Essential Questions 

1.  What are the physical/political features of Canada, United States and Middle America.

2.  Can the students use the technical vocabulary used in studying all of the North American countries.

3.  How does the geography of these places effect population patterns.

Content 

1.  The areas covered in this unit are:  Canada, United States and Middle American countries.

  2.  Technical vocabulary:  Metropolitan area, bilingual, renewable resources, tropics, export, population density, tundra, rural population, urban population, import, navigable, permafrost, immigrant, taiga, and adobe.

Skills 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webb's Depth of Knowledge

1.  Given a blank map the students will be able to locate the different countries of North America. 

2.  Students will be able to differentiate concepts:  such as urban vs. rural; import vs. export; renewable vs. non-renewable resources.

3.  Students will be able to describe differences in culture and geography between any of the North American countries.

North America DSPA

• SS-07-02

WY: Social Studies

WY: Grades 5-8

Citizenship / Government / Democracy

1. Citizenship/ Government/ Democracy

Students demonstrate how structures of power, authority, and governance have developed historically and continue to evolve.

SS8.1.1 Students identify the rights, duties, and responsibilities of a U.S. citizen.

SS8.2.2 Students understand the historical perspective and issues involved in the development of the U.S. Constitution.

Culture / Cultural Diversity

2. Citizenship/ Government/ Democracy

Students demonstrate an understanding of different cultures and how these cultures have contributed and continue to contribute to the world in which they live.

SS8.2.1 Students explain how family systems, religion, language, literature, and the arts contribute to the development of cultures.

SS8.2.2 Students describe cultural diversity and the interdependence of cultures.

Production, Distribution, & Consumption

3. Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Students demonstrate an understanding of economic principles and concepts and describe the influence of economic factors on societies.

SS8.3.3 Students recognize basic concepts of economic systems.

Time, Continuity & Change

4. Time, Continuity and Change

Students demonstrate an understanding of the people, events, problems, ideas, and cultures that were significant in the history of our community, state, nation and world.

SS8.4.2 Students discuss current events to better understand the world in which they live.

SS8.4.3 Students analyze the impact of historical events and people on present conditions, situations, or circumstances.

People, Places & Environments

5. People, Places, and Environments

Students demonstrate an understanding of interrelationships among people, places, and environments.

SS8.5.1 Students use charts, maps, and graphs to answer questions dealing with people, places, events, or environments.

SS8.5.2 Students apply the themes of geography to topics being studied.

SS8.5.3 Students demonstrate an ability to organize and process spatial information; i.e., You Are Here maps of various areas.

NCSS: Social Studies 2010

NCSS: Middle

PEOPLE, PLACES, AND ENVIRONMENTS

Knowledge

Learners will understand

The theme of people, places, and environments involves the study of the relationships between human populations in different locations and geographic phenomena such as climate, vegetation, and natural resources;

Concepts such as: location, region, place, and migration, as well as human and physical systems;

Past and present changes in physical systems, such as seasons, climate, and weather, and the water cycle, in both national and global contexts;

The roles of different kinds of population centers in a region or nation;

The concept of regions identifies links between people in different locations according to specific criteria (e.g., physical, economic, social, cultural, or religious);

The use of a variety of maps, globes, graphic representations, and geospatial technologies to help investigate the relationships among people, places, and environments.

Processes 

Learners will be able to

Ask and find answers to geographic questions related to regions, nations, and the world in the past and present;

Acquire, organize, and analyze information and use geographic tools to draw conclusions about historic or current national and global environmental change;

Calculate distance, scale, and area, to inform study of historic or current national and global environments;

Evaluate the consequences of human actions in environmental terms.

Products

Learners demonstrate understanding by

Constructing a series of maps depicting changes in the relationships among people, places, and environments over time in a given location;

Constructing a map depicting the historical expansion of a nation or empire that demonstrates an understanding of relative location, distance, direction, boundaries, major physical features, size, and shape;

Developing a table to compare population data among nations;