Mapping Our Communities
Using maps and globes to locate our state and its major cities. Students learn to use cardinal directions, scales, and legends to navigate and represent spatial data.
Key Questions
- 1Where is our state located in relation to its neighbors and the rest of the country?
- 2How do map symbols help us understand the world around us?
- 3How has the way we map our state changed over time?
Common Core State Standards
Suggested Methodologies
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More in Our State's Geography
Landforms & Regions
The mountains, valleys, plains, deserts, and coastlines that make up our state. Students identify major landforms and understand how they divide the state into distinct regions.
3 methodologies
Climate Zones
How climate varies across our state and why. Students explore how elevation, latitude, and proximity to water create different weather patterns and growing seasons.
3 methodologies
Natural Resources & Land Use
The natural resources of our state, including forests, water, minerals, and fertile soil, and how people have used (and sometimes overused) them throughout history.
3 methodologies
Human-Environment Interaction
Investigating how people modify their environment through dams, irrigation, and urban development, and the resulting consequences.
3 methodologies