Alaska Geography Standards A-C

Alaska Department of Education & Early Development

Alaska Geography Standards A-C

A student should be able to make and use maps, globes and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.

A student who meets this standard should:

Primary level (ages 5 to 7)
Activities

Level 1 (ages 8 to 10)
Activities

(1) be able to use maps and globes to locate places and regions;

Construct personal experience maps; i.e., dresser drawer, bedroom, story, classroom, playground, neighborhood, community, indicating knowledge of left, right and cardinal directions.

State the grid coordinates of features near the school using a local street or road map.

(2) be able to make maps, globes and graphs;

Use a neighborhood map to pinpoint students' homes and graph how many live on each bus route, street, etc.

Draw a map of school, home neighborhood, community, and state.

(3) understand how and why maps are changing documents;

Compare maps of the school site, pre- and post-construction.

Show how physical changes in the local community would be reflected on a map.

(4) be able to use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world's human and physical systems;

Recognize that there is an orientation to a map and express the difference between maps and globes.

Use a map grid to answer the question, "What is location?" as applied to places chosen by the teacher and student.

(5) be able to evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and

Look at a classroom or school map. Discuss why certain features are located where they are.

Identify why some locations are better than others for certain activities or functions.

(6) be able to use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.

Brainstorm where to locate: quiet and noisy areas in the classroom, a place to display student art, stop signs, crosswalks, airports, malls.

Create a town model and defend site locations for residential, commercial, and public service areas, taking into account human and physical features.

Geography Standard A

A student should be able to make and use maps, globes and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.

A student who meets this standard should:

Level 2 (ages 12 to 14)
Activities

Level 3 (ages 16 to 18)

Activities

(1) be able to use maps and globes to locate places and regions;

Use maps, charts, and/or graphic technology to determine latitude, longitude, and distance between locations. Measure in degrees, miles, kilometers, time, and/or transportation costs.

Read a topographic map to locate local features.

(2) be able to make maps, globes and graphs;

Draw a map of the world from memory, identifying major historical and current human, and physical geographic features.

Create appropriate maps and other data displays (including tables, graphs, charts, and diagrams) to depict current affairs.

(3) understand how and why maps are changing documents;

Show how changing settlement patterns are reflected on maps.

Demonstrate landscape changes based on environmental decisions.

(4) be able to use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world's human and physical systems;

Use census data to create choropleth maps of the locality showing distribution of humans by age, income, sex, and race. Then choose a location for business and justify the location using the information represented by the maps.

Build a computer model city, analyze its geographical advantages, identify its population limit, and resolve environmental trade-offs.

(5) be able to evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and

Examine traditional Alaska Native settlement sites to determine the common geographical factors they share.

Explain why people have different preferences for residential locations and use different means to search for satisfactory residences.

(6) be able to use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.

Analyze and evaluate decisions about residential, commercial, service locations, land use, and local development issues.

Build a model city, analyze its geographical advantages, identify its population limit, and resolve environmental trade-offs.

Note: These activities are not state requirements or performance objectives, but rather examples of ways to interpret the standard's key elements; each district will determine its own benchmarks and develop its own set of activities.

Geography Standard B

A student should be able to utilize, analyze, and explain information about human and physical features of places and regions.

A student who meets this standard should:

Primary level (ages 5 to 7)
Activities

Level 1 (ages 8 to 10)
Activities

(1) know that places have distinctive geographic characteristics;

Describe or depict what makes their home and school special and different from other places.

Observe and describe the physical characteristics of the local community in words and sketches.

(2) be able to analyze how places are formed, identified, named, and characterized;

Examine local cultural features and compare them with those of another culture represented by a student in the class.

Research how the streets in the school neighborhood were named.

(3) be able to relate how people create similarities and differences among places;

Collect samples (dirt, leaves, photos of land forms) from outside the community. Display them according to point of origin on a large map. Examine similarities between the regions.

Compare the local community with another which has been visited.

(4) be able to discuss how and why groups and individuals identify with places;

Learn the names of special rooms in the school, why they are named so, and who uses them.

Identify and describe culturally important places in the community.

(5) be able to describe and demonstrate how places and regions serve as cultural symbols, such as the Statue of Liberty;

Locate and identify local cultural symbols.

Explain the importance of a local cultural symbol (e.g., Chilkoot Pass) or historic site.

(6) be able to make informed decisions about where to live, work, travel, and seek opportunities;

Construct a model of a real or imaginary place using a sand table, buildings, roads and bridges.

Make a poster or collage to show a desirable place to live and work.

(7) understand that a region is a distinct area defined by one or more cultural or physical features; and

Examine a local area and land form.

Describe Alaska's physical land forms which divide the state into geographic regions.

(8) be able to compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time.

Compare maps of the school site, pre- and post-construction.

Write a description of the home region as it was in the past and today.

Geography Standard B

A student should be able to utilize, analyze, and explain information about human and physical features of places and regions.

A student who meets this standard should:

Level 2 (ages 12 to 14)
Activities

Level 3 (ages 16 to 18)
Activities

(1) know that places have distinctive geographic characteristics;

Use field observations, maps, and other tools to identify and compare the characteristics of places.

State the factors that give character to a place and identify those factors that unify or fragment a place.

(2) be able to analyze how places are formed, identified, named, and characterized;

Relate place names to their origins and explain how and why they were given.

Compare European with traditional Native geographic names and naming practices in Alaska.

(3) be able to relate how people create similarities and differences among places;

Compare, contrast, and predict the cultural lifestyles of people having similar latitudes as Alaska, including Canada, Greenland, Russia, and Scandinavia.

Gather information and analyze similarities and differences of places based on statistical resources, aerial photographs, satellite images, 3-dimensional models, and geographic information systems (GIS) using computers.

(4) be able to discuss how and why groups and individuals identify with places;

Explain why places are important to an individual.

Prepare a script for a slide or video presentation that describes the values a particular place exemplifies for a cultural group.

(5) be able to describe and demonstrate how places and regions serve as cultural symbols, such as the Statue of Liberty;

Evaluate the meaning of regional labels in oral tradition.

Evaluate Alaska as a cultural symbol to the rest of the country (e.g., as relates to federal land use policies).

(6) be able to make informed decisions about where to live, work, travel, and seek opportunities;

Design and draw a travel or real estate brochure to show the advantages of a place.

Examine job opportunities in various locales within the state.

(7) understand that a region is a distinct area defined by one or more cultural or physical features; and

Use knowledge of human and physical geography to deduce and identify possible regions depicted within a series of unidentified pictures.

State the factors that give character to a region and identify those factors that unify or fragment the region.

(8) be able to compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time.

Interview elders and compare modes of transportation in the past and today.

Describe and analyze London in various historical periods (Roman, medieval, empire).

Geography Standard C

A student should understand the dynamic and interactive natural forces that shape the earth's environments.

A student who meets this standard should:

Primary level (ages 5 to 7)
Activities

Level 1 (ages 8 to 10)
Activities

(1) be able to analyze the operation of earth's physical systems, including ecosystems, climate systems, erosion systems, the water cycle, and tectonics;

Relate why plants are placed on a window sill.

Describe and diagram a physical system such as the water cycle.

(2) be able to distinguish the functions, forces and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions; and

Graph daily weather and compare to another area.

Describe different climates and the types of plants and animals associated with each, using pictures, maps, and graphs.

(3) recognize the concepts used in studying environments and recognize the diversity and productivity of different regional environments.

Explain why oranges must be imported to Alaska.

Collect samples of components of a local ecosystem and arrange them in a diorama model of the ecosystem.

Geography Standard C

A student should understand the dynamic and interactive natural forces that shape the earth's environments.

A student who meets this standard should:

Level 2 (ages 12 to 14)
Activities

Level 3 (ages 16 to 18)
Activities

(1) be able to analyze the operation of earth's physical systems, including ecosystems, climate systems, erosion systems, the water cycle, and tectonics;

Define, diagram, and evaluate the local water system.

Predict the consequences of current water management practices in the American West on physical and human systems.

(2) be able to distinguish the functions, forces and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions; and

Predict weather conditions for a variety of places, given information on their locations and season of the year.

Describe in detail erosion systems and other physical processes at work in cold climate regions which produce unique land forms. Discuss the effects of the erosion on human uses of the environment.

(3) recognize the concepts used in studying environments and recognize the diversity and productivity of different regional environments.

Explain how and why ecosystems vary from place to place as a consequence of soils, climates, and human and natural disturbances.

Describe the effects of biological magnification on ecosystems.

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*A student should be able to make and use maps, globes and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.*
*A student who meets this standard should:*	Primary level (ages 5 to 7) Activities	Level 1 (ages 8 to 10) Activities
(1) be able to use maps and globes to locate places and regions;	Construct personal experience maps; i.e., dresser drawer, bedroom, story, classroom, playground, neighborhood, community, indicating knowledge of left, right and cardinal directions.	State the grid coordinates of features near the school using a local street or road map.
(2) be able to make maps, globes and graphs;	Use a neighborhood map to pinpoint students' homes and graph how many live on each bus route, street, etc.	Draw a map of school, home neighborhood, community, and state.
(3) understand how and why maps are changing documents;	Compare maps of the school site, pre- and post-construction.	Show how physical changes in the local community would be reflected on a map.
(4) be able to use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world's human and physical systems;	Recognize that there is an orientation to a map and express the difference between maps and globes.	Use a map grid to answer the question, "What is location?" as applied to places chosen by the teacher and student.
(5) be able to evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and	Look at a classroom or school map. Discuss why certain features are located where they are.	Identify why some locations are better than others for certain activities or functions.
(6) be able to use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.	Brainstorm where to locate: quiet and noisy areas in the classroom, a place to display student art, stop signs, crosswalks, airports, malls.	Create a town model and defend site locations for residential, commercial, and public service areas, taking into account human and physical features.

*A student should be able to make and use maps, globes and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.*
*A student who meets this standard should:*	Level 2 (ages 12 to 14) Activities	*Level 3 (ages 16 to 18)* *Activities*
(1) be able to use maps and globes to locate places and regions;	Use maps, charts, and/or graphic technology to determine latitude, longitude, and distance between locations. Measure in degrees, miles, kilometers, time, and/or transportation costs.	Read a topographic map to locate local features.
(2) be able to make maps, globes and graphs;	Draw a map of the world from memory, identifying major historical and current human, and physical geographic features.	Create appropriate maps and other data displays (including tables, graphs, charts, and diagrams) to depict current affairs.
(3) understand how and why maps are changing documents;	Show how changing settlement patterns are reflected on maps.	Demonstrate landscape changes based on environmental decisions.
(4) be able to use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world's human and physical systems;	Use census data to create choropleth maps of the locality showing distribution of humans by age, income, sex, and race. Then choose a location for business and justify the location using the information represented by the maps.	Build a computer model city, analyze its geographical advantages, identify its population limit, and resolve environmental trade-offs.
(5) be able to evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and	Examine traditional Alaska Native settlement sites to determine the common geographical factors they share.	Explain why people have different preferences for residential locations and use different means to search for satisfactory residences.
(6) be able to use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.	Analyze and evaluate decisions about residential, commercial, service locations, land use, and local development issues.	Build a model city, analyze its geographical advantages, identify its population limit, and resolve environmental trade-offs.