How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information.

The geographically informed person must use maps and other geograph­ic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to acquire, understand, and communicate information. Knowing how to identify, access, evaluate, and use appropriate geographic representations will ensure college and career readiness for students. Students will have an array of powerful problem-solving and decision-making skills for use in both their educational pursuits and their adult years.

Therefore, Standard 1 contains these themes: Properties and Functions of Geographic Representations, Using Geospatial Data to Construct Geographic Representations, and Using Geographic Representations.

Thinking about the world in spatial terms (spatial thinking) allows students to describe and analyze the spatial patterns and organization of people, places, and environments on Earth. Spatial thinking skills are essential in processing geospatial data. Geospatial data link physical and human attributes of points or places on Earth’s surface (such as roads, other built features, and rivers) and can be compiled, organized, stored, manipulated, and represented in many ways. Maps are graphic representations of selected aspects of Earth’s surface and are still a key geographic mode of representation. Globes, graphs, diagrams, and aerial and satellite images (remote sensing) also allow us to visualize spatial patterns on Earth. No single representation, however, can show everything, and the features depicted on each representation are selected to fit a particular purpose.

Geospatial technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS), and global positioning systems (GPS), as well as Internet-based mapping sites such as digital globes and geospatial visualizations, allow us to analyze and represent geospatial data in powerful ways.

At all grade levels, students need practice and experiences in how to collect and display information (data) on maps, graphs, and diagrams. They must understand what a map is and what it can—and cannot—do. They need to be able to read and interpret maps and other geographic representations. And finally, students must know how to make maps, from hand-drawn sketch maps to more complex representations using a range of appropriate technologies.

By learning to think spatially, students can understand such basic concepts as scale, alternative map projections that show Earth from different perspectives, and the relationships between spatial processes and spatial patterns. By understanding these themes, students will be equipped with tools that provide important problem-solving and decision-making skills in geography and across the entire K-12 curricu­lum.

Student Knowledge and Comprehension at Each Grade Level

4th Grade

Using Geography to Interpret the Present and Plan for the Future

1. Geographic contexts (the human and physical characteristics of places and environments) are the settings for current events

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Analyze geographic contexts in which current events and issues occur, as exemplified by being able to

• Describe the geographic factors that would influence the decision on where to locate a new school in the local community (available land, proximity to student populations, proximity to dangerous roads or industries).
• Describe the services a city government needs to provide due to the specific geographic characteristics of the community (e.g., big snow removal equipment in lake-effect locations, frequent brake replacement for San Francisco streetcars, wind screens for tennis courts in Great Plains locations, evacuation plans in flood-prone areas).
• Analyze a current environmental issue in the region (e.g., building or demolishing a dam, building or expansion of freeway system, creation of parks and open spaces, regulatory legislation on industry to prevent further air, water, and land pollution) and describe ways in which people and the environment interact to affect the issue positively and negatively.

Changes in Geographic Contexts

2. Places, regions, and environments will continue to change

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Describe current changes in places, regions, and environments and predict how these locations may be different in the future, as exemplified by being able to

• Describe how to plan for the environmental future of a place by completing the following statements: “I will keep….” “I will change….” and “I will remove….”
• Describe the effects that building a new subdivision might have on the local environment (e.g., loss of farms or green space, increased traffic, more run off from additional paved surfaces).
• Describe the effects of opening or closing schools (e.g., gain or loss of playgrounds, fewer or more students needing buses to get to school).

Perceptions of Geographic Contexts

3. People’s perceptions of the world—places, regions, and environments—are constantly changing

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Explain how people’s perceptions of the world can change with new information and new experiences, as exemplified by being able to

• Describe a recent trip and explain what preconceived thoughts were about the place compared with how it turned out to be in reality.
• Explain how the depiction of a place in movies or on television can affect how people perceive that place.
• Describe and explain how a student’s view of his or her home community can be different from someone who is only visiting the community.

8th Grade

Using Geography to Interpret the Present and Plan for the Future

1. Geographic contexts (the human and physical characteristics of places and environments) provide the basis for problem solving and planning

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Describe and analyze the influences of geographic contexts on current events and issues, as exemplified by being able to

• Explain the role of the geographic context in a current global conflict (e.g., boundary dispute, resource allocation, land-use issues) and identify strategies that might be used to settle the conflict.
• Describe and analyze the challenges a region’s physical geography offers in making policy decisions about present and future needs (e.g., planning military operations in remote or rugged areas of the world, determining the advisability of extracting natural resources from environmentally fragile areas).
• Describe the geographic context and resulting challenges in monitoring and maintaining a secure southern US border.

B. Describe and analyze the influences of geographic contexts on the process of planning for the future, as exemplified by being able

• Identify areas in a community with potential for growth and describe the geographic considerations for planning for future transportation and city services (e.g., schools, parks, sewage treatment plants, water and energy services).
• Analyze areas of a community most prone to potential flooding from rivers, thunderstorms, and storm surges and suggest possible mitigation strategies.
• Analyze the current pattern of interstate highways and based on projections of population growth suggest where new highways might be needed.

Changes in Geographic Contexts

2. Change occurs in the geographic characteristics and spatial organization of places, regions, and environments

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Describe and explain current changes in the geographic characteristics and spatial organizations of places, regions, and environments and predict how they may be different in the future, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify environmental issues in a region and describe the consequences of these issues on the region and the appearance of the environment in the next 30 years if no action is taken, limited action is taken, or with considerable intervention.
• Describe how the increasing demand for water resources will affect the physical environment and suggest ways to replenish and conserve water resources.
• Explain why the majority of emerging megacities will continue to be located in South and East Asia.

Perceptions of Geographic Contexts

3. People’s perceptions of the world affect their views of the present, and expectations about the future

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Explain the role perception plays in planning for the present and the future, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify the top five states a student would choose and not choose to live in and explain the reasons for the choices.
• Explain how the views of different stakeholder groups would need to be considered in the development of a new local facility (e.g., school, park, hospital, reservoir).
• Describe how changes in the economy of a community may affect personal perceptions of that place and people’s plans for their futures.

12th Grade

Using Geography to Interpret the Present and Plan for the Future

1. Properties and functions of geographic representations—such as maps, globes, graphs, diagrams, aerial and other photographs, remotely sensed images, and geographic visualization

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Identify and describe the properties (position and orientation, symbols, scale, perspective, coordinate systems) and functions of geographic representations, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (e.g., title, legend, cardinal and intermediate directions, scale, sym­bols, grid, principal parallels, meridians) and purposes (wayfinding, reference, thematic).
• Identify and describe the functions of a variety of geographic rep­resentations.
• Identify and describe the properties and functions of maps students collect from magazines, news articles, and tourist brochures.

B. Describe how properties of geographic representations determine the purposes they can be used for, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify the maps or types of maps most appropriate for specific purposes, (e.g., to locate physical and/or human features, to deter­mine the shortest route from one town to another town, to compare the number of people living at two or more locations).
• Describe how a variety of geographic representations (maps, globes, graphs, diagrams, aerial and other photographs, GPS) are used to communicate different types of information.
• Describe how maps are created for a specific purpose (e.g., school fire-drill map, the route from home to school, classroom map of learning center materials).

Using Geospatial Data to Construct Geographic Representations

2. Geospatial data are connected to locations on Earth’s surface

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Identify examples of geospatial data, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify landmarks on the school grounds and describe their size, shape, and location.
• Identify the spatial location of each student’s assigned seat in the classroom.
• Identify the locations and types of trees in the neighborhood of the school.

B. Construct maps and graphs to display geospatial data, as exemplified by being able to

• Construct a map that displays geospatial data using symbols ex­plained in a key (e.g., a sketch map to illustrate a narrative story, a map of cars in the school parking lot showing type and color, a class­room map showing different types of tables, desks, and chairs).
• Describe the results of a survey of classmates about a geographic question concerning their school (e.g., where to add another swing set, where to add a cover over existing playground equipment, where to place more drinking fountains) using graphs and maps.
• Construct a map of the United States using symbols to show quan­tities by state (e.g., population, professional sports teams, mountain peaks over a certain elevation).

3. Geospatial technologies—Internet-­based mapping applications, GIS, GPS, geovisualization, and remote sensing—display geospatial data

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Compare how different geospatial technologies are used to display geospatial data, as exemplified by being able to

• Identify and describe the types of information communicated by different Internet-based mapping technologies.
• Describe and analyze the similarities and differences among the results from different online navigation systems.
• Compare the similarities and differences of information presented in online road maps, satellite images, or street-view data.

Using Geographic Representations

4. The interpretation of geographic representations

Therefore, the student is able to:

A. Describe and analyze the ways in which geographic representations communicate geospatial information, as exemplified by being able to

• Describe the purpose and components of a typical map key or leg­end.
• Describe and analyze the similarities and differences in information displayed at different scales.
• Analyze the different ways of symbolizing geospatial data (e.g., graduated circles, cartograms, choropleth versus isopleth maps).