STANDARD 6.6: Social Studies

Standard 6: Social Studies

Mission: Social Studies education provides learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to be active, informed citizens and contributing members of local, state and world communities.

Standard 6.6 Geography

All students will apply understanding of knowledge of spatial relationships and other geographic skills to understand human behavior in relation to the physical and cultural environment.

Big Idea: Knowledge of geography and application of geographic skills enables students to understand relationships between people, their behavior, places and the environment for problem solving and historical understanding.
6.6. A The World In Spatial Terms
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How do geographic tools and technologies pose and answer questions about spatial distributions and patterns on Earth?	- Technological tools such as GIS, GPS and the Internet assist with solving problems related to understanding location, distance and direction.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples

By the end of Grade 8:
1. Distinguish among the distinct characteristics of maps, globes, graphs, charts, diagrams, and other geographical representations, and the utility of each in solving problems.
2. Translate maps into appropriate spatial graphics to display geographical information.
3. Explain the spatial concepts of relative and absolute location and distance.
4. Estimate distances between two places on a map using a scale of miles, and use cardinal and intermediate directions when referring to a relative location
5. Use geographic tools and technologies to pose and answer questions about spatial distributions and patterns on Earth.
6. Distinguish among the major map types, including physical, political, topographic, and demographic.
7. Explain the distribution of major human and physical features at country and global scales.
8. Use thematic maps to describe places (e.g., patterns of population, diseases, rainfall).
9. Describe and distinguish among the various map projections, including size, shape, distance, and direction.
10. Describe location technologies, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
11. Describe the significance of the major cities of New Jersey, the United States, and the world.

6.6. B Place and Regions
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How does human migration affect a region?	- Both the physical characteristics and human inhabitants of regions change over time. - Regional geographic differences can result in social, economic and political differences.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples

By the end of Grade 8:
1. Compare and contrast the physical and human characteristics of places in regions in New Jersey, the United States, and the world.
2. Describe how regions change over time.
3. Compare the natural characteristics used to define a region.
4. Explain how regional systems are interconnected (e.g., watersheds, trade, transportation systems).
5. Discuss how the geography of New Jersey impacts transportation, industry, and community development.
6. Discuss the similarities and differences among rural, suburban, and urban communities.
7. Describe the types of regions and the influence and effects of region labels including: · Formal regions: school districts, states · Functional regions: marketing area of a newspaper, fan base of a sport team · Perceptual regions: the Bible Belt, the Riviera in southern France

6.6. C Physical Systems
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- How is price determined? - Is geography destiny? - How do natural resources affect the course of history?	- Where we live influences how we live. - Natural resources determine a nation’s wealth.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples

By the end of Grade 8:
1. Describe the characteristics and spatial distribution of major Earth ecosystems.
2. Discuss how ecosystems function locally and globally.
3. Predict effects of physical processes and changes on the Earth.
4. Discuss how the community and its environment function as an ecosystem.
5. Describe how the physical environment affects life in different regions (e.g., population density, architecture, transportation systems, industry, building materials, land use, recreation).

6.6. D Human Systems
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings

Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples

By the end of Grade 8:
1. Discuss how technology affects the ways in which people perceive and use places and regions.
2. Analyze demographic characteristics to explain reasons for variations between populations.
3. Compare and contrast the primary geographic causes for world trade.
4. Analyze the patterns of settlement in different urban regions of the world.
5. Discuss how and why people cooperate, but also engage in conflict, to control the Earth’s surface.
6. Compare the patterns and processes of past and present human migration.
7. Explain and identify examples of global interdependence.
8. Describe how physical and human characteristics of regions change over time.

6.6. E Environment and Society
Essential Questions	Enduring Understandings
- What are the potential limits of technology? - How do human activity and environment affect each other? - How big a threat is global warming?	- Innovations in technology have resulted in an interconnected world. - Technological changes impact the environment.
Cumulative Progress Indicators	Comments and Examples

By the end of Grade 8:
1. Discuss the environmental impacts or intended and unintended consequences of major technological changes (e.g., autos and fossil fuels, nuclear power and nuclear waste).
2. Analyze the impact of various human activities and social policies on the natural environment and describe how humans have attempted to solve environmental problems through adaptation and modification.
3. Compare and contrast conservation practices and alternatives for energy resources.
4. Compare and contrast various ecosystems and describe their interrelationship and interdependence.
5. Describe world, national, and local patterns of resource distribution and utilization, and discuss the political and social impact.
6. Analyze the importance of natural and manufactured resources in New Jersey.
7. Delineate and evaluate the issues involved with sprawl, open space, and smart growth in New Jersey.

Link to Standard 6.6 Grade 3-4

Link to Standard 6.6 High School

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