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New Colorado P-12 Academic Standards

Current Display Filter: Social Studies - All - by Specific Prepared Graduate Competency - (Remove PGC Filter)

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: High School
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use different types of maps and geographic tools to analyze features on Earth to investigate and solve geographic questions
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Gather data, make inferences and draw conclusions from maps and other visual representations (DOK 1-3)
  2. Create and interpret various graphs, tables, charts, and thematic maps (DOK 1-3)
  3. Analyze and present information using a variety of geographic tools and geographic findings in graphs, tables, charts, and thematic maps (DOK 1-3)
  4. Locate physical and human features and evaluate their implications for society (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. What is the significance of spatial orientation, place, and location?
  2. How can maps be used for political purposes?
  3. How can current world events change maps?
  4. How do the division and control of the physical, social, political, and cultural spaces on Earth cause cooperation or conflict?
  5. What would the world map look like if physical geography was the defining variable for country boundaries?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Geographic tools, such as satellite imagery, GIS, GPS, are used to place world events and study human activities over time and provide deeper understanding of the world. For example, satellite imagery is used to track the disappearance of the Aral Sea, find the location of lost cities and measure the melting of ice caps.
  2. The location of resources, physical boundaries, and natural hazards affect human interaction such as conflicts over water rights, and location of resources in relation to trade routes and consumers.
  3. Technology is used to gather and graph geographic information to inform decisions. For example, weather and climate patterns affect the farming industry, and population and migration patterns affect city planners and Realtors.
  4. Technology is used to collect and communicate geographic data such as the distribution of resources and its influence on population density.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers gather, display, and analyze geographic information using geographic tools.
  2. Spatial thinkers use absolute and relative location, mental maps, and spatial orientation in studying geographic questions.
  3. Spatial thinkers predict how human activities will help shape Earth's surface and ways that people might cooperate and compete for use of Earth's surface.

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Explain and interpret geographic variables that influence the interactions of people, places and environments
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Apply geography skills to help investigate issues and justify possible resolutions involving people, places, and environments. Topics to include but not limited to how people prepare for and respond to natural hazards (DOK 1-3)
  2. Identify, evaluate, and communicate strategies to respond to constraints placed on human systems by the physical environment (DOK 1-3)
  3. Explain how altering the environment has brought prosperity to some places and created environmental dilemmas for others (DOK 1-2)
  4. Research and interpret multiple viewpoints on issues that shaped the current policies and programs for resource use (DOK 1-4)
  5. Explain how information and changing perceptions and values of places and environment influence personal actions (DOK 1-3)
  6. Define sustainability and explain how an individual's actions may influence sustainability (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. What will happen if farm land degrades around the world?
  2. How might the physical geography of Earth change in the future?
  3. Why do countries and cultures struggle to maintain spatial cohesiveness and national identity?
  4. What might happen if we thought locally and acted globally?
  5. What are the maximum limits of human activity the environment can withstand without deterioration?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Individual actions affect the local environment and global community such as the impact of recycling and consumption of resources.
  2. Technology can support invention and influence how humans modify the environment in both positive and negative ways such as renovation of existing buildings to "green" technologies, prevention and prediction of natural hazards and disasters, and satellite imagery used to track water availability in the Middle East.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers study how the physical environment is modified by human activities, including how human societies value and use natural resources.
  2. Spatial thinkers evaluate major areas of environmental and societal interaction.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Eighth Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

2. Conflict and cooperation occur over space and resources
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Analyze how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human population, interdependence, cooperation and conflict (DOK 1-3)
  2. Compare how differing geographic perspectives apply to a historic issue (DOK 1-2)
  3. Interpret from a geographic perspective the expansion of the United States by addressing issues of land, security, and sovereignty (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How will the location of resources lead to cooperation or conflict in the future?
  2. How has conflict over space and resources influenced human migration?
  3. How have differing perspectives regarding resource and land use lead to cooperative policies or conflict?
  4. How would human settlement patterns be different if people did not trade resources with others?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Nations are working cooperatively or are engaged in conflict over the division and control of land, water, and other resources.
  2. Individuals and groups make choices regarding the use of space and resources in society. For example, various nations and groups fought over the resources of the United States and businesses and individuals have raced for land and resources throughout history including the Gold Rush and the Western land rush.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers study how factors influence the allocation and use of space and resources.
  2. Spatial thinkers study how different perspectives affect cooperation and conflict over space and resources.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Seventh Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use geographic tools to gather data and make geographic inferences and predictions
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Interpret maps and other geographic tools to find patterns in human and physical systems (DOK 1-3)
  2. Describe the characteristics and distribution of physical systems, cultural patterns and economic interdependence to make predictions. Topics to include but not limited to environmental issues and cultural diffusion (DOK 1-3)
  3. Collect and analyze data to make geographic inferences and predictions regarding the Eastern Hemisphere (DOK 1-3)
  4. Ask and answer questions after examining geographic sources (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How would the world be different if we had no maps?
  2. How could geographic data be used for both positive and negative results?
  3. Why do so many maps of the world put North America in the center?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Geographic tools and the data they represent help businesses make decisions regarding location such as the best location for a business or the next Olympics.
  2. Geography and technology enable the ability to make predictions about such topics as population expansion and need for services.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers use geographic tools to discover and investigate geographic patterns.
  2. Spatial thinkers use knowledge about the environment to study its influence on individuals and groups.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Sixth Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use geographic tools to solve problems
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Use longitude, latitude, and scale on maps and globes to solve problems (DOK 1-2)
  2. Collect and analyze data to interpret regions in the Western Hemisphere (DOK 1-3)
  3. Ask multiple types of questions after examining geographic sources (DOK 2-3)
  4. Interpret and communicate geographic data to justify potential solutions to problems (DOK 1-3)
  5. Distinguish different types of maps and use them in analyzing an issue (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How can geographic tools be used to solve problems in the future?
  2. How does where we live influence how we live?
  3. How do populations, physical features, resources, and perceptions of places and regions change over time?
  4. How has land been acquired by countries?
  5. How have geographic factors influenced human settlement and economic activity?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Technology is used by individuals and businesses to answer geographic problems such as the spread of disease, migration patterns, and distribution and loss of resources like water supplies.
  2. Geographic tools help to solve problems in daily life. For example, a car GIS is used to find a location, maps are used by tourists, and directions are found on the Internet.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers use geographic tools to develop spatial thinking and awareness.
  2. Spatial thinkers evaluate patterns that connect people and their problems to the world.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Fifth Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use various geographic tools and sources to answer questions about the geography of the United States
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Answer questions about regions of the United States using various types of maps (DOK 1-2)
  2. Use geographic tools to identify, locate, and describe places and regions in the United States and suggest reasons for their location (DOK 1-3)
  3. Locate resources in the United States and describe the influence of access on the development of local and regional communities (DOK 1-3)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How can various types of maps and other geographic tools communicate geographic information incorrectly?
  2. How do you think differently about data when it is displayed spatially?
  3. How and why do we label places?
  4. How have places and regions in the United States been influenced by the physical geography of North America over time?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Geographic tools are used to locate places and identify resources, physical features, regions, and populations.
  2. People and organizations decided on specific locations for operations based on geographic information.
  3. Technologies enhance the ability to locate and analyze maps to answer questions. For example, historians use maps to help recreate settings of historical events, and individuals use maps to learn about different geographic areas.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers recognize that information can be extrapolated from geographic tools.
  2. Spatial thinkers evaluate what data and geographic tools are needed to answer specific questions.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Fourth Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use several types of geographic tools to answer questions about the geography of Colorado
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Answer questions about Colorado regions using maps and other geographic tools (DOK 1-2)
  2. Use geographic grids to locate places on maps and images to answer questions (DOK 1-2)
  3. Create and investigate geographic questions about Colorado in relation to other places (DOK 1-3)
  4. Illustrate, using geographic tools, how places in Colorado have changed and developed over time due to human activity (DOK 1-4)
  5. Describe similarities and differences between the physical geography of Colorado and its neighboring states (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. Which geographic tools are best to locate information about a place?
  2. Why did settlements and large cities develop where they did in Colorado?
  3. How are the regions of Colorado defined by geography?
  4. How does the physical location of Colorado affect its relationship with other regions of the United States and the world?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Individuals and businesses learn how to use geographic tools to answer questions about their state and region to make informed choices. For example, a family reads a weather map and researches road conditions to inform their decision to go to the mountains in the winter.
  2. Individuals and businesses use geographic tools to collect and analyze data regarding the area where they live.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers gather appropriate tools to formulate and answer questions related to space and place.
  2. Spatial thinkers use tools to compare and contrast geographic locations.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Third Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Use various types of geographic tools to develop spatial thinking
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Read and interpret information from geographic tools and formulate geographic questions (DOK 1-2)
  2. Find oceans and continents, major countries, bodies of water, mountains, and urban areas, the state of Colorado, and neighboring states on maps (DOK 1)
  3. Locate the community on a map and describe its natural and human features (DOK 1)
  4. Identify geography-based problems and examine the ways that people have tried to solve them (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. What questions do geographers ask?
  2. How does the geography of where we live influence how we live?
  3. How do physical features provide opportunities and challenges to regions?
  4. How have the cultural experiences of groups in different regions influenced practices regarding the local environment?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Individuals and businesses use geographic tools to answer questions about places and locations such as where to locate a business or park, and how to landscape a yard.
  2. Spatial thinking involves analysis, problem-solving, and pattern prediction.
  3. Individuals develop spatial thinking to organize and make connections such as reading a map and understanding where you are, where you want to go, and how to get to the destination.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers use and interpret information from geography tools to investigate geographic questions.
  2. Spatial thinkers analyze connections among places.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Second Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Geographic terms and tools are used to describe space and place
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Use map keys ,legends, symbols, intermediate directions, and compass rose to derive information from various maps (DOK 1-2)
  2. Identify and locate various physical features on a map (DOK 1)
  3. Identify the hemispheres, equator, and poles on a globe (DOK 1)
  4. Identify and locate cultural, human, political, and natural features using map keys and legends (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How do you define, organize, and think about the space around you?
  2. What is a human feature versus a physical feature?
  3. Why do we use geographical tools such as maps, globes, grids, symbols, and keys?
  4. How would you describe a setting without using geographic words?
  5. How can using the wrong geographic tool or term cause problems?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Individuals use geographic tools and technology such as observations, maps, globes, photos, satellite images, and geospatial software to describe space and uses of space.
  2. Individuals and businesses use maps to give directions.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers use visual representations of the environment.
  2. Spatial thinkers identify data and reference points to understand space and place.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: First Grade
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Geographic tools such as maps and globes represent places
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Explain that maps and globes are different representations of Earth (DOK 1)
  2. Use terms related to directions - forward and backward, left and right - and distance -near and far- when describing locations (DOK 1)
  3. Recite address including city, state, and country and explain how those labels help find places on a map (DOK 1-2)
  4. Distinguish between land and water on a map or globe (DOK 1)
  5. Create simple maps showing both human and natural features (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How would an individual describe how to get somewhere without an address?
  2. What if we had no geographic tools?
  3. How could a flat map truly represent a round globe?
  4. Why do people not carry globes to help find their way?

Relevance & Application:

  1. People use geographic terms, tools, and technology in work and play to describe and find places. For example, pilots use maps to make flight plans, hikers use compasses to determine directions, and vacationers use maps to find unfamiliar places.
  2. Individuals create and memorize addresses to help locate places. For example, knowing an address is necessary for an ambulance to find it or for an individual to receive mail.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers use geographic tools to study and represent places.

Content Area: Social Studies
Grade Level Expectations: Preschool
Standard: 2. Geography

Prepared Graduates: (Click on a Prepared Graduate Competency to View Articulated Expectations) - (Remove PGC Filter)

Concepts and skills students master:

1. Develop spatial understanding, perspectives, and connections to the world
Evidence Outcomes 21st Century Skill and Readiness Competencies

Students Can:

  1. Use positional phrasing. Phrases to include but not limited to: over and under, here and there, inside and outside, up and down (DOK 1)
  2. Identify common places to include but limited to home, school, cafeteria, and gymnasium (DOK 1)
  3. Describe surroundings (DOK 1-2)
  4. Use pictures to locate familiar places (DOK 1)
  5. Use nonlinguistic representations to show understanding of geographic terms (DOK 1-2)

Inquiry Questions:

  1. How do you describe your surroundings?
  2. Where is this place located?
  3. What would the playground look like if it were organized in a different way?
  4. What is a geographical term?
  5. What is the importance of location?

Relevance & Application:

  1. Specific vocabulary describes space and locations such as the book are under the table, and the pencil is next to the telephone.
  2. Words can describe surroundings. For example, the dentist is inside her office; the firefighter is on the truck; and the puppy is inside the doghouse.
  3. Knowledge about location through personal experience integrates geographic terms with spatial thinking.
  4. Individuals perform different activities in different places. For example, cooking is done in the kitchen, hiking in the mountains, walking the dog in the park, learning in school, and working in a store.

Nature Of:

  1. Spatial thinkers investigate other cultures and how they have been influenced by climate, physical geography, and other cultures in an area.
  2. Spatial thinkers understand that space is organized, have personal experiences with their environment, and look for patterns.