(9th Grade)
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Unit
1: Basic Geography Skills & World Religions
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Standards/Objectives:
1.
Identify, explain, and apply the five themes of geography.
2.
Compare and contrast various types of maps
3.
Analyze or interpret a map to locate geographic information,
using a variety of map elements (e.g., compass rose, symbols, distance,
scales, time zones, latitude, and longitude.)
4.
Analyze, interpret, and use information in charts, diagrams,
and graphs to explain geographic issues.
5.
Explain the movement of wind patterns across the earth, its
relationship to ocean currents, and its climatic effects on various regions
of the world.
6.
Describe the impact of the scarcity of natural resources
(e.g., water shortage) or pollution (e.g., air, water).
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Essential
Questions:
1.
Can students identify and use the map elements (map title,
compass rose, scale, legend, date and author) to interpret data on a given
map?
2.
Can students construct a map containing the necessary map
elements on given narrative information?
3.
Can students identify various types of maps and their uses?
4.
Can students explain the five themes of geography?
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Content (Major Concepts, Figures, and Events)
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Suggested
Activities
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Resources
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Assessment
Strategies
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· Weathering and Erosion
· Major World Religions
· 5 Themes of Geography
· Absolute
(Longitude/Latitude) and Relative Location
· Hemispheres/Equator/Prime
Meridian/International Date Line
· Maps – Globes/
Cartographers/ Map Projections/ Type
· Continental Drift/ Plate
Tectonics/ Volcanoes/ Earthquakes
· Layers of the Earth/
Continents/ Physical Features
· Peninsulas/ Fjords
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· Create a glove to scale
using a balloon as a canvas.
· Use a city or road map to
plot a route from one place to another or to identify the shortest route.
· Construct a chart,
diagram, graph, or graphic organizer to display geographic information.
· Use maps drawn from
memory to answer geographic questions. Create a 5 themes of geography
booklet.
· Construct a map based on
given narrative information.
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· World Geography (Chapter
1-4 and 11-13)
· Geography Games
· Primary Sources
· Google Earth
· Classroom Atlas
· DVD’s
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· Plotting points on a
blank world map
· Place physical features
on a map
· Develop a map of their
day (Arrive at school, School Schedules, Then Home)
· Compare types of maps
using a Venn Diagram
· Create a demonstration
displaying how the sun affects seasons, climate and oceans
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Unit
2: Africa and the Middle East
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Standards/Objectives:
1.
Identify and analyze the distinguishing physical or human
characteristics of a given place (e.g., landforms, precipitation, ecosystems,
settlement patterns, economic activities).
2.
Explain ways in which regional systems are interconnected
(e.g., interstate transportation and trade, interconnecting rivers and
canals)
3.
Compare the role that culture plays in incidents of
cooperation and conflict in the present day world.
4.
Analyze how certain cultural characterizes can link or divide
regions (e.g., language, religion, demography.)
5.
Analyze the role of differing points of view and national
self-interested in disputes over territory and resources (e.g., oil, water,
boundaries).
6.
Assess the ways in which unequal distribution of natural
resources has lead to exploration, colonization, and conflict.
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Essential
Questions:
1.
Can students apply the five themes of geography to Africa and
the Middle East?
2.
Can students construct a graph to display geographic
information?
3.
Can students analyze strategies to deal with environmental
challenges in Africa and the Middle East?
4.
Can students describe how the physical environment or the
impact of natural processes poses environmental challenges?
5.
Can students compare, contrast, and analyze the distribution,
growth rates, and other demographic characteristics of human populations in
various countries or regions in Africa and the Middle East?
6.
Can students identify the distribution of economic systems in
Africa and the Middle East?
7.
Can students analyze regional issues associated with
territory and resources?
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Content (Major Concepts, Figures, and Events)
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Suggested
Activities
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Resources
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Assessment
Strategies
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· Mesopotamia/ Sunni and
Shi’ite/ Iran/ Iraq/ Saudi Arabia/ Afghanistan West Bank/ Gaza/ Golan
Heights/ Western Wall/Zionism/ Israel-Palestine Conflict
· Nile River/ Atlas
Mountains/ Sahara Desert/ Tigris and Euphrates Rivers/ Jordan River/ Dead
Sea/ Red Sea/ Zagros Mountains/ Persian Gulf/ Rub al-Khali
· Desertification/ Aswan
High Dam/ Silt
· Morocco/ Souks/ Congo/
Ethiopia/ Rift Valley/ Mt. Kilimanjaro
· Governments/ Economies of
the Region
· Resources/ Climate and
Vegetation
· Impact of Colonization/
Berlin Conference/ West African Trade/ Slave Trade/ Apartheid/ Nelson
Mandela/ Wadi
· Cash Crops/ Lost Boys of
Sudan/ Blood Diamonds/ Disease and Pandemic/ Theocracy
· Serengeti/ Rain Forest/
Canopy/ Sahel/ Basin/ Escarpment/ Oasis/ Salt Flat/ Desalination/ Oil/ OPEC
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· Create a map that
illustrates the vast differences in beliefs that exist in the Middle East.
· Debate/ Socratic Seminar
Israel – Palestinian Conflict
· Create graphic organizer
that describes migrations, settlements, and religious movements.
· Research the Lost Boys of
Sudan and child soldiers.
· Create movie trailer for
“Blood Diamonds”.
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· World Geography (Chapter
17-22)
· Geography Games
· Primary Sources
· Google Earth
· Classroom Atlas
· DVD’s
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· Students locate countries
and landforms in Africa and Middle East.
· Essay explaining cultural
characteristics that cause conflict and cooperation.
· Write letter to UN asking
for aid for an African Country with details.
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Unit
3: Asia, Australia, and Oceania
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Standards/Objectives:
1.
Identify and distinguish physical or human characteristics of
a given place.
2.
Evaluate how location, topography, climate, natural
resources, and other physical characteristics affect human activities or
significance of a place.
3.
Compare, contrast, and analyze the distribution, growth
rates, and other demographic characteristics of human populations in various
countries and regions.
4.
Analyze the role of differing points of view and national
self-interest in disputes over territory and resources.
5.
Assess the role of government in preserving natural resources
and protecting the physical environment.
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Essential
Questions:
1.
Can students apply the five themes of geography to Asia,
Australia, and Oceania
2.
Can students construct a graph to display geographic
information?
3.
Can students analyze strategies to deal with environmental
challenges in Asia, Australia, and Oceania?
4.
Can students describe how the physical environment or the
impact of natural processes poses environmental challenges?
5.
Can students compare, contrast, and analyze the distribution,
growth rates, and other demographic characteristics of human populations in
various countries or regions in Asia, Australia, and Oceania?
6.
Can students identify the distribution of economic systems in
Asia, Australia, and Oceania?
7.
Can students analyze regional issues associated with
territory and resources?
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Content (Major Concepts, Figures, and Events)
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Suggested
Activities
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Resources
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Assessment
Strategies
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· Russian Revolution/ Cold
War/ Soviet Union/ Satellite Nations/ European Union/ Eurasia/ Transcaucasia
· Regional Conflicts/
Chechnya/ Sri Lanka
· Ural Mountains/ Aral Sea/
U.S. in Bikini Atoll/ Micronesia/ Melanesia/ Polynesia/ Copra/ Great Barrier
Reef/ Outback
· Conflicts in the Balkans/
Anti-Semitism/ Silk Road/ Green Revolutions/ Mohandas Gandhi/ Nonviolent
Resistance/ Sigghartha Gautama/ Caste System/ Subsistence Farming/
Constitutional Monarch
· Water/ Air Pollution
problems in the region
· Deccan Plateau/ Ganges
River/ Himalayas/ Alluvial Plain
· Indo-Gangetic Plain/
Ghats/ Thar Desert/ Kashmir
· Subcontinent/ Monsoon/
Cyclone/ Estuary/ Empires/ Indus Valley Civilization/ Population Growth/ Mt. Everest
· Archipelago/ Low Islands/
High Islands/ Oceania
· Taro/ Aborigines/
Assimilation/ Stolen Generation/ Industrialization/ Push-pull Factors/
Current trends and problems
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· Graphic organizers based
upon climate and vegetation in certain regions.
· Students will label all
countries on blank map, including physical features.
· Pie graph of major
religions located in these regions.
· Fake auction to
illustrate differences in economic standing based upon countries
· Timeline of Soviet Union
Rise and Fall
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· World Geography (Chapter
14-16 and 23-34)
· Geography Games
· Primary Sources
· Google Earth
· Classroom Atlas
· DVD’s
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· Essay Questions
· Document Based Questions
· Public Speeches
· Graphic Displays of
Geographic information with explanation
· Graphic Organizers
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Social Studies Standards and Benchmarks
These standards and benchmarks apply to all areas of Social Studies, grades
K- 12.
Standard 1: Choices have consequences
Benchmarks:
1.1
The student will recognize and evaluate significant choices made by
individuals, communities, states, and nations that have impacted our lives and
futures.
1.2
The student will analyze the context under which choices are made and
draw conclusions about the motivations and goals of the decision-makers.
1.3
The student will investigate examples of causes and consequences of
particular choices and connect those choices with contemporary issues.
1.4
The student will use his/her understanding of choices and consequences to
construct a decision-making process and to justify a decision.
Standard 2: Individuals have rights and responsibilities
Benchmarks:
2.1
The student will recognize and evaluate the rights and responsibilities
of people living in societies.
2.2
The student will analyze the context under which significant rights and
responsibilities are defined and demonstrated, their various interpretations,
and draw conclusions about those interpretations.
2.3
The student will investigate specific rights and responsibilities of
individuals and connect those rights and responsibilities with contemporary
issues.
2.4
The student will use his/her understanding of rights and responsibilities
to address contemporary issues.
Standard 3: Societies are shaped by beliefs, ideas, and diversity
Benchmarks:
3.1
The student will recognize and evaluate significant beliefs,
contributions, and ideas of the many diverse peoples and groups and their
impact on individuals, communities, states, and nations.
3.2
The student will draw conclusions about significant beliefs,
contributions, and ideas, analyzing the origins and context under which these
competing ideals were reached and the multiple perspectives from which they
come.
3.3
The student will investigate specific beliefs, contributions, ideas,
and/or diverse populations and connect those beliefs, contributions, ideas
and/or diversity to contemporary issues.
3.4
The student will use his/her understanding of those beliefs,
contributions, ideas, and diversity to justify or define how community, state,
national, and international ideals shape contemporary society.
Standard 4: Societies experience continuity and change over time
Benchmarks:
4.1
The student will recognize and evaluate continuity and change over time
and its impact on individuals, institutions, communities, states, and nations.
4.2
The student will analyze the context of continuity and change and the
vehicles of reform, drawing conclusions about past change and potential future
change.
4.3
The student will investigate an example of continuity and/or change and
connect that continuity and/or change to a contemporary issue.
4.4
The student will use his/her understanding of continuity and change to
construct a model for contemporary reform.
Standard 5: Relationships among people, places, ideas, and environments are
dynamic
Benchmarks:
5.1
The student will recognize and evaluate dynamic relationships that impact
lives in communities, states, and nations.
5.2
The student will analyze the context of significant relationships and
draw conclusions about a contemporary world.
5.3
The student will investigate the relationship among people, places,
ideas, and/or the environment and connect those relationships to contemporary
issues.
5.4
The student will use his/her understanding of these dynamic relationships
to create a personal, community, state, and/or national narrative.
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