Goals
- It is expected that students in the primary grades will establish a fundamental understanding of geography and the use of maps and globes.
- It is expected that elementary school students will examine the connections between local, regional, national, and global geography.
- It is expected that elementary school students will explore history, geography, civics, and economics through multiple perspectives and viewpoints.
- It is expected that elementary students will use a variety of sources to engage in activities that promote the development of research, reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills as part of the inquiry cycle.
- It is expected that elementary students will explore principles of democracy and methods of participation in society.
Human-Environment Interaction
- Analyze how people from various American regions modify and adapt to their environments.
- Analyze how people from various American regions use and allocate their available resources.
- Analyze the relationship between climate and the people living in various American regions.
Environment and Climate
- Explore the physical landforms and bodies of water in various American regions.
- Explore the patterns of climate in various American regions.
- Explore natural disasters that affect various American regions.
Movements of People and Ideas
- Explain reasons for migration of people within and beyond a region.
- Evaluate the impact of immigration on a region.
- Explore the modes of transportation unique to various American regions.
- Analyze unique cultural similarities to various American regions.
Defining Regions
- Discover patterns related to various themes to define a region.
- Define factors that make a region unique.
Map Reading Skills
- Identify ways that a study of geography is important in the study of any country or region.
- Analyze how the study of various regions of a country helps an overall understanding of that country.
- Examine and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (e.g., title, legend, cardinal and intermediate directions, scale, symbols, grid, principal parallels, meridians) and purposes (road, reference, thematic).
- Identify the maps or types of maps most appropriate for specific purposes, (e.g., to locate physical and/or human features, to determine the shortest route from one town to another town, to compare the number of people living at two or more locations).
Northeast Region
- Examine why was proximity to water was so important for settlement in the region.
- Analyze the impact of rivers and waterways on colonial and post-colonial trade.
- Evaluate why people have moved to and from the Northeast from colonial times to present day.
Mid-Atlantic Region
- Identify geographic features that caused peoples to migrate to this section of the U.S.
- Explore reasons for and results of development of large cities in the region.
- Examine how the development of canals and waterways affected the economic growth of this region.
Southeast Region
- Analyze how geography and climate has affected the development of economic and social institutions of this region.
- Examine historical examples where geography and climate have had a severe impact on the region.
- Explore how the essential characteristics of the region changed in the post-WWII era.