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Introductory
Material for Workshop 1
The following
material comes from Chapters 2 and 3 of Geography for Life.
You may read it here, in the print guide, or in Geography for
Life. Supplemental materials are available in Resources.
The Components
of Geography Education
Organization
of Geography
Geography
is composed of three interrelated and inseparable components:
subject matter, skills, and perspectives. Subject matter is a
distillation of essential knowledge and is the foundation for
the geography standards. Subject matter is the basis on which
geographic skills are brought to bear. These skills are: (1) asking
geographic questions, (2) acquiring geographic information, (3)
organizing geographic information, (4) analyzing geographic information,
and (5) answering geographic questions. Knowledge and skills must
be considered from two perspectives: spatial and ecological.
Mastering
any single component of geography is not equivalent to mastering
geography. All three - subject matter, skills, and perspectives
- are necessary to being geographically informed. None can stand
alone.
There is a
related chain of knowledge that the geographically informed person
must appreciate and command. Knowing population growth rates is
not sufficient unless that knowledge can be related to an understanding
of the resource base - the distribution of arable land, climate
patterns - and to the transportation system that moves food supplies
to consumers, and so on. Likewise, knowing where to find information
on the distribution of population is not sufficient unless you
know how to evaluate the reliability of that information, can
relate it to maps of arable land and transportation routes, and
can then speculate on the impact of changing population policies,
migration patterns, or new crops on the patterns of people and
rates of food production. This process returns you to the subject
of population growth rates, completing a chain of knowledge involving
people, places, and environments.
Space and
Place
Understanding
the relationships between people, places, and environments depends
upon an understanding of space. Space is the environmental stage
upon which the drama of geography is played out, and places are
particular points on the environmental stage where the action
occurs. In this respect, there is a parallel with the approach
of history. History is concerned with understanding the temporal
dimension of human experience (time and chronology). Geography
is concerned with understanding the spatial dimension of human
experience (space and place).
Space in the
world is identified in terms of location, distance, direction,
pattern, shape, and arrangement. Place is identified in terms
of the relationships between physical environmental characteristics,
such as climate, topography, and vegetation, and, such human characteristics
as economic activity, settlement, and land use. Together, these
characteristics make each particular place meaningful and special
to people. Place, in fact, is space endowed with physical and
human meaning. It is the fascination with and exploration of space
and place that give geography its way of understanding the world.
The Subject
Matter
The roots
of the word "geography" are found in two Greek words:
geo, meaning Earth, and graphia, meaning description or depiction.
The purpose of geography, therefore, is to describe or depict
Earth. But there is no single way of doing that. Rather, Earth
can be looked at in various ways.
As a physical
object, it is an oblate spheroid with an equatorial circumference
of approximately 24,902 miles; its surface is covered by water
and land in a ratio of approximately 2.3:1; and that surface ranges
from 29,028 feet above sea level to 35,840 feet below sea level
(the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench).
As a physical
environment, Earth is characterized by large-scale processes,
such as the atmospheric jet streams that snake across its surface,
and large-scale landforms, such as the Ring of Fire surrounding
the Pacific Basin.
As a place
in which humans can live, it offers such diverse habitats as the
permafrost of Siberia, the tropical rain forest of the Congo River
basin, and the Atacama Desert of Chile.
As a place
in which humans do live, it displays intricate patterns of environmental
modification (e.g., the polderlands of the Netherlands, or the
terraced hills of the Philippines), as well as varied patterns
of land use (e.g., the densely populated area of Hong Kong, the
sparsely peopled central desert of Australia, and the automobile-based
sprawl of southern California).
Geographers
look at Earth in all of these ways - as a physical object, as
a physical environment, and as a human place. Geographers also
look at the world as a whole, to understand the connections between
places, and to recognize that the local affects the global and
vice versa. But in order to study Earth as the home of people,
geographers must develop a framework that cuts into the connections
between places.
Our framework
consists of two levels. At the first level, the subject matter
of geography is divided into six essential elements. By essential
we mean that each piece is central and necessary; we must look
at the world in this way. By element we mean that each piece is
a building block for the whole. At the second level, each essential
element contains a number of geography standards, and each geography
standard contains a set of related ideas and approaches to the
subject matter of geography.
The Six Essential Elements
The first
element, The World in Spatial Terms, captures the essence of the
geographic eye: the structuring of geographic information, the
ordering of knowledge into mental maps, and the spatial analysis
of that information. Given this essential grounding in the geographic
way of approaching the world, the second element, Places and Regions,
applies that geographic eye to the world: places and regions are
the basic units of geography, and those units are seen differently
by different people. The third and fourth elements, Physical Systems
and Human Systems, cover the specific content of geography. Physical
Systems looks at physical processes (climate, landforms, etc.)
and then organizes these processes into functional units, ecosystems.
Human Systems begins with population and then considers human
activities, from culture to economics, settlement, and conflict
and cooperation. The fifth element, Environment and Society, reintegrates
the content of geography by emphasizing the interaction between
physical and human systems and identifying the central role of
resources in environment-society links. The sixth element, The
Uses of Geography, shows how geography, taken as a whole, enables
us to understand the past, interpret the present, and plan for
the future.
The Eighteen
Standards
Physical and
human phenomena are spatially distributed over Earth's surface.
The outcome of Geography for Life is a geographically informed
person (1) who sees meaning in the arrangement of things in space;
(2) who sees relations between people, places, and environments;
(3) who uses geographic skills; and (4) who applies spatial and
ecological perspectives to life situations.
The World
in Spatial Terms
Geography studies the relationships between people, places,
and environments by mapping information about them into a spatial
context.
The geographically
informed person knows and understands:
1.
How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools,
and technologies to acquire, process, and report information
from a spatial perspective
2. How
to use mental maps to organize information about people, places,
and environments in a spatial context
3. How
to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments
on Earth's surface
Places
and Regions
The identities and lives of individuals and peoples are rooted
in particular places and in those human constructs called regions.
The geographically
informed person knows and understands:
4. The physical and human characteristics of places
5. That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity
6. How culture and experience influence people's perceptions
of places and regions
Physical
Systems
Physical processes shape Earth's surface and interact with plant
and animal life to create, sustain, and modify ecosystems.
The geographically
informed person knows and understands:
7. The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface
8. The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems
on Earth's surface
Human
Systems
People are central to geography in that human activities help
shape Earth's surface, human settlements and structures are part
of Earth's surface, and humans compete for control of Earth's
surface.
The
geographically informed person knows and understands:
9. The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations
on Earth's surface
10. The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's
cultural mosaics
11. The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's
surface
12. The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement
13. How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence
the division and control of Earth's surface
Environment
and Society
The physical environment is modified by human activities, largely
as a consequence of the ways in which human societies value and
use Earth's natural resources, and human activities are also influenced
by Earth's physical features and processes.
The
geographically informed person knows and understands:
14. How human actions modify the physical environment
15. How physical systems affect human systems
16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution,
and importance of resources
The
Uses of Geography
Knowledge of geography enables people to develop an understanding
of the relationships between people, places, and environments
over time - that is, of Earth as it was, is, and might be.
The
geographically informed person knows and understands:
17. How to apply geography to interpret the past
18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for
the future
Using the
Eighteen Standards
While all
of the National Geography Standards are applicable and relevant
to all states and school districts, different emphases are possible
and desirable. A state such as Alaska might emphasize the three
Environment and Society standards, interpreting them prospectively
by focusing on resources and the potential impacts of human activities
on Alaska's physical environment. A state such as Pennsylvania
might take the same three standards, interpreting them retrospectively
by focusing on the environmental consequences of resource extraction
and exhaustion in Pennsylvania. Similarly, an urban school in
Detroit might implement National Geography Standard 10 - The characteristics,
distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics - by
emphasizing intraurban migration, neighborhood formation, and
ethnic diversity; whereas a rural school in Montana might emphasize
National Geography Standard 12 - The processes, patterns, and
functions of human settlement - and concentrate on the economic
and social problems of low density, dispersed settlements.
Illustrative
examples can be tailored to local contexts. In discussing migration
in National Geography Standard 9, a school district in California
might examine migration from Southeast Asia, a school district
in Florida might devote attention to migration from the Caribbean,
and a school district in Texas might consider migration from Mexico
and Central America. Similarly, a New England school district
might discuss migration of French Canadians in the nineteenth
century whereas a school district in Louisiana might look at the
migration of Acadians in the early eighteenth century. School
districts in Chicago and Baltimore might look at the flows of
African Americans from Mississippi and Alabama in the early and
middle twentieth century; whereas schools in Cincinnati and Cleveland
might choose migration from Appalachia during the same period.
In all cases, despite differences in specific place and time,
the basic geographic concepts would be identical: push and pull
factors, migration streams, migration fields, distances, the role
of intervening opportunities.
Geographic
Skills and Perspectives
Geographic
Skills
Geographic
skills provide the necessary tools and techniques for us to think
geographically. They are central to geography's distinctive approach
to understanding physical and human patterns and processes on
Earth. We use geographic skills when we make decisions important
to our well-being - where to buy or rent a home; where to get
a job; how to get to work or to a friend's house; where to shop,
vacation, or go to school. All of these decisions involve the
ability to acquire, arrange, and use geographic information. Daily
decisions and community activities are linked to thinking systematically
about environmental and societal issues. Community decisions relating
to problems of air, water, and land pollution or locational issues,
such as where to place industries, schools, and residential areas,
also require the skillful use of geographic information. Business
and government decisions, from the best site for a supermarket
or a regional airport to issues of resource use, or international
trade, involve the analysis of geographic data.
Geographic
skills help us to make reasoned political decisions. Whether the
issues involve the evaluation of foreign affairs and international
economic policy or local zoning and land use, the skills enable
us to collect and analyze information, come to an informed conclusion,
and make reasoned decisions on a course of action. Geographic
skills also aid in the development and presentation of effective,
persuasive arguments for and against matters of public policy.
The Rationale for Geographic Skills
The geographic
skills that a geographically informed person should have consist
of five sets adapted from the Guidelines for Geographic Education:
Elementary and Secondary Schools, prepared by the Joint Committee
on Geographic Education and published in 1984 by the Association
of American Geographers and the National Council for Geographic
Education:
1.
Asking geographic questions
2. Acquiring geographic information
3. Organizing geographic information
4. Analyzing geographic information
5. Answering geographic questions
Following
is a brief discussion of the principles underlying the five skills
sets, followed by the presentation of skills.
1. Asking
Geographic Questions
Successful geographic inquiry involves the ability and willingness
to ask, speculate on, and answer questions about why things
are where they are and how they got there. Students need to
be able to pose questions about their surroundings: Where is
something located? Why is it there? With what is it associated?
What are the consequences of its location and associations?
What is this place like?
Students
should be asked to speculate about possible answers to questions
because speculation leads to the development of hypotheses that
link the asking and answering stages of the process. Hypotheses
guide the search for information.
Geography
is distinguished by the kinds of questions it asks - the "where"
and "why there" of a problem. It is important that
students develop and practice the skills of asking such questions
for themselves. The task can be approached by giving students
practice in distinguishing geographic from nongeographic questions
and by presenting students with issues and asking them to develop
geographic questions. At higher grade levels students can identify
geographic problems and ways in which an application of geography
can help solve problems or resolve issues.
2. Acquiring
Geographic Information
Geographic information is information about locations, the physical
and human characteristics of those locations, and the geographic
activities and conditions of the people who live in those places.
To answer geographic questions, students should start by gathering
information from a variety of sources in a variety of ways.
They should read and interpret all kinds of maps. They should
compile and use primary and secondary information to prepare
quantitative and qualitative descriptions. They should collect
data from interviews, fieldwork, reference material, and library
research.
The skills
involved in acquiring geographic information include locating
and collecting data, observing and systematically recording
information, reading and interpreting maps and other graphic
representations of spaces and places, interviewing, and using
statistical methods.
Primary
sources of information, especially the result of fieldwork performed
by the students, are important in geographic inquiry. Fieldwork
involves students conducting research in the community by distributing
questionnaires, taking photographs, recording observations,
interviewing citizens, and collecting samples. Fieldwork helps
arouse the students' curiosity and makes the study of geography
more enjoyable and relevant. It fosters active learning by enabling
students to observe, ask questions, identify problems, and hone
their perceptions of physical features and human activities.
Fieldwork connects the students' school activities with the
world in which they live.
Secondary sources
of information include texts, maps, statistics, photographs, multimedia,
computer databases, newspapers, telephone directories, and government
publications.
Tertiary
sources such as encyclopedias report information compiled from
secondary sources and are important in some research situations.
3. Organizing
Geographic Information
Once collected, the geographic information should be organized
and displayed in ways that help analysis and interpretation.
Data should be arranged systematically. Different types of data
should be separated and classified in visual, graphic forms:
photographs, aerial photos, graphs, cross sections, climagraphs,
diagrams, tables, cartograms, and maps. Written information
from documents or interviews should be organized into pertinent
quotes or tabular form.
There are
many ways to organize geographic information. Maps play a central
role in geographic inquiry, but there are other ways to translate
data into visual form, such as by using graphs of all kinds,
tables, spreadsheets, and time lines. Such visuals are especially
useful when accompanied by clear oral or written summaries.
Creativity and skill are needed to arrange geographic information
effectively. Decisions about design, color, graphics, scale,
and clarity are important in developing the kinds of maps, graphs,
and charts that best reflect the data.
Geography
has been called "the art of the mappable." Making
maps should be a common activity for all students. They should
read (decode) maps to collect information and analyze geographic
patterns and make (encode) maps to organize information. Making
maps can mean using sketch maps to make a point in an essay
or record field observations. It can mean using symbols to map
data on the location of world resources or producing a county-level
map of income in a state. It can even mean mapping the distribution
of fire-ant mounds in a field or trash on a school playground.
For students, making maps should become as common, natural,
and easy as writing a paragraph. They should be skilled in interpreting
and creating map symbols, finding locations on maps using a
variety of reference systems, orienting maps and finding directions,
using scales to determine distance, and thinking critically
about information on maps.
4. Analyzing
Geographic Information
Analyzing geographic information involves seeking patterns,
relationships, and connections. As students analyze and interpret
information, meaningful patterns or processes emerge. Students
can then synthesize their observations into a coherent explanation.
Students should note associations and similarities between areas,
recognize patterns, and draw inferences from maps, graphs, diagrams,
tables, and other sources. Using simple statistics students
can identify trends, relationships, and sequences.
Geographic
analysis involves a variety of activities. It is sometimes difficult
to separate the processes involved in organizing geographic
information from the procedures used in analyzing it. The two
processes go on simultaneously in many cases. But in other instances,
analysis follows the manipulation of raw data into an easily
understood and usable form. Students should scrutinize maps
to discover and compare spatial patterns and relationships;
study tables and graphs to determine trends and relationships
between and among items; probe data through statistical methods
to identify trends, sequences, correlations, and relationships;
examine texts and documents to interpret, explain, and synthesize
characteristics. Together these analytic processes lead to answers
to the questions that first prompted an inquiry and to the development
of geographic models and generalizations. These are the analytical
skills that all students need to develop.
5. Answering
Geographic Questions
Successful geographic inquiry culminates in the development
of generalizations and conclusions based on the data collected,
organized, and analyzed. Skills associated with answering geographic
questions include the ability to make inferences based on information
organized in graphic form (maps, tables, graphs) and in oral
and written narratives. These skills involve the ability to
distinguish generalizations that apply at the local level from
those that apply at the global level (issues of scale are important
in developing answers to geographic questions).
Generalizations
are the culmination of the process of inquiry, and they help
to codify understanding. Developing generalizations requires
that students use the information they have collected, processed,
and analyzed to make general statements about geography. At
other times, however, students use the evidence they have acquired
to make decisions, solve problems, or form judgments about a
question, issue, or problem.
Geographic
generalizations can be made using inductive reasoning or deductive
reasoning. Inductive reasoning requires students to synthesize
geographic information to answer questions and reach conclusions.
Deductive reasoning requires students to identify relevant questions,
collect and assess evidence, and decide whether the generalizations
are appropriate by testing them against the real world. Students
should have experience in both approaches to learning.
Students
should also be able to communicate clearly and effectively,
especially as they learn to answer geographic questions. It
is a skill linked closely to good citizenship. Students can
develop a sense of civic responsibility by disseminating the
answers they have discovered in geographic inquiry. They can
display geographic information in many engaging and effective
ways - for example, by using multimedia, such as combinations
of pictures, maps, graphs, and narratives, to present a story
or illuminate a generalization. Geographic
information can also be presented through the use of poems,
collages, plays, journals, and essays. Every medium chosen to
present geographic information to answer questions or address
an issue or problem should stimulate inquiry and communicate
clearly. Choosing the best means of presenting answers to geographic
questions is an important skill.
Students
should also understand that there are alternative ways to reach
generalizations and conclusions. There are many types of knowledge,
and many levels of reality and meaning. Teachers should encourage
students to develop multiple points of view and to seek multiple
outcomes to problems. This process should include collecting
many kinds of data, including personal, subjective information,
from a variety of sources.
The fifth skill
set represents the last step in the process of geographic inquiry.
But it is not really the end, because the process usually begins
again with new questions suggested by the conclusions and generalizations
that have been developed. These questions, often posed as hypotheses
to be tested, provide a way to review generalizations. Each question
answered, decision reached, or problem solved leads to new issues
and new problems. Geographic learning is a continuous process
that is both empowering and fascinating.
Developing Geographic Skills
It is essential
that students develop the skills that will enable them to observe
patterns, associations, and spatial order. Many of the skills
that students are expected to learn involve the use of tools and
technologies that are part of the process of geographic inquiry.
Maps are essential tools of geography because they assist in the
visualization of space.
Other tools
and technologies, such as satellite-produced images, graphs, sketches,
diagrams, and photographs are also integral parts of geographic
analysis. The rate of growth of an urban area, for example, can
be observed by comparing old and new photographs. Large-scale
land-use changes can be made clear by comparing images taken over
a period of years.
A new and
important tool in geographic analysis is the spatial database,
or geographic information system (GIS) (see Geography for Life
Appendix E). Geographic information systems make the process of
presenting and analyzing geographic information easier, so they
can accelerate geographic inquiry. Spatial databases also can
be developed in the classroom using paper and pencil.
Many of the
capabilities that students need to develop geographic skills are
termed critical thinking skills. Such skills are not unique to
geography and involve a number of generic thinking processes,
such as knowing, inferring, analyzing, judging, hypothesizing,
generalizing, predicting, and decision-making. These have applications
to all levels of geographic inquiry and constitute the bases on
which students can build competencies in applying geographic skills
to geographic inquiry.
Geographic
skills develop over the entire course of the students' school
years, and for each of the three successive grade levels discussed
[K-4, 5-8, 9-12, Geography for Life pp. 46-56]. Teachers and other
curriculum developers will need to recognize that the students'
mastery of geographic skills must be sequenced effectively so
that the students retain and build on their understanding.
Geographic Perspectives
A perspective
is one point of view among many competing ways of interpreting
the meanings of experiences, events, places, persons, cultures,
and physical environments. Having a perspective means looking
at our world through a lens shaped by personal experience, selective
information, and subjective evaluation. A perspective provides
a frame of reference for asking and answering questions, identifying
and solving problems, and evaluating the consequences of alternative
actions. It is essential to be aware that many perspectives exist
and that learning to understand the world from many points of
view enhances our knowledge and skills. It is also essential to
realize that our perspectives incorporate all life experiences
and draw upon knowledge from many fields of inquiry. Therefore
people cannot be neatly boxed into specific perspective types
regardless of their cultural experiences, ethnic backgrounds,
age, gender, or any other characteristic. Geographically informed
people know how to contemplate, understand, and apply two specific
geographic perspectives, along with complementary disciplinary
and personal perspectives.
The two specific
geographic perspectives are the spatial perspective and the ecological
perspective. Geographic perspectives bring societies and nature
under the lens of geography for interpretation and explanation.
Geographic perspectives encompass understanding spatial patterns
and processes on Earth and comprehending that Earth is composed
of living and nonliving elements interacting in complex webs of
relationships within nature and between nature and societies.
A fully developed set of geographic perspectives, therefore, requires
the use of both spatial and ecological points of view.
Knowledge
is one fabric woven from many distinctive fields of learning and
is organized by different intellectual frameworks. Although each
field of study represents distinctive areas of inquiry, specialization,
and perspectives, diverse sets of questions are needed to reveal
the complexities of nature and societies. Consequently, although
spatial and ecological perspectives are hallmarks of the geographic
way of looking at the world, additional perspectives are required
for us to become fully informed.
The Spatial
Perspective
As history is concerned with the temporal dimension of human experience
(time and chronology), geography is concerned with the spatial
dimension of human experience (space and place). The space of
Earth's surface is the fundamental characteristic underpinning
geography. The essential issue of "whereness" - embodied
in specific questions such as, Where is it? Why is it there? -
helps humans to contemplate the context of spatial relationships
in which the human story is played out.
Understanding
spatial patterns and processes is essential to appreciating how
people live on Earth. People who approach knowing and doing with
a habit of inquiring about whereness possess a spatial perspective.
The Ecological
Perspective
Earth is composed of living and nonliving elements interacting
in complex webs of ecological relationships which occur at multiple
levels. Humans are part of the interacting and interdependent
relationships in ecosystems and are one among many species that
constitute the living part of Earth. Human actions modify physical
environments and the viability of ecosystems at local to global
scales. The survival of humans and other species requires a viable
global ecosystem.
Understanding
Earth as a complex set of interacting living and nonliving elements
is fundamental to knowing that human societies depend on diverse
small and large ecosystems for food water, and all other resources.
People who regularly inquire about connections and relationships
among life forms, ecosystems, and human societies possess an ecological
perspective.
Complementing the Two Geographic Perspectives
Many perspectives
supplement the two geographic perspectives and, when used appropriately,
they can expand our understanding of spatial patterns and human-environment
interactions. The geographic perspectives can be integrated with
other disciplinary perspectives and with our own points of view
to enrich and enlarge the understanding of people, places, and
environments. Two other perspectives are of particular value to
students of geography: the historical perspective and the economic
perspective.
The Historical
Perspective
All human events and activities have historic and geographic aspects.
Central to historical inquiry are questions concerning chronology,
the sequencing of events, relationships within and among societies
over time, changes in cultures in various eras, and the changing
relationships between civilizations and physical environments.
A historical perspective enriches the geographic perspective by
adding the essential questions of When? Why then? and Why is the
event significant? These questions complement the study of whereness
and consequently promote a deepened understanding of past and
contemporary events, how and why places and regions form and change,
and variations in human use of environments in different cultures
and eras.
Understanding
temporal patterns is a vital dimension of comprehending human
experiences on Earth. People who ask questions about when events
occurred and how events are related to each other over time use
a historical perspective.
The Economic
Perspective
Economics focuses on how people produce and exchange goods and
services to fulfill such needs as food, shelter, transportation,
and recreation. Earning a living, developing and trading resources,
and inventing, producing, and distributing products and services
are central to economics. Previously isolated economies are incorporated
into the global economy through difficult transitions from subsistence
to commercial activities. Economic transformations promote an
increasing interdependence among all societies and cultures on
Earth. Technological changes in transportation and communications
accelerate and expand economic exchange between the peoples of
the world. Local economies may be drastically altered by decisions
made in distant places.
Understanding
the integration of local, regional, and national economies with
the global economy is critical to knowing how people interact.
People who ask how diverse peoples earn a living and how peoples
are connected through trade in goods and services apply an economic
perspective.
Inquiry-Based
Instruction
The five geographic
skills are embedded in the inquiry approach to learning. Inquiry
involves a process of exploring the natural or material world
that leads to asking questions and making discoveries in the search
for new understandings. Inquiry, as it relates to science education,
should mirror as closely as possible the enterprise of doing real
science. For more information on the inquiry approach, you may
check online with the Institute for Inquiry Learning at www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/.
The National Geography Standards for Workshop 1
The National
Geography Standards highlighted in this workshop include Standards
1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 14, and 15. As you read, be thinking about how
these standards apply in lessons you may have taught.
Standard
1: How to Use Maps and Other Geographic Representations, Tools,
and Technologies to Acquire, Process, and Report Information from
a Spatial Perspective.
Geographic
information is compiled, organized, manipulated, stored, and made
accessible in a great many ways. It is essential that students
develop an understanding of those ways so they can make use of
the information and learn the skills associated with developing
and communicating information from a spatial perspective.
The study
and practice of geography require the use of geographic representations,
tools, and technologies. Geographic representations consist primarily
of maps, and also include globes, graphs, diagrams, aerial and
other photographs, and satellite-produced images. Tools and technologies
consist primarily of reference works such as almanacs, gazetteers,
geographic dictionaries, statistical abstracts, and other data
compilations.
Maps are graphic
representations of selected aspects of Earth's surface. They represent
compilations of geographic information about selected physical
and human features. Using point, line, and area symbols, as well
as color, they show how those features are located, arranged,
distributed, and related to one another. They range in appearance
and purpose from a simple freehand line drawing of how to get
to a friend's house to a complex multicolor depiction of atmospheric
conditions used in weather forecasting. No single map can show
everything, and the features depicted on each map are selected
to fit a particular purpose. Maps can depict not only visible
surface features such as rivers, seacoasts, roads, and towns but
also underground features such as subway systems, tunnels, and
geologic formations. They can depict abstract features such as
political boundaries, population densities, and lines of latitude
and longitude.
In the classroom,
maps serve both as repositories of many kinds of geographic information
and as an essential means of imparting that information to students.
Maps constitute a critical element of geography education. However,
they do have limitations. One major limitation is that it is not
possible to accurately represent the round Earth on a flat surface
without distorting at least one Earth property, such as distance,
direction, or size and shape of land and water bodies. Therefore,
different map projections are used to depict different Earth properties
(e.g., equal area projections show landmasses in correct areal
proportion to one another but with distortions of shape). No single
map can accurately depict all Earth's properties, so it is essential
that students know how to look at a given map and know which properties
are rendered correctly and which are distorted.
As scale models,
globes constitute the most accurate representation of Earth in
terms of the properties of Earth's surface features- area, relative
size and shape, scale and distance, and compass direction are
proportionately and therefore correctly represented on globes.
Globes present an essential overview of Earth, and they can be
very useful in the teaching of such concepts as location, spatial
patterns, Earth-Sun relationships, and time. However, globes have
limitations: They are cumbersome to handle and store, small scale,
and only half of Earth can be observed at once.
In addition to maps and globes, graphs, diagrams, aerial and other
photographs, and satellite-produced images also provide valuable
information about spatial patterns on Earth. They are very diversified
in the kinds of information they present and, under certain circumstances,
have classroom value as both supplements to and substitutes for
globes and maps. However, they also have limitations: For instance,
they may not be immediately understandable to students, who may
need special instruction in their use.
The tools
and technologies used in geography encompass a great variety of
reference works, ranging from encyclopedias and other multivolume
publications covering many topics to single reports on specialized
subjects. Some of these works are in narrative form; some are
primarily compilations of data represented in tabular form. Some
are easy to understand and use; some are not. Students need to
develop an understanding of the kinds of reference works that
are available to them, as well as learn how to obtain information
from the works, how to gauge the general reliability of that information,
and how to convert information from one form to another (e.g.,
take data from a table and present it in a written narrative).
Traditionally,
reference works have been available solely in printed form. Currently,
however, more and more of them are also being made available in
the form of computer-based databases and computer-based information
systems. This development is a result of computer systems becoming
an essential tool for storing, analyzing, and presenting spatial
information. Because of their speed and flexibility, such systems
enable the geographically informed person to explore, manipulate,
and assess spatial data far more effectively than do conventional
printed materials (see Appendix E of Geography for Life). Furthermore,
current developments in multimedia techniques, such as animation,
sound, and interactive learning procedures, promise an even more
flexible and creative approach to geographic learning.
Throughout
their K-12 schooling, students should continue to have direct
experience with a wide variety of geographic representations,
especially maps. Maps can become increasingly abstract with each
succeeding grade level, reflecting the developmental changes in
students' abilities to represent and manipulate spatial and symbolic
information. In the early grades, students should come to see
maps, like the written word, as a source of information about
their world. They should be given opportunities to read and interpret
different kinds of maps and to create maps of their classroom,
school, and neighborhood using various media (e.g., pencils, cutouts).
Subsequent experiences in map reading and mapmaking should become
more sophisticated and abstract as students develop a more comprehensive
understanding of the knowledge, skills, and perspectives involved
in maps and mapping activities.
In addition,
students should be given an opportunity to become familiar with
computer systems and computer-based geographic information systems.
As such systems become increasingly common in the home, school,
and workplace, for many different purposes, people will learn
to use them as comfortably and as effectively as they have traditionally
used printed materials. Therefore, it is essential that students
of geography be exposed to as many forms of geographic data processing
as possible and come to understand the role of computer systems
in both the study and practice of geography.
Knowing how
to identify, access, evaluate, and use all of these geographic
resources will ensure students a rich school experience in geography
and the prospect of having an effective array of problem-solving
and decision-making skills for use in both their other educational
pursuits and their adult years.
Standard
2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people,
places, and environments in a spatial context.
To be geographically
informed, a person must keep in mind a lot of information about
people, places, and environments, and must be able to organize
this information in the appropriate spatial contexts. A very effective
way of doing this is to create and use what can be called "mental
maps." Such a map is an individual's internalized representation
of some aspect or aspects of Earth's surface. It represents what
the person knows about the locations and characteristics of places
at a variety of scales (local to global), from the layout of the
student's bedroom to the distribution of oceans and continents
on the surface of the Earth. These maps in the mind provide students
with an essential means of making sense of the world, and of storing
and recalling information about the shapes and patterns of the
physical and human features of Earth. Learning how to create and
use mental maps, therefore, is a fundamental part of the process
of becoming geographically informed.
Mental maps
have several distinguishing characteristics:
-
Mental
maps are personal and idiosyncratic and are usually a mixture
of both objective knowledge and subjective perceptions. They
contain objective and precise knowledge about the location of
geographic features such as continents, countries, cities, mountain
ranges, and oceans. They also contain more subjective and less
precise information, such as impressions of places, rough estimates
of relative size, shape, and location, and a general sense of
certain connections between places, as well as priorities that
reflect the mapmaker's own predilections.
-
Mental
maps are used in some form by all people throughout their lives.
Such maps enable people to know what routes to take when traveling,
comprehend what others say or write about various places, and
develop an understanding of the world.
-
Mental
maps represent ever changing summaries of spatial knowledge
and serve as indicators of how well people know the spatial
characteristics of places. People develop and refine their mental
maps both through personal experience and through learning from
teachers and the media. They refine at least some of their maps
to ever higher levels of completeness and accuracy, and they
continue to add information so that the maps reflect a growing
understanding of a changing world. Critical geographic observation
is essential to this development and refinement process, because
mental maps reflect people's skill in observing and thinking
about the world in spatial terms (and have nothing to do with
their ability to draw).
As students
read, hear, observe, and think more about the world around them,
they can add more detail and structure to their maps. As students
get older, their mental maps accumulate multiple layers of useful
information and this growth in complexity and utility can provide
them with a sense of satisfaction as more places and events in
the world can be placed into meaningful spatial contexts.
If geography
is to be useful in creating a framework for understanding the
world- past, present, and future- then coherent mental maps must
take shape and become increasingly refined as students progress
through their school years. Students should be encouraged to develop
and update their mental maps to ensure that they continue to have
essential knowledge of place location, place characteristics,
and other information that will assist them in personal decision-making
and in establishing a broad-based perception of Earth from a local
to a global perspective. In addition, they need to understand
that developing mental maps is a basic skill for everyone who
wants to engage in a lifetime of geographic understanding.
Standard
3: How to Analyze the Spatial Organization of People, Places,
and Environments on the Earth's Surface.
Thinking in
spatial terms is essential to knowing and applying geography.
It enables students to take an active, questioning approach to
the world around them, and to ask what, where, when, and why questions
about people, places, and environments. Thinking spatially enables
students to formulate answers to critical questions about past,
present, and future patterns of spatial organization, to anticipate
the results of events in different locations, and to predict what
might happen given specific conditions. Spatial concepts and generalizations
are powerful tools for explaining the world at all scales, local
to global. They are the building blocks on which geographic understanding
develops.
Thinking in
spatial terms means having the ability to describe and analyze
the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on
Earth's surface. It is an ability that is central to a person
being geographically literate.
Geographers
refer to both the features of Earth's surface and activities that
take place on Earth's surface as phenomena. The phenomena may
be physical (topography, streams and rivers, climates, vegetation
types, soils), human (towns and cities, population, highways,
trade flows, the spread of a disease, national parks), or physical
and human taken together (beach resorts in relation to climate,
topography, or major population centers). The location and arrangement
of both physical and human phenomena form regular and recurring
patterns.
The description
of a pattern of spatial organization begins by breaking it into
its simplest components: points, lines, areas, and volumes. These
four elements describe the spatial properties of objects: a school
can be thought of as a point connected by roads (which are lines)
leading to nearby parks and neighborhoods (which are areas), whereas
a lake in a park can be thought of as a volume. The next step
in the descriptive process is to use such concepts as location,
distance, direction, density, and arrangement (linear, grid-like,
random) to capture the relationships between the elements of the
pattern. Thus the U.S. interstate highway system can be described
as lines connecting points over an area - the arrangement is partly
grid-like (with north-south and east-west routes as in the central
United States) and partly radial or star-shaped (as in the highways
centered on Atlanta) - and the pattern of interstates is denser
in the East than it is in the West.
The analysis
of a pattern of spatial organization proceeds with the use of
such concepts as movement and flow, diffusion, cost of distance,
hierarchy, linkage, and accessibility to explain the reasons for
patterns and the functioning of the world. In the case of a physical
pattern, such as a river system, there is a complex hierarchical
arrangement linking small streams with small drainage basins and
large rivers with drainage basins that are the sum total of all
of the smaller drainage basins. There are proportional spatial
relationships between stream and river length, width, volume,
speed, and drainage basin area. The gradual changes that can occur
in these properties of a river system are related to climate,
topography, and geology.
Central to
geography is the belief that there is pattern, regularity, and
reason to the locations of physical and human phenomena on Earth's
surface and that there are spatial structure and spatial processes
that give rise to them. Students must be encouraged to think about
all aspects of the spatial organization of their world. Understanding
the distribution and arrangement of the Earth's physical and human
features depends on analyzing data gathered from observation and
field study, working with maps and other geographic representations,
and posing geographic questions and deriving geographic answers.
Spatial relationships,
spatial structure, and spatial processes are simple to understand,
despite their apparent unfamiliarity. For example, the spatial
organization of human settlement on Earth's surface is generally
a pattern of a few large cities, which are widely spaced and many
smaller towns, which are closer together. A comparative analysis
of those cities and towns shows that cities offer a wide range
of goods and services whereas small towns offer fewer goods and
services. Taken together, the description and the analysis explain
why consumers shop where they do, why they often buy different
products at different locations, and also why changes occur in
this spatial pattern.
Understanding
patterns of spatial organization enables the geographically informed
person to answer three fundamental geographic questions: Why are
these phenomena located in these places? How did they get there?
Why is this pattern significant? Description and analysis of patterns
of spatial organization must occur at scales ranging from local
to global.
Students confront
a world that is increasingly interdependent. Widely separated
places are interconnected as a consequence of improved transportation
and communication networks. Human decisions at one location have
physical impacts at another location. (For example, the decision
to burn coal rather than oil in a power plant may result in acid
rain damaging vegetation hundreds of miles away.
Understanding
such spatial linkages requires that students become familiar with
a range of spatial concepts and models that can be used to describe
and analyze patterns of spatial organization. This knowledge can
be grounded in the students' own immediate experiences, and yet
it will give the students the power to understand the arrangement
of physical and human geographic phenomena anywhere on Earth.
Standard
4: The Physical and Human Characteristics of Places.
People's lives
are grounded in particular places. We come from a place, we live
in a place, and we preserve and exhibit fierce pride over places.
Our sense of self is intimately entwined with that of place. Who
we are is often inseparable from where we are. Places are human
creations and the geographically informed person must understand
the genesis, evolution, and meaning of places.
Places are
parts of Earth's space, large or small, that have been endowed
with meaning by humans. They include continents, islands, countries,
regions, states, cities, neighborhoods, villages, rural areas,
and uninhabited areas. They usually have names and boundaries.
Each place possesses a distinctive set of tangible and intangible
characteristics that helps to distinguish it from other places.
Places are characterized by their physical and human properties.
Their physical characteristics include climate, landforms, soils,
hydrology, vegetation, and animal life. Their human characteristics
include language, religion, political systems, economic systems,
population distribution, and quality of life.
Places change
over time as both physical and human processes operate to modify
Earth's surface. Few places remain unchanged for long and these
changes have a wide range of consequences. As knowledge, ideologies,
values, resources, and technologies change, people make place-altering
decisions about how to use land, how to organize society, and
ways in which to relate (such as economically or politically)
to nearby and distant places. Out of these processes emerge new
places, with existing places being reorganized and expanded, other
places declining, and some places disappearing. Places change
in size and complexity and in economic, political, and cultural
importance as networks of relationships between places are altered
through population expansion, the rise and fall of empires, changes
in climate and other physical systems, and changes in transportation
and communication technologies. A place can be dramatically altered
by events both near and far.
Knowing how
and why places change enables people to understand the need for
knowledgeable and collaborative decision-making about where to
locate schools, factories, and other things and how to make wise
use of features of the physical environment such as soil, air,
water, and vegetation. Knowing the physical and human characteristics
of their own places influences how people think about who they
are, because their identity is inextricably bound up with their
place in life and the world. Personal identity, community identity,
and national identity are rooted in place and attachment to place.
Knowing about other places influences how people understand other
peoples, cultures, and regions of the world. Knowledge of places
at all scales, local to global, is incorporated into people's
mental maps of the world.
Students need
an understanding of why places are the way they are, because it
can enrich their own sense of identity with a particular place
and enable them to comprehend and appreciate both the similarities
and differences of places around their own community, state, country,
and planet.
Standard
7: The Physical Processes that Shape the Patterns of Earth's Surface.
Physical processes
create, maintain, and modify Earth's physical features and environments.
Because the physical environment is the essential background for
all human activity on Earth, the geographically informed person
must understand the processes that produce those features.
Physical processes
can be grouped into four categories: those operating in the atmosphere
(i.e., climate and meteorology), those operating in the lithosphere
(e.g., plate tectonics, erosion, and soil formation), those operating
in the hydrosphere (e.g., the circulation of the oceans and the
hydrologic cycle), and those operating in the biosphere (e.g.,
plant and animal communities and ecosystems).
By understanding
the interaction within and between these categories of physical
processes, the geographically informed person can pose and answer
certain fundamental questions: What does the surface of Earth
look like? How have it s features been formed? What is the nature
of these features and how do they interact? How and why are they
changing? What are the spatially distinct combinations of environmental
features? How are these environmental features related to past,
present, and prospective human uses of Earth? The answers to these
questions lead to an understanding of how Earth serves as the
home of all plants and animals, including humans.
Processes
shape and maintain the physical environment. Therefore it is vital
that students appreciate the complex relationships between processes
and resultant features, and how these relationships give rise
to patterns of spatial organization. For example, in a region
such as southern California, the physical landscape is constantly
reshaped by a complex set of interacting physical processes: earthquakes,
coastal erosion, land subsidence owing to subsurface oil and water
extraction, flash floods and landslides caused by heavy rainfall
in the spring, and drought and the loss of chaparral vegetation
from fire in the dry summer weeks. In turn, these processes show
chains of interaction: the chaparral vegetation is the biosphere's
response to the climate and soil. Given the expected variations
in rainfall in this Mediterranean climate regime, the chaparral
becomes dormant and is prone to fire; however, clearance of the
chaparral vegetation, especially in the canyons of steep hills,
exposes the surface to flash flooding and soil erosion.
Five basic
ideas help to explain the interactions and effects of physical
processes. These are known as system, boundary, force, state of
equilibrium, and threshold. A system is a collection of elements
that are mutually connected and therefore influence one another
to form a unified whole (e.g., the hydrologic cycle). Each system
has boundaries, either real or arbitrary, within which it operates.
Some forces, such as gravity and weather, activate and drive processes;
other forces, such as friction, resist change and act to maintain
the status quo. Systems exist in different states. When a system
is in equilibrium, driving forces such as gravity and resisting
forces such as friction are in balance. However, when a threshold
- the point at which change may occur - is reached adjustment
takes place. For example, an avalanche occurs when gravity, acting
on deep layers of snow, overcomes the friction that was holding
the snow mass in place (i.e., a state of equilibrium gives way
when a threshold is reached). After the avalanche a new state
of equilibrium is established.
It is essential
that students understand the physical processes that act upon
Earth and that such processes affect the choices made by people
in different regions of the United States. Knowledge of these
processes is required for dealing with such commonplace issues
as: evaluating locations of relative safety in an earthquake-prone
region; purchasing a home in a floodplain; coping with the threat
of sinkholes and subsidence in a landscape underlain by limestone
deposits; building a house in an area that has shrink-swell clay
soils.
It is also
essential that students learn to make intelligent predictions
about future events and evaluate the short- and long-term effects
of physical events on places and regions. Evaluating reports of
world climate change requires knowing the factors that affect
climate and weather in general and how the natural environment
functions in particular regions. Climate and weather affect more
than just personal decision-making on a daily basis. They are
major factors in understanding world economic conditions over
longer periods. Many important natural resources are formed by
physical processes that occur in relatively few places on Earth.
Understanding physical processes and the patterns of resources
they produce is vital to understanding not only the physical geography
of Earth's surface but also the strategic relationships between
nations and world trade patterns.
Understanding
physical processes enables the geographically informed person
to link the personal with the societal, the short term with the
long term, and the local with the global dimensions of Earth.
The context
of migration varies from voluntary and discretionary (the search
for a better place to live), to voluntary but unavoidable (the
search for a place to live), to involuntary and unavoidable (the
denial of the right to choose a place to live).
In the two
voluntary contexts, migration often results from the weighing
of factors at the point of origin and at potential destinations
against the costs (financial and emotional) of moving. "Pull"
factors may make another place seem more attractive and therefore
influence the decision to move. Other factors are unpleasant enough
to "push" the migrant out of the local setting and toward
another area. These factors reflect people's objective knowledge
of places and also their secondhand impressions. As a consequence,
many countries have experienced waves of people going from settled
areas to new lands in the interior (e.g., the westward movement
in the United States in the nineteenth century and the move from
the southeast coast to the interior of Brazil starting in the
1960s, when the new capital city of Brasilia was built).
Voluntary
and unavoidable migration occurs when much of a region's or country's
population is impelled into migration streams, such as the millions
of Irish who fled to the United States in the 1840s because of
the potato famine or the millions of Somalis, Sudanese, and Rwandans
who moved in the 1990s because of drought, famine, and civil war.
However, some migrations are forced and involuntary. Such was
the case with African Americans who were taken to North and South
America in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries
to work as slave laborers on sugar, cotton, and tobacco plantations.
Demographic
shifts rearrange patterns of population and create new human landscapes.
Natural increase, war, famine, and disease play decisive roles
in influencing why many people live where they do. Migration sets
people in motion as they leave one place, strike out for a second,
and possibly settle in a third. Intervening obstacles influence
the patterns of migration. Physical barriers such as deserts,
mountains, rivers, and seas or cultural barriers such as political
boundaries, languages, economic conditions, and cultural traditions
determine how people move and where they settle.
It is essential
that students develop an understanding of the dynamics of population
characteristics, distributions, and migration, and in particular
of how population distribution (in terms of size and characteristics)
is linked to the components of fertility, mortality, and mobility.
Standard
8: The Characteristics and Spatial Distribution of Ecosystems
on Earth's Surface.
Ecosystems
are a key element in the viability of planet Earth as human home.
Populations of different plants and animals that live and interact
together are called a community. When such a community interacts
with the other three components of the physical environment -
atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere - the result is an ecosystem.
The cycles of flows and interconnections - physical, chemical,
and biological - between the parts of ecosystems form the mosaic
of Earth's environments. The geographically informed person needs
to understand the spatial distribution, origins, functioning,
and maintenance of different ecosystems and to comprehend how
humans have intentionally or inadvertently modified these ecosystems.
Ecosystems
form distinct regions on Earth's surface, which vary in size,
shape, and complexity. They exist at a variety of scales, from
small and very localized areas (e.g., a single stand of oak trees
or a clump of xerophytic grasses) to larger areas with precise
geographic boundaries (e.g., a pond, desert biome, island, or
beach). Larger scale ecosystems can form continent-wide belts,
such as the tundra, taiga, and steppe of northern Asia. The largest
ecosystem is the planet itself.
All elements
of the environment, physical and human, are part of several different
but nested ecosystems. Ecosystems, powered by solar energy, are
dynamic and ever-changing. Changes in one ecosystem ripple through
others with varying degrees of impact. As self-regulating open
systems that maintain flows of energy and matter, they naturally
move toward maturity, stability, and balance in the absence of
major disturbances. In ecological terms, the physical environment
can be seen as an interdependent web of production and consumption
cycles. The atmosphere keeps plants and animals alive through
solar energy, chemical exchanges (e.g., nitrogen-fixing and photosynthesis),
and the provision of water. Through evapotranspiration the atmosphere
and plants help to purify water. Plants provide the energy to
keep animals alive either directly through consumption or indirectly
through their death and decay into the soil, where the resultant
chemicals are taken up by new plants. Soils keep plants and animals
alive and work to cleanse water. The root systems of plants and
the mechanical and chemical effects of water percolating through
bedrock create new soil layers. Ecosystems therefore help to recycle
chemicals needed by living things to survive, redistribute waste
products, control many of the pests that cause disease in both
humans and plants, and offer a huge pool of resources for humans
and other living creatures.
However, the
stability and balance of ecosystems can be altered by large-scale
natural events such as El Niño, volcanic eruptions, fire,
or drought. But ecosystems are more drastically transformed by
human activities. The web of ecological interdependency is fragile.
Human intervention can shatter the balance of energy production
and consumption. For example, the overgrazing of pasturelands,
coupled with a period of drought, can lead to vegetation loss,
the exposure of topsoil layers, and massive soil erosion (as occurred
in the 1930s Dust Bowl); tropical forest clear-cutting can lead
to soil erosion and ecological breakdown, as is currently occurring
in Amazonia; the construction of oil pipelines in tundra environments
can threaten the movements of the caribou herds on which indigenous
Inuit populations depend.
By knowing
how ecosystems operate and change, students are able to understand
the basic principles that should guide programs for environmental
management. Students can understand the ways in which they are
dependent on the living and nonliving systems of Earth for their
survival. Knowing about ecosystems will enable them to learn how
to make reasoned decisions, anticipate the consequences of their
choices, and assume responsibility for the outcomes of their choices
about the use of the physical environment. It is important that
students become well-informed regarding ecosystem issues so they
can evaluate conflicting points of view on the use of natural
resources. The degree to which present and future generations
understand their critical role in the natural functioning of ecosystems
will determine in large measure the quality of human life on Earth.
Standard
14: How Human Actions Modify the Physical Environment.
Many of the
important issues facing modern society are the consequences -
intended and unintended, positive and negative - of human modifications
of the physical environment. So it is that the daily news media
chronicle such things as the building of dams and aqueducts to
bring water to semiarid areas, the loss of wildlife habitat, the
reforestation of denuded hills, the depletion of the ozone layer,
the ecological effects of acid rain, the reduction of air pollution
in certain urban areas, and the intensification of agricultural
production through irrigation.
Environmental
modifications have economic, social, and political implications
for most of the world's people. Therefore, the geographically
informed person must understand the reasons for and consequences
of human modifications of the environment in different parts of
the world.
Human adaptation
to and modification of physical systems are influenced by the
geographic context in which people live, their understanding of
that context, and their technological ability and inclination
to modify it to suit their changing need for things such as food,
clothing, water, shelter, energy, and recreational facilities.
In meeting their needs, they bring knowledge and technology to
bear on physical systems.
Consequently,
humans have altered the balance of nature in ways that have brought
economic prosperity to some areas and created environmental dilemmas
and crises in others. Clearing land for settlement, mining, and
agriculture provides homes and livelihoods for some but alters
physical systems and transforms human populations, wildlife, and
vegetation. The inevitable by-products - garbage, air and water
pollution, hazardous waste, the overburden from strip mining -
place enormous demands on the capacity of physical systems to
absorb and accommodate them.
The intended and unintended impacts on physical systems vary in
scope and scale. They can be local and small-scale (e.g., the
terracing of hillsides for rice growing in the Philippines and
acid stream pollution from strip mining in eastern Pennsylvania),
regional and medium scale (e.g., the creation of agricultural
polderlands in the Netherlands and of an urban heat island with
its microclimatic effects in Chicago), or global and large-scale
(e.g., the clearing of the forests of North America for agriculture
or the depletion of the ozone layer by chlorofluorocarbons).
Students must
understand both the potential of a physical environment to meet
human needs and the limitations of that same environment. They
must be aware of and understand the causes and implications of
different kinds of pollution, resource depletion, and land degradation
and the effects of agriculture and manufacturing on the environment.
They must know the locations of regions vulnerable to desertification,
deforestation, and salinization, and be aware of the spatial impacts
of technological hazards such as photochemical smog and acid rain.
Students must be aware that current distribution patterns for
many plant and animal species area a result of relocation diffusion
by humans.
In addition,
students must learn to pay careful attention to the relationships
between population growth, urbanization, and the resultant stress
on physical systems. The process of urbanization affects wildlife
habitats, natural vegetation, and drainage patterns. Cities create
their own microclimates and produce large amounts of solid waste,
photochemical smog, and sewage. A growing world population stimulates
increases in agriculture, urbanization, and industrialization.
These processes expand demands on water resources, resulting in
unintended environmental consequences that can alter water quality
and quantity.
Understanding
global interdependence begins with an understanding of global
dependence - the modification of Earth's surface to meet human
needs. When successful the relationship between people and the
physical environment is adaptive; when the modifications are excessive
the relationship is maladaptive. Increasingly, students will be
required to make decisions about relationships between human needs
and the physical environment. They will need to be able to understand
the opportunities and limitations presented by the geographical
context and to set those contexts within the local to global continuum.
Standard 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
No matter
what the spatial scale, Earth's surface presents a picture of
physical diversity in terms of soils, climates, vegetation, and
topography. That diversity offers a range of environmental contexts
for people. The geographically informed person must understand
how humans are able to live in various kinds of physical environments
- not only those of the familiar mid-latitudes but also those
that seem less conducive to intensive settlement such as the Arctic
tundra and the Equatorial rain forest - and the role physical
features of those environments play in shaping human activities.
To live in
any given physical environment humans must develop patterns of
spatial organization, which take advantage of opportunities offered
and avoid or minimize the effects of limitations. Physical systems
and environmental characteristics do not, by themselves, determine
the pattern of human activity. If the incentives are great enough
settlement is possible, although at great cost and risk. The trans-Alaska
oil pipeline and construction techniques used in tundra-area settlements
are evidence of the extent of human ingenuity. However, the environment
does place limitations on human societies (e.g., a glaciated region
with its complex of features - thin, rocky water-logged soils
and unique landforms - offers few opportunities for commercial
agriculture).
A central
concept is the idea of carrying capacity - the maximum, sustained
level of use of an environment that is possible without incurring
significant environmental destruction. Environments vary in their
carrying capacity, and people's failure to understand it - or
their inability to live within it - can lead to environmental
disaster. Cyclical environmental change, especially in semiarid
environments, can pose particular problems for human use of that
environment and can lead to desertification, famine, and mass
migration, as has occurred in the Sahel of north-central Africa.
The relationship between any environment and its inhabitants is
mediated by decisions about how much to consume and in what ways
to consume. Energy conservation, water conservation, and recycling
can have significant effects on patterns of environmental use.
In modern
times human have used technology as a means of reducing the potential
effect of physical systems on human activity. In the United States,
for example, the wide-spread introduction of air-conditioning
has allowed people to relocate to the South and Southwest, regions
previously considered less suited to settlement. And in various
regions of Earth, use of the airplane has made it possible to
establish settlements and industries in hitherto inaccessible
places. However, the use of technology to overcome physical impediments
to human activity can also have wide-ranging and sometimes unexpected
consequences. For instance, the attempt to control rivers by building
dams and dredging waterways to prevent destructive and life-threatening
floods can also lead to diminished soil replenishment, increased
water salinity, reduced flow of sediment to oceans, and increased
riverbank erosion.
In addition
to carrying-capacity limitations, the physical environment often
imposes significant costs on human society. Natural hazards are
defined as processes or events in the physical environment that
are not caused by humans but whose consequences can be harmful.
They cost the United States billions of dollars each year. Hurricanes,
earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, storms, floods, forest fires,
and insect infestations are events that are not preventable and
whose precise location, timing, and magnitude are not predictable.
Their negative consequences can be reduced by understanding the
potential vulnerability of different groups of people and by implementing
a variety of strategies such as improved building design, land-use
regulation, warning systems, and public education.
Whether the
issue is the mitigation of a natural hazard or recognition of
carrying capacity, students need to understand the characteristics
and spatial properties of the physical environment. It is essential
that they be able to translate an understanding of the physical
processes and patterns that shape Earth's surface into a picture
of that surface as a potential home for people. That home can
hold only so many people or be used only in certain ways without
incurring costs. Judgment as to the acceptability of those costs
requires an understanding of environmental opportunities and constraints.
The above
material is from Geograpy for Life: The National Geography Standards,
1994. The Geography Education Standards Project.
© 1994 National Geographic Societly, Wahington, D.C.
Reprinted with the permission of the National Goeographic Society.
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