| HGA | Standards | Grade 9-12 |
HUMAN SYSTEMS
Geography Standard 9: The characterstics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earths surface
By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands:
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Predict trends in the spatial distribution of population on Earth, as exemplified by being able to
Develop and defend hypotheses on how the spatial distribution of population may change in response to enironmental changes (e.g., global warming, desertification, changes in sea level, tectonic activity)
Develop and defend hypotheses on how the spatial distribution of population may change in response to sociocultural changes (e.g., technological advances, political conflict, the growth of ethnic enclaves)
Develop and defend hypotheses on how the spatial distribution of population may result in changes in social and economic conditions (e.g., availability of water and space for housing, transportation facilities, educational and employment opportunities)
B. Analyze population issues and propose policies to address such issues, as exemplified by being able to
Evaluate past and present government policies designed to change a countrys population characteristics (e.g., the ongoing policies to limit population growth, the policy in the former Soviet Union to encourage ethnic Russians to have large families)
Explain how government population policies are linked to economic and cultural considerations (e.g., the belief systems of the people, the food traditions of the people, the countrys need for more or fewer workers)
Describe the reasons why a governments population policy may be opposed by the people (e.g., the policy may be in conflict with the peoples cultural values and attitudes toward family size, cultural traditions, and belief systems)
C. Explain the economic, political, and social factors that contribute to human migration, as exemplified by being able to
Explain how human mobility and city/region interdependence can be increased and regional integration can be facilitated by improved transportation systems (e.g., the national interstate-highway system in the United States, the network of global air routes)
Explain how international migrations are shaped by push and pull factors (e.g., political conditions, economic incentives, religious values, family ties)
Explain why countries develop emigration and immigration policies (e.g., to control population size and density or encourage immigration to meet demands for either skilled or unskilled workers)
D. Evaluate the impact of human migration on physical and human systems, as exemplified by being able to
Describe how mass migrations have affected ecosystems (e.g., the impact of European settlers on the High Plains of North America in the nineteenth century)
Describe how large-scale rural-to-urban migration affects cities (e.g., suburban development, lack of adequate housing, stresson infrastructure, difficulty in providing such city services as police and fire protection)
Describe the socioeconomic changes that occur in regions that gain population and in regions that lose population (e.g., the expansion of population and jobs in the southeastern United States and the concurrent decline in parts of the northeastern United States during the 1970s and 1980s)
Geography Standard 10: The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of earths cultural mosaics
By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands:
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Compare the role that culture plays in incidents of cooperation and conflict in the present-day world, as exemplified by being able to
Identify the cultural factors that have promoted political conflict (e.g., the national, ethnic, and religious differences that led to conflict in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1960s, central Europe in the 1980s and 1990s, countries within the former Soviet Union in the 1990s)
Identify the cultural characteristics that link regions (e.g., the religious and linguistic ties between Spain and parts of Latin America; the linguistic ties between Great Britain and Australia; the ethnic ties among the Kurds living in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey)
Explain how members of the U.S. Peace Corps have to adjust to living and working in countries with cultural traditions that differ significantly from their own (e.g., how they learn and are taught to adapt themselves to non-American dietary habits, social customs, lifestyles, and family and community values)
B. Analyze how cultures influence the characteristics of regions, as exemplified by being able to
Analyze demographic data (e.g., birthrates, literacy rates, infant mortality) to describe a regions cultural characteristics (e.g., level of technological achievement, cultural traditions, social institutions)
Compare the economic opportunities for women in selected regions of the world using culture to explain the differences (e.g., the lives of Bedouin women within the Islamic tradition versus those of women in Scandinavian countries)
Describe the relationship between patterns of in-migration and cultural change in large urban and manufacturing centers, especially those near international borders (e.g., how the presence of large numbers of guest workers or undocumented aliens results in modification of an urban centers cultural characteristics)
C. Explain how cultural features often define regions, as exemplified by being able to
Identify the human characteristics that make specific regions of the world distinctive (e.g., the effects of early Spanish settlement in the southwestern United States, the influence of mercantilism and capitalism as developed in post-Renaissance Europe on the economies of North and South America)
Explain the importance of religion in identifying a culture region (e.g., the impact of Buddhism in shaping social attitudes in Southeast Asia, the role of Christianity in structuring the educational and social-welfare systems of Western Europe)
Explain why great differences can exist among culture regions within a single country (e.g., the specific qualities of Canadas culture regions resulting from the patterns of migration and settlement over four centuries)
D. Investigate how trasregional alliances and multinational organizations can alter cultural solidarity, as exemplified by being able to
Explain the adaptation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to different cultural contexts (e.g., the Red Cross versus the Red Crescent distiction)
Identify and map changes in the nature of selected international partnerships and alliances (e.g., NATO and the former Warsaw Pact nations since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the additions to OPEC since its creation in 1960)
Predict how evolving political and economic alliances affect the traditional cohesiveness of world culture regions (e.g., post-reunification Germany and its economic effect on the European Union, NAFTAs effect on trade relations among the United States, Canada, and Mexico)
E. Explain the spatial processes of cultural convergence and divergence, as exemplified by being able to
Describe how communications and transportation technologies contribute to cultural convergence (e.g., how electronic media, computers, and jet aircraft connect distant places in a close network of contact through cross-cultural adaptation)
Analyze how the communications and transportation technologies that contribute to cultural convergence may also stimulate cultural divergence (e.g., how culture groups use such technologies to reinforce nationalistic or ethnic elitism or cultural separateness and independence)
Evaluate examples of the spread of culture traits that contribute to cultural convergence (e.g., U.S.-based fast-food franchises in Russia and Eastern Europe, the English language as a major medium of communication for scientists and business people in many regions of the world, the popularization of Chinese foods in many countries)
Geography Standard 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on earths surface
By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands:
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Classify and describe the spatial distribution of major economic systems and evaluate their relative merits in terms of productivity and the social welfare of workers, as exemplified by being able to
Describe the characteristics of traditional, command, and market economic systems and describe how such systems operate in specific countries (e.g., describe North Korea as a command economy, Burkina Faso as a traditional economy in the hinterlands beyond its cities, Singapore as a market economy)
Use multiple points of view to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different economic systems (e.g., unemployment as viewed by an economist in China versus unemployment as viewed by an economist in Japan)
Identify geographic problems in the transition period as a country shifts from one economic systems to another (e.g., from a command economy to a market economy in the republics of the former Soviet Union)
B. Identify and evaluate the spatial aspects of economic systems, as exemplified by being able to
Identify market areas around major business establishments (e.g., supermarkets, shopping malls, banks, discount centes, theme parks) in the students own community on the basis of surveying consumer travel behavior
Explain how market areas are examples of functional regions (e.g., newspaper-circulation areas, television-viewing areas, radio-listening areas)
Explain why some places have locational advantages as assembly and/or parts distribution centers (e.g., furniture manufacture and assembly in North Carolina; electronics assembly in northern Mexico; a wholesale auto pats distribution company near a regional trucking facility)
C. Analyze the relationships between various settlement patterns, their associated economic activities, and the relative land values, as exemplified by being able to
Analyze the spatial relationships between land values and prominent urban features (e.g., central business districts, open spaces near public parks, prominent natural features [e.g., waterfronts, land elevation, prevailing wind direction])
Explain the spatial relationships between the zoned uses of land and the value of that land (e.g., an industrial park for light industry in a planned community versus a discount mall in an unincorporated ex-urban areas)
Relate economic factors to the location of particular types of industries and businesses (e.g., least-cost location in terms of land values, transportation, agglomeration, utilities)
D. Identify and analyze the historical movement patterns of people and goods and their relationships to economic activity, as exemplified by being able to
Analyze the spatial patterns of early trade routes in the era of sailing ships (e.g., explorers probing along the coasts of continents and making use of prevailing winds and ocean currents)
Discuss the land-use patterns that resulted in a system of monoculture (e.g., European colonial initiatives resulting in sugar plantations in the Caribbean, tobacco plantations in Virginia, tea plantations in Sri Lanka)
Compare global trade routes before and after the development of major canals (e.g., shipping routes between Western Europe and Asia before and after the opening of the Suez Canal) and develop hypotheses to explain the changes that occurred in world trade)
E. Analyze and evaluate international economic issues from a spatial point of view, as exemplified by being able to
Explain how land values in an area may change owing to the investment of foreign capital (e.g., increases in land values in British Colombia in the 1990s as people from other parts of Canada and from Hong Kong sought new places to reside and conduct business, increases in land values in resort areas in the Dominican Republic as a result of Canadian and German investment)
Formulate reasoned arguments regarding the causes and geogrpahic consequences of an international debt crisis (e.g., the events associated with a loss of foreign capital and a failure to complete infrastructure development)
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of allowing foreign-owned businesses to purchase land, open factories, or conduct other kinds of business in a country (e.g., the flow of capital out of the host country possibly resulting in a budget deficit or loss of investment opportuities, but a resultant increase in trade opportunities for the investing country)
Geography Standard 12: The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands:
Therefore the student is able to:
A. Analyze the functions of cities, as exemplified by being able to
Analyze the site and situation of selected cities in different regions of the world (e.g., Sydneys harbor location, Denver as the Mile High City, Montreal as an island city)
Explain how the functions of cities differ from those of towns and villages (e.g., they offer more specialized economic and social activities, greater concentration of services, greater availability of the same services)
Explain how the functions of present-day cities differ from those of cities in earlier times (e.g., single- versus multiple-function cities, simple versus complex functions)
B. Analyze the internal structure and shape of cities, as exemplife by being able to
Use aerial photographs, topographic maps, and census data to learn about land uses in the students own city or in another city in the same region and then speculate about the citys primary function within its region (e.g., commercial center, university community, transportation hub)
Analyze and compare the shapes of cities to identify factors that influence urban morphology (e.g., transportation routes, physical barriers, zoning regulations)
Identify those ways in which a city has remained the same for many years, as well as those ways it has changed (e.g., on the basis of histories, old newspapers, public records, maps, aerial photographs, census data)
C. Classify the characteristics of settlements in developing or developed countries, as exemplified by being able to
Identify the characteristics of cities in developing countries and compare them to those of cities in developed countries in terms of physical features, site, situation, function, internal structure, and other geographic factors
Compare residential as well as transportation patterns in the urban settlements of developing and developed countries (e.g., the bus system of New York City versus the jitney system in Kingston, Jamaica or the freeway systems in United States cities versus the narrow streets in such cities as Cairo and Addis Ababa)
Compare the efficiency of alternative urban structures in providing basic services in developing and developed countries (e.g., the travel distance to schools, shopping areas, health-care facilities)
D. Describe the nature, causes, and geographic impact of change in urban areas, as exemplified by being able to
Predict the impacts of population growth or decline on an urban area in terms of such factors as the stress on infrastructure, problems of providing efficient and effective public safety and fire protection, availability of jobs, demands placed on the tax base
Trace changes in the locations of ethnic neighborhoods in a city to draw general conclusions about the settlement patterns of immigrant groups in terms of such factors as proximity to the central business district, location in marginal housing areas, and lack of access to areas with job opportunities
Predict the likely effect on an urban areas internal structure of the arrival or departure of a major industry or business (e.g., the closing of an automobile assembly plant, or the relocation and downsizing of a national, full-service insurance company)
E. Evaluate the physical and human impacts of emerging urban forms in the present-day world, as exemplified by being able to
Identify urban forms that characterize recent changes in urban structure (e.g., the rise of megalopoli, edge cities, metropolitan corridors)
Explain the relationships between changing transport technologies and changing urban forms (e.g., improved light-rail systems within cities providing ease of access to ex-urban areas, interurban rapi-transit systems, airplane shuttles connecting cities conveniently and cost effectively)
Describe the cultural imprints of increasing urbanization (e.g., the increasing numbers of ethnic enclaves in urban areas, the development of legislation to protect the rights of ethnic and racial minorities)
Geography Standard 13: How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earths surface
By the end of the twelfth grade, the student knows and understands
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Analyze how cooperation and conflict influence the development and control of social, political, and economic entities on Earth, as exemplified by being able to
Explain how cooperation and/or conflict can lead to the allocation of control of Earths surface (e.g., the formation and delineation of regional planning districts, regional school districts, countries, free-trade zones)
Identify the causes of boundary conflicts and internal disputes between culture groups (e.g., the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, friction between the Spanish majority and Basque minority in Spain, the civil war between the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda)
Explain why the boundaries of congressional districts change in the United States (e.g., the effects of statutory requirements, population shifts, ethnic and racial considerations, shifts in political power)
B. Explain the changes that occur in the extent and organization of social, political, and economic entities on Earths surface, as exemplified by being able to
Interpret the spatial extent and organizational structure of an imperial power (e.g., the Roman Empire, Han Dynasty, Carolingian Empire, British Empire)
Explain why some countries are landlocked (e.g., as a consequence of war between rival countries, isolation owing to the size of landmasses, or racial and cultural divisions)
Describe the functions of the United Nations and its specialized agencies in dealing with various global issues (e.g., peacekeeping, emergency aid, disease prevention)
C. Explain how external forces can conflict economically and politically with internal interests in a region, as exemplified by being able to
Describe how new technologies, new markets, and revised perceptions of resources act as agents of change in a region (e.g., how the Pampas in Argentina underwent a significant socioeconomic transformation in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as a consequence of European demands for grain and beef)
Explain how a countrys ambition to obtain markets and resources can cause fractures and disruptions in areas of the world that are targets of its ambition (e.g., the consequences of French colonization of Indochina in the nineteenth century to procure tin, tungsten, and rubber; Italian design on the Libyan coast for farmlands to accommodate its burgeoning population in the 1930s)
Illustrate how religious conflict or expansion can cause political and cultural changes in a region (e.g., the friction between Hindus and Moslems in the Indian subcontinent in the 1940s led to the formation of India and Pakistan; the impact of the Crusades on the cultures of Western Europe and Southwest Asia in the eleventh and twelfth centuries)