World Globe - Home   Alternative Assessment in Geography

 Standands
    & Skills

National Standards

   K-4 Elementary

      5-8 Middle/
      Jr. High School

      9-12 High
      School

      Geography
      Skills

    State Standards

      Early
      Elementary

      Late
      Elementary

      5-8 Middle/
      Jr. High School

      Early
      High School

      Late
      High School



    Introduction

 Standards
    & Skills

    Assessment
    Items

    Scoring
    Criteria

    Student
    Samples
 

Geography Standards: Grades K-4

The World in Spatial Terms (Essential Element No. 1)


The geographically informed person knows and understands:


Standard 1--How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The characteristics and purposes of geographic representations-such as maps, globes, graphs, diagrams, aerial and other photographs, and satellite-produced images.

Knowledge Statement 2--The characteristics and purposes of tools and technologies-such as reference works and computer-based geographic information systems.

Knowledge Statement 3--How to display spatial information on maps and other geographic representations.

Knowledge Statement 4--How to use appropriate geographic tools and technologies.


Standard 2--How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The locations of places within the local community and in nearby communities.

Knowledge Statement 2--The location of Earth's continents and oceans in relation to each other and to principal parallels and meridians.

Knowledge Statement 3--The location of major physical and human features in the United States and on Earth.


Standard 3--How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The spatial elements of point, line, area, and volume.

Knowledge Statement 2--The spatial concepts of location, distance, direction, scale, movement, and region.

Knowledge Statement 3--That places and features are distributed spatially across Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement 4--The causes and consequences of spatial interaction on Earth's surface.



Places and Regions (Essential Element No. 2)

The geographically informed person knows and understands:


Standard 4--The physical and human characteristics of places.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The physical characteristics of places (e.g., landforms, bodies of water, soil, vegetation, and weather and climate).

Knowledge Statement 2--The human characteristics of places (e.g., population distributions, settlement patterns, languages, ethnicity, nationality, and religious beliefs).

Knowledge Statement 3--How physical and human processes together shape places.


Standard 5--That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The concept of region as an area of Earth's surface with unifying geographic characteristics.

Knowledge Statement 2--The similarities and differences among regions.

Knowledge Statement 3--The ways in which regions change.


Standard 6--How culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--How to describe the student's own community and region from different perspectives.

Knowledge Statement 2--Ways in which different people perceive places and regions.



Physical Systems (Essential Element No. 3)

The geographically informed person knows and understands:


Standard 7--The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The components of Earth's physical systems: the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

Knowledge Statement 2--How patterns (location, distribution, and association) of features on Earth's surface are shaped by physical processes.

Knowledge Statement 3--How Earth-Sun relations affect conditions on Earth.


Standard 8--The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The components of ecosystems.

Knowledge Statement 2--The distribution and patterns of ecosystems.

Knowledge Statement 3--How humans interact with ecosystems.



Human Systems (Essential Element No. 4)

The geographically informed person knows and understands:


Standard 9--The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The spatial distribution of population.

Knowledge Statement 2--The characteristics of populations at different scales (local to global).

Knowledge Statement 3--The causes and effects of human migration.


Standard 10--The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--How the characteristics of culture affect the ways in which people live.

Knowledge Statement 2--How patterns of culture vary across Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement 3--How cultures change.


Standard 11--The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The location and spatial distribution of economic activities.

Knowledge Statement 2
--The factors that influence the location and spatial distribution of economic activities.

Knowledge Statement 3--The transportation and communication networks used in daily life.


Standard 12--The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The types and spatial patterns of settlement.

Knowledge Statement 2--The factors that affect where peoople settle.

Knowledge Statement 3--How spatial patterns of human settlement change.

Knowledge Statement 4--The spatial characteristics of cities.


Standard 13--How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The types of territorial units.

Knowledge Statement 2--The extent and characteristics of political, social, and economic units at different scales (local to global).

Knowledge Statement 3--How people divide Earth's surface.

Knowledge Statement 4--How cooperation and conflict affect places in the local community.


Environment and Society (Essential Element No. 5)

The geographically informed person knows and understands:

Standard 14--How human actions modify the physical environment.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--How people depend on the physical environment.

Knowledge Statement 2--How people modify the physical environment.

Knowledge Statement 3--That the physical environment can both accommodate and be endangered by human activities.


Standard 15--How physical systems affect human systems.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--How variations within the physical environment produce spatial patterns that affect human adaptation.

Knowledge Statement 2--The ways in which the physical environment provides opportunities for people.

Knowledge Statement 3--The ways in which the physical environment constrains human activities.


Standard 16--The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The characteristics of renewable, nonrenewable, and flow resources.

Knowledge Statement 2--The spatial distribution of resources.

Knowledge Statement 3--The role of resources in daily life.


The Uses of Geography (Essential Element No. 6)

The geographically informed person knows and understands:


Standard 17--How to apply geography to interpret the past.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--How places and geographic contexts change over time.

Knowledge Statement 2--That people's perceptions of places and geographic contexts change over time.

Knowledge Statement 3--That geographic contexts influence people and events over time.


Standard 18--How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.

By the end of fourth grade, the student knows and understands:

Knowledge Statement 1--The dynamic character of geographic contexts.

Knowledge Statement 2--How people's perceptions affect their interpretations of the world.

Knowledge Statement 3--The spatial dimensions of social and environmental problems.