Third of three lessons on the changing European borders, students learn about diffusion of the Black Death. The spread of the Black Death illustrates interaction as people, goods, and ideas move through both time and space. The Black Death decimated the population of Europe in the 1300s. Key questions: Where did the Black Death originate? How did the Black Death arrive in Europe? How did the Black Death affect life in Europe?

First of three lessons examine changing European borders, students compare maps illustrating changes of Europe's division of territory from 1000 A.D. (C.E.) to 1450 A.D. (C.E.). Unification of smaller regions into a larger state may form the basis for political power and the ability to exert influence over other countries. Students uncover the relationship between territorial extent and political power. Key questions: How did the consolidation of territory affect the formation of nation states?; How could stable borders contribute to the political stability of a state?

Second of three lessons on changing European borders, students determine the general routes and time span of the Crusades through maps depicting their routes. Includes primary sources to support comparison of the accounts of the Crusader victory in capturing Jerusalem in 1099. Concludes with an evaluation of crusades' success. Key questions: What areas were involved in the Crusades? What areas did the Crusader states seek to control? What role did the Byzantine church play in the Crusades and how they affected the Byzantines? How did the establishment of Crusader states influence the fall of Constantinople?

This exercise provides a case study of Danville, Virginia’s economic and demographic characteristics. Using a geographic information system students are presented with numerous opportunities to extend and refine their map interpretation skills. This story map is not intended to be used as a stand-alone lesson, but portions could be used throughout various units to provide a case study example of key geographic concepts and analysis of the cultural landscape and urban patterns.

This article from the Virginia Geographer assists teachers to understand the geographic theme of region. It applies the region concept to the study of Virginia that goes well beyond the Virginia Standards of Learning limited use of landform regions. Region concept is applied to a number of human systems including transportation, economic, and urban systems.

This research project focused on food access and its implications for food security and food justice in Newport News’ Southeast Community, a neighborhood marked by high levels of food insecurity and decades of racial segregation and economic divestment. Objectives were threefold: (1) to map the complex socio-spatial networks of food access in a region characterized by high levels of food insecurity; (2) to identify core barriers to food access in the study area, and to better understand how, exactly, these barriers affect food security; and (3) to use this understanding to identify potential policy solutions that could improve local and regional food access and food security.

Presentation of list of resources available to educators through the Virginia Geographic Alliance, National Geographic, and New American History Project

Presentation by Mary Finley-Brook is on climate justice and the research work she has done in Newport News.  The economically depressed south end of Newport News is particularly vulnerable to environmental toxins from the nearby shipyard, coal terminal, and interstate highway that transects their neighborhood.

Students will be able to critically identify key tipping points in the evolution of political parties.  They will be able to connect this evolution to geographic elements and identify causation factors that led to this evolution. Key question: How did political parties impact the geography of the United States between 1792 and 1972? Contains links to student materials and teacher materials for creating lesson plans.

Introuction to physical and human geography of Southwest Virginia, highlighting places visited by AP Human Geography teachers. Coal mining is highlighed, focusing on resource extraction techniques, impacts on the environment and possible solutions.

The second of two lessons on Islamic Empires, students examine maps showing the territorial extent of each of the three major Islamic Caliphates. This examination, showing the same territory through different time periods, provides a springboard for analyzing historical factors underlying the territorial changes. Students also explore cultural, economic, and political factors that account for the changing borders as they match explanations associated with the changes in the maps. Key questions: How did the borders of the Islamic Empires change through time? What cultural, economic, and political factors could account for the changing borders?

The first of two lessons on Islamic Empires, students examine physical maps and assess the possibility of geographic obstacles to the diffusion of Islam. They also explore connections among locations that are incorporated into the succession of empires. Students tie events and locations together through the creation of an annotated map based on selected events. The lesson concludes with an examination of a concentric circle map that provides a rough estimate of distances among the various locations. Key questions: How has physical geography influenced the expansion of the Islamic Empire? Why and how did Islam diffuse so rapidly?

This Story Map Journal emphasizes geography’s impact on United States’ strategy in fighting World War II in the Pacific.  Students, through the use of Library of Congress resources explore geography’s impact on the average soldier in the Pacific.  They will also chart the progress that the armed forces made in their attempt to hop over non-strategic islands in their attempts to get ever closer to the home islands of Japan. Based on the images obtained from the Library of Congress, students will  be able to critically assess the toll that the geography of the Pacific took on soldiers. Contains links to student materials and teacher materials for creating lesson plans.

Every Virginia communicty has a cultural landscape that is layered with multiple evidences of religious practices, ethnic identities, expressions of language, indigenous tradition, political values and more that provide opportunities for interpreting the ways in which human features are shown and seen and why they are so. Students can explore these local geographies through field experiences as a class or on their own. Ideas presented were mostly introduced in APHG Academies that have been sponsored by the VGA, NCGE meetings, AP Annual Conferences, workshops, and through collaboration with colleagues. This collection is intended to help get new teachers started or to move others to grow their curriculum and enhance the experiences of their students and build geographic skills by promoting the inclusion of local geographies into classrooms and through personal observation and data collection in local environments.

Every Virginia community has eonomic activity that can be used in a geography class. It could be the local work of watermen and shipping industry, extraction industry in Appalachia, paper mills, furniture outlets, tourism, energy production, technology industry, banking, chicken farms and slaughter houses. Use these opportunities to apply concepts and processes like region, landscape, agglomeration, deindustrialization, economic base, pollution, and urbanization. Ideas presented were mostly introduced in APHG Academies that have been sponsored by the VGA, NCGE meetings, AP Annual Conferences, workshops, and through collaboration with colleagues. This collection is intended to help get new teachers started or to move others to grow their curriculum and enhance the experiences of their students and build geographic skills by promoting the inclusion of local geographies into classrooms and through personal observation and data collection in local environments.

Broadly this lesson examines how natural resources shape the economic, social, political, and environmental features of Southwest Virginia. Students should be able to recognize economic and natural resources in the region. In turn, they can evaluate the affect of these resources on economic, social, political, and environmental development. This helps students understand alternative perspectives and further their own sense of place, so that they can work to solve problems and develop positive outcomes for other groups of people.

This resource demonstrates the use of census data for exploring local geographies. Not all of the html links are current, but type of useful variables for understanding local geographies can be gained. Ideas presented were mostly introduced in APHG Academies that have been sponsored by the VGA, NCGE meetings, AP Annual Conferences, workshops, and through collaboration with colleagues. This collection is intended to help get new teachers started or to move others to grow their curriculum and enhance the experiences of their students and build geographic skills by promoting the inclusion of local geographies into classrooms and through personal observation and data collection in local environments.

This resource provides links to a number of activities involving local mapping including autobiographical mapping known as a "turf map," how to get students to connections to their local geographies, mapping a school for teaching tolerance, use of historical maps of a community, and use of technology through Googe Earth. Ideas presented were mostly introduced in APHG Academies that have been sponsored by the VGA, NCGE meetings, AP Annual Conferences, workshops, and through collaboration with colleagues. This collection is intended to help get new teachers started or to move others to grow their curriculum and enhance the experiences of their students and build geographic skills by promoting the inclusion of local geographies into classrooms and through personal observation and data collection in local environments.

The first of three lessons on Pre-Columbian era with a focus how the Mesoamerica physical environment influenced human activities. Students apply the concept of relative location as they interpret and analyze a series of maps about the physical environment including topography, climate, and vegetation. Students identify possible challenges Pre-Columbian civilizations faced and make predictions about the civilization’s social, political and economic response to the environment. Key questions: What are the physical characteristics of Mesoamerica?; How did the physical environment influence the development of Mesoamerican civilizations?; How did the Aztecs and Maya overcome the limitations of their physical environment?

The second of three lessons on Pre-Columbian era with a focus how the South American physical environment influenced human activities. Students apply the concept of relative location as they interpret and analyze a series of maps about the physical environment including topography, climate, and vegetation. Students identify possible challenges Pre-Columbian civilizations faced and make predictions about the civilization’s social, political and economic response to the environment. Key questions: What characteristics distinguished the physical environment of the Incan civilization?; How does location influence the development of a civilization?; How did the Incas overcome the limitations of their physical environment?