Unit 1: Geographic Adaptations
Embedded Files
Impact Chapter: 2
ReadyGen Alignment: Module 1B
Text Alignment: Friends Around the World and The House on Maple Street
Unit Overview: How does geography help us understand our world?
In this unit, students will embark on an exploration of the tools and concepts used to study the Earth's geography. They will develop an understanding of how geography influences people and their use of land. Throughout the unit, students will become familiar with maps, globes, and the vocabulary used to describe geographic features. Throughout the unit, students will engage in hands-on activities, discussions, and map exercises to develop a solid foundation in geography. They will learn to read and interpret maps, understand the significance of geographic features, and explore the relationship between human communities and the environment. By the end of the unit, students will have a greater understanding of the world around them and how geography shapes various aspects of human life.
Prepared Graduates:
Apply geographic representations and perspectives to analyze human movement, spatial patterns, systems, and the connections and relationships among them.
Examine the characteristics of places and regions, and the changing nature among geographic and human interactions.
Grade Level Expectation(s):
2. Geography
Use geographic terms and tools are used to describe places and spaces (2.1)
Explain how people in communities manage, modify, and depend on their environment (2.2)
The highlighted evidence outcomes are the priority for all students, serving as the essential concepts and skills. It is recommended that the remaining evidence outcomes listed be addressed as time allows, representing the full breadth of the curriculum.
Students Can (Evidence Outcomes):
Use map keys, legends, symbols, intermediate directions, and a compass rose to locate and describe spaces and places. (2.1.a)
Identify and locate various physical features on a map. For example: A weather map vs. street map. (2.1.b)
Identify the hemispheres, Equator/Prime Meridian, and the North and South Poles. (2.1.c)
Identify and locate cultural, human, political, and natural features using map keys and legends. (2.1.d)
Explain how communities manage and use nonrenewable and renewable resources. (2.2.a)
Explain how the environment influences why people settle in certain areas. (2.2.b)
Identify examples of how human activity influences environmental characteristics of a place over time. (2.2.c)
Identify examples of how culture and lifestyle are impacted by environmental characteristics. (2.2.d)
Colorado Essential and Nature of Skills
Identify key attributes of a variety of geographic tools. For example: Globes, maps, and a compass rose (Data Literacy).
Find information using geographic technologies. For example: GPS and satellite imagery (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
Recognize problems within a community related to the environment and their respective solutions (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
Make observations and draw conclusions about the relationship between a community and their environment (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
Geographic thinkers use visual representations of the environment.
Geographic thinkers identify data and reference points to understand space and place.
Geographic thinkers compare information and data and recognize that environmental factors influence change in communities.
Geographic thinkers study the uneven distribution and management of resources.
Geographic thinkers recognize that problems can be identified, and possible solutions can be created.
Geographic thinkers identify and reflect upon personal connections to community systems.
Geographic thinkers understand that they must manage resources in the environment such as conserving water, safeguarding clean air, managing electricity needs, and reducing the amount of waste.
Geographic thinkers, within communities, collaborate to modify, manage, and depend on the environment. For example: Elected officials decide how to manage resources, and communities may limit hunting, water usage, or other activities.
Inquiry Questions
How do you define, organize, and think about the space around you?
What is a human feature and a physical feature?
Why do we use geographic tools such as maps, globes, grids, symbols, and keys?
How would you describe a location without using geographic words?
How can using the wrong geographic tool or term cause problems?
How do available resources and their uses impact a community?
How do we know when we are being good stewards of renewable and nonrenewable resources? For example: Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
How does the environment influence people’s decisions about where they live?
How do humans change the environment of a place over time?
How does the environment influence the culture and lifestyles of a place?
Disciplinary, Informational, and Media Literacies
Construct maps, graphs, and other representations of familiar places.
Describe spaces and places and the relationships and interactions that shape them using geographic tools. For example: Maps, graphs, photographs, and other representations.
Use maps, globes, and other geographic models to identify cultural and environmental characteristics of places.
Analyze and use information presented visually in a text that supports the words in a text. For example: Graphs, charts, flowcharts, diagrams, models, and tables.
Analyze different texts (including experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia texts) to compare competing theories, points of view, and arguments in the discipline.
Describe how human activities affect the cultural and environmental characteristics of spaces or places.
Generate questions to guide research, gather information from print and digital sources, determine biases and credibility of sources, cite sources accurately, and use evidence to answer their research question.
Demonstrate positive social behaviors when using technology.
Synthesize information from multiple sources to demonstrate understanding of a topic.
Academic Vocabulary and Language Expectations
compass rose, continent, environment, geography, landforms, location, rural, suburban, urban
Possible Assessments:
Inquiry Project from Chapter 2
Lesson Tests (1-5) and Chapter Overview Assessment Chapter 2
Instructional Resources & Notes:
Chapter 2 from Impact
Research Companion
Inquiry Journal
Explorer Magazine
Supplemental Resources
Primary Source Set from CDE: Mapping Changes in Colorado Towns
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