The Six Essential Elements of Geography and the Eighteen Geography Standards

By essential we mean that each piece is central and necessary: We must look at the world in this way. By element we mean that each piece is a building block for the whole. Each essential element contains a number of geography standards. Each standard presents a set of ideas and approaches that a geographically informed person needs to know and understand.

Geography studies the relationships between people, places, and environments by mapping information about them into a spatial context.

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

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

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

4. How to use appropriate geographic tools and technologies

Examine a variety of maps to identify and describe their basic elements (title, legend, cardinal directions,

intermediate directions, grid, principal parallels, meridians, scale)

Interpret aerial photographs or satellite-produced image to locate and identify physical and human features (e.g. mountain ranges, rivers, vegetation regions, cities, dams, reservoirs)

Design a map that displays information selected by the student, using symbols explained in a key

Read a narrative and then create a sketch map to illustrate the narrative (e.g., make a map showing the movement of a family of ducks as described in Make Way for Ducklings; or after reading the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder make a map of where the Ingalls family lived)

Report regional data in both a two-dimensional format (e.g., by using proportional symbols drawn on a map) and a three-dimensional format (e.g., stacking a proportionate number of counters on each region)

Construct diagrams or charts to display spatial information (e.g., construct a bar graph that compares the populations of the five largest cities in a US state)

Use a map grid (e.g., alphanumeric system) to answer the question -- What is this location? -- as applied to places chosen by the teacher and student (e.g. latitude/longitude)

Use thematic maps to answer questions about human distributions (e.g., What explains the distribution of the human population on Earth?)

Use different types of map scales (linear, fractional, and word scale) to measure the distance between two places in response to the question--How far is location A from location B?

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

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

2. The location of Earth’s continents and oceans in relation to each other and to principal parallels and meridians

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

Use symbols to locate, identify, and mark features of the local community (e.g. shopping areas, restaurants, fire stations, schools, post offices) on a prepared base map

Use labels and symbols to locate and identify physical and human features (e.g. largest cities, rivers, recreation areas, historic sites, landforms, power plants) on a prepared base map of the state or United States

Identify physical and human features along a great circle route between two places (e.g., Los Angeles and Moscow, Singapore and Buenos Aires) using a globe, maps, and other sources of graphic information

Draw a sketch map from memory of the local community showing the route to and from school, to and from stores, and to and from recreational facilities

Prepare a sketch map to indicate the approximate locations of places, both local and global, features in a newspaper or television news story

Answer questions about the locations of places (e.g., Is Maine farther east than Florida? Is Singapore closer to Europe or North America? The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea with what other sea?)

C. Sketch an accurate map to answer questions about the locations of physical and human features, as exemplified by being able to

Sketch a map showing the location of the local community in relation to major landmarks (e.g., a major river, city, or landform)

Use a sketch map indicating the approximate location of major mountain ranges in the world to illustrate a geographic idea (e.g., to explain the rain-shadow effect of mountains, or to show how mountains can affect transportation routes)

Mark and label the locations of places discussed in history, language arts, science, and other school subjects (e.g., use sketch maps regularly, as a matter of habit, to place historic events in their spatial contexts or depict countries or regions read about in language arts)

Write a short account from memory illustrated with a sketch map, describing the location of a shopping mall, a neighboring city, the downtown area of the community, and other important features of the local region

Write a description from memory of the physical and human characteristics of the state in which the student lives and create a sketch map to Illustrate the account

Write a brief summary from memory of the distribution of physical and human features in different regions of the United States and world (e.g., the distribution of population in mid-latitude regions of the world)

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

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

3. That places and features are distributed spatially across Earth’s surface

4. The causes and consequences of spatial interaction on Earth’s surface

Use a simple map to identify physical and human features in terms of the four spatial elements (e.g., locations [point], transportation and communication routes [line], regions [area], lakes filled with water [volume].)

Prepare simple diagrams of various places, using the four spatial elements (e.g., a diagram showing the school and student homes [points], roads that connect them [lines], and the school attendance region [area]).

Use a map of the local region that shows transportation links between communities to decide the best routes for getting to each community, the easiest community to get to, and the most difficult community to get to

Write descriptions of the spatial organization of places featured in stories (e.g., use a children’s story such as "Little Red Riding Hood" to examine concepts of distance, direction, and location--the relative location of the two houses, the distance between them, and the direction and movement of the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood)

Locate the homes of classmates and the school on a map, measure the distance from each home to school, determine the direction from each home to school, identify the route traveled by each student, and outline on the map the region created by the locations of the homes

Measure the distance between two locations in miles, kilometers, time, cost, and perception, and draw conclusions about different ways of measuring distance (e.g., contrast the amount of time and the cost of traveling from one location to other locations using different means of transportation)

Observe the distribution of features on maps or aerial photographs to identify spatial patterns and associations (e.g., the relationships between fast-food locations and accessibility)

Calculate the density of specific features within a grid placed over a map (e.g., use a grid to plot and count the locations of students’ homes and color each grid square according to density)

Use maps of physical features to observe patterns produced by physical processes (e.g., the drainage basin of a river system, the ridge-and-valley pattern of the Appalachians, or vegetation on the windward and leeward sides of a mountain range)

Create a sketch map or scale model of the community locating key places and explain the locations of service and commercial activities, housing, public utilities, fire stations, and schools using the concept of accessibility

Identify why some locations are better than others for specific activities (e.g., why gas stations and convenience stores are often at the intersections of major streets and doctors’ offices near hospitals)

Observe and map the locations of essential services in the community (e.g., streetlights, phone booths, mailboxes, fire hydrants), and suggest reasons for the locations of the services

E. Identify connections among places and explain the causes and consequences of spatial interaction, as exemplified by being able to

Identify cultural characteristics that originated in other cultures and trace the spread of each characteristic and the means by which it spread (e.g., trace the movement from Africa to America of cultural characteristics such as foods, language, music, and customs as a result of the slave trade between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries)

Use labels on clothing, canned goods, and other consumer items to map links with locations in different regions of the country and world and then write a brief account suggesting reasons for the patterns observed on the map

Write a story or play about the consequences of a community being cut off from interaction with the outside world for three days- an account of life in the community without fuel, fresh fruits and vegetables, truck deliveries, mail service, and other forms of community-to-outside-world interaction