Content Area: Social Studies

 

Index: 6.6A Grade 12 CPI 2

 

Standard: 6.6 - Geography

 

Strand: A -  World in Spatial Terms

 

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 2 - The student will use maps of physical and human characteristics of the world to answer complex geographical questions.

 

Grade: 12

 

Sample Activities:

 

·        Area studies bring together many disciplines and many sources of data. Work with the class to select a subject for an area study—an intensive study of a specific geographic area or political entity such as a city, a country, or a region (e.g., Russia, South America, the Northeast). Create high interest by selecting an area combining interesting geography and recent history. The former Yugoslavia would certainly combine both subjects and would require the class to deal with complex issues that have directly involved the United States Government. Students research answers to the following questions: What physical features does the place have that affect the nature of settlements? What physical limitations have had to be overcome to settle and develop the area? How was the place modified by human activity? What about the environment or cultural features might have attracted migration to the area? How might further migration or emigration to the area take place? What images do people have about the place that may influence settlement? How have these perceptions been reflected in music, art, or literature? What cultural groups have settled in the area? under what circumstances? What has been the impact of the settlement of various groups on the place or region? How might cultural differences and/or struggles for power related to physical or economic resources lead to conflict? In what ways have nations encouraged or discouraged human migration and why?