Geography is the study of people, places, and environments, and how their relationships affect each other. Grasping geographic concepts depends on 1) a spatial understanding of the world in which we live, and 2) an understanding of the interactions of people and their physical environments. This area of study involves, among other things, analyzing and interpreting maps, globes, and other tools of geography; comparing and understanding the differences in major global, national, state, or local regions; and understanding how people adapt to different environments and how their technologies affect these environments.
This unit will provide background knowledge on these topics, assist you with your review of geography in kindergarten and the elementary grades, and help you meet the following objectives.
- Identify and apply the six essential elements of geography (i.e., the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, uses of geography), including the specific terms for each element.
- Analyze and interpret maps and other graphic representations of physical and human systems.
- Identify and evaluate tools and technologies (e.g., maps, globes, GPS, satellite imagery), used to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
- Interpret statistics that show how places differ in their human and physical characteristics.
- Analyze ways in which people adapt to an environment through the production and use of clothing, food, and shelter.
- Determine the ways tools and technological advances affect the environment.
- Identify and analyze physical, cultural, economic, and political reasons for the movement of people in the world, nation, or state.
- Evaluate the impact of transportation and communication networks on the economic development in different regions.
- Compare and contrast major regions of the world, nation, or state.
The focus of the National Council for the Social Studies theme of People, Places, and Environments in the early grades is having "young learners draw upon immediate personal experiences in their neighborhoods, towns and cities, and states, as well as peoples and places distant and unfamiliar, to explore geographic concepts and skills. They [will] learn to use maps, globes, and other geographic tools. They also express interest in and concern for the use and misuse of the physical environment" (National, n.d., par. 13).
