GEOGRAPHY

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. use maps and globes to locate places and regions;
2. make maps, globes, and graphs;
3. understand how and why maps are changing documents;
4. use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world's human and physical systems;
5. evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and
6. use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. know that places have distinctive geographic characteristics;
2. analyze how places are formed, identified, named, and characterized;
3. relate how people create similarities and differences among places;
4. discuss how and why groups and individuals identify with places;
5. describe and demonstrate how places and regions serve as cultural symbols, such as the Statue of Liberty;
6. make informed decisions about where to live, work, travel, and seek opportunities;
7. understand that a region is a distinct area defined by one or more cultural or physical features; and
8. compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. analyze the operation of the earth's physical systems, including ecosystems, climate systems, erosion systems, the water cycle, and tectonics;
2. distinguish the functions, forces, and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions; and
3. recognize the concepts used in studying environments and recognize the diversity and productivity of different regional environments.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. know that the need for people to exchange goods, services, and ideas creates population centers, cultural interaction, and transportation and communication links;
2. explain how and why human networks, including networks for communications and for transportation of people and goods, are linked globally;
3. interpret population characteristics and distributions;
4. analyze how changes in technology, transportation, and communication impact social, cultural, economic, and political activity; and
5. analyze how conflict and cooperation shape social, economic, and political use of space.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand how resources have been developed and used;
2. recognize and assess local, regional, and global patterns of resource use;
3. understand the varying capacities of physical systems, such as watersheds, to support human activity;
4. determine the influence of human perceptions on resource utilization and the environment;
5. analyze the consequences of human modification of the environment and evaluate the changing landscape; and
6. evaluate the impact of physical hazards on human systems.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. analyze and evaluate the impact of physical and human geographical factors on major historical events;
2. compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time;
3. analyze resource management practices to assess their impact on future environmental quality;
4. interpret demographic trends to project future changes and impacts on human environmental systems;
5. examine the impacts of global changes on human activity; and
6. utilize geographic knowledge and skills to support interdisciplinary learning and build competencies required of citizens.