This is an activity to use with students as they are learning how to read a map and decipher continents and oceans. This activity is intended for high school students and can also be used as a check for understanding.
Students will use images, U.S. Census Bureau data, and interactive maps to visualize and calculate arithmetic (population), agricultural, and physiological densities at local, regional, and national scales. They will also transfer their calculations to bar graphs.
This first year Geography textbook takes a holistic approach to Geography by incorporating elements of physical, human and regional geography, as well as bringing in methods and perspectives from spatial information science.. This textbook applies a fundamental geographical approach to understanding our globally changing world by looking at local processes which are linked to larger global processes and events. For example mining and its effects are a global issue and we can see how these unfold in BC. A further example is the recent apology to First Nation peoples on the residential school treatment, as similar events occur in the US, Ireland and Australia. Processes of urbanization, a phenomenon which people all over the globe are experiencing, can be seen in Vancouver with our discussion of the citys development. Geography students, indeed all first year students, need to be able to critically assess their own contexts and environments in order to properly engage with our continually globalizing world.
Artists across all times and places take advantage of local materials and resources to craft their work. At the same time, the local habitat influences and inspires artistic decisions. Broken into six thematic lenses, this collection of objects lets students use art to expand their own thinking about the complex relationship humans have with the natural world. What ideas about humanity, habitat, and creativity do these objects spark for them?
A focus object is featured for each thematic lens and is followed by other objects for extended thinking and consideration. As students investigate, encourage them to document their thinking by using the prompts and strategies provided.
This article highlights lesson plans and activities that help elementary students develop map skills as they learn earth science concepts.
The Did You Feel It (DYFI) Annual Summary Webage and Viewer are resources that are ideal for Earth Science and Geography laboratiory activitiy.
Students may connect to a database of factual information collected by the USGS on Earthquakes and other seismic disturbances.
The data graphically shows the highest intensity felt at each location searched. The data is grouped into 10 km blocks, and the color of each block corresponds to the highest intensity calculated for that block (regardless of which event).
This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.
Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS.
Students will examine how human actions and population changes can affect the environment. Students will examine a series of photographs that compare famous landmarks (Times Square, the Saltair Pavilion in Utah, Laguna Beach, and Niagara Falls) across time, and then they will identify human-generated changes in the physical environment, such as the addition of bridges and roads. Students will also examine U.S. Census Bureau population and housing data to see how population changes can contribute to changes in the physical environment. In addition, students will describe the impact of these changes on the environment.
From the earliest days of settlement and migration, the people of North America have relied on maps and mapping to understand their environment and place within it. Maps have helped Americans prospect investments, comprehend war, and plan leisure in places unknown. As Americans have used maps to explore the U.S., capitalize on its resources, and displace its Native peoples, maps have shaped American cultural ideas about travel, place, and ownership. This exhibit explores the cultural and historic impact of mapping through four specific moments in American history: migration along the Oregon Trail, the rise of the lumber industry, the Civil War, and the popularization of the automobile and individual tourism. It concludes with a look at maps in the age of computers, the Internet, and beyond. These moments demonstrate the influence maps have had over how Americans imagine, exploit, and interact with national geographies and local places. This exhibition was created as part of the DPLAs Digital Curation Program by the following students in Professor Helene Williams's capstone course at the Information School at the University of Washington: Greg Bem, Kili Bergau, Emily Felt, and Jessica Blanchard. Additional revisions and selections made by Greg Bem.
Essentials of Geographic Information Systems integrates key concepts behind the technology with practical concerns and real-world applications. Recognizing that many potential GIS users are nonspecialists or may only need a few maps, this book is designed to be accessible, pragmatic, and concise. Essentials of Geographic Information Systems also illustrates how GIS is used to ask questions, inform choices, and guide policy. From the melting of the polar ice caps to privacy issues associated with mapping, this book provides a gentle, yet substantive, introduction to the use and application of digital maps, mapping, and GIS.
Students will examine maps to explore changes in population density in the United States during three decades: 1920-1930 (Post-Progressive Era), 1930-1940 (Great Depression), and 1940-1950 (World War II). They will then determine what happened during each decade that likely influenced geographic mobility. Students will also examine a map of more recent population data (for 2000-2010) to understand trends in population movement.
To introduce demographic characteristics to students, teachers will help them create a population pyramid. Then, students will use an online tool called QuickFacts to find census data on demographic characteristics for a county in 2017. They will compare it to older data from the same county to find changes and trends over time. They will then use QuickFacts to examine data about their school's county. Students will use this information to help them understand how business owners and community leaders use data on demographic characteristics to make decisions.
Students will use U.S. Census Bureau data to learn how population pyramids describe population structures and to calculate age range population percentages for a selected state that will help them create a population pyramid.
There are several common minerals that tend to be referenced and used in texts, NY Regent Tests and released Virginia SOL tests.
I call these the Super 8.
Sulfur | Magnetite | Mica | Halite | Pyrite | Calcite | Quartz | Diamond
This resource requires samples of each mineral be sorted and available for manipulation. Students should perform this lab in small groups 3 or 4 and use the spreadsheet provided write the features observed according to categories the teacher wants students to master.
The lab should take about 20-30 minutes.
The Earth Science textbook by Glenco or the attached reference sheet may be used by students.
There are several common minerals that tend to be referenced and used in texts, NY Regent Tests and released Virginia SOL tests.
I call these the Super 8.
Sulfur | Magnetite | Mica | Halite | Pyrite | Calcite | Quartz | Diamond
This resource requires samples of each mineral be sorted and available for manipulation. Students should perform this lab in small groups 3 or 4 and use the spradsheet provided write the features observed according to categories the teacher wants students to master.
The lab should take about 20-30 minutes.
The NY Regents Earth Science Reference Table or a textbook reference may be used as a group reference for look up.
This activity is a field investigation where student create a life-sized contour map and discuss why some contour lines are different from others.
This activity is a field investigation where students will be able to observe sinkholes located in the southeastern Minnesota area and a cave system in Forestville State Park which will assist them in defining Karst topography.
Students will use tables and visualizations of data about geographic mobility to explore rates and patterns of migration within, and immigration to, the United States. Using Census Bureau data tools, students will learn about past reasons for migration and immigration and understand the internal and external stresses of fluctuations in population.
A guided exploration of "Hopitutskwa," the Hopi homeland, through maps and place names. Using English translations, students make inferences about the Hopi cultural relationship to landscape and place. They examine regional place names of their own home communities and create personal maps by identifying and naming places of importance in their lives.