throughout the Pacific Rim?
Key Terms/Concepts:
- Primary Source
- Secondary Source
- Archipelago
- Comparison Index
- Trade balance
Suggested Lessons:
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