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• This slideshow was created to accompany the Geography Basics interactive notebook & response journal set.
• The slideshow serves as explicit instruction, and you will find questions embedded on several pages.
• Consider using different questioning strategies! For tougher questions, allow students to talk to their group before you use equity sticks to call for answers. This gives those who may struggle an opportunity to think through the question and get ideas from peers. For easy questions, you might have students use dry erase boards and markers to respond.
• It’s always a good idea to require students to restate the question before answering and to refer to the source on the page. This prepares them for writing tasks.
• In the top left corner of several pages, there will be references to corresponding notebook pages. See that document for tips and photos of an actual notebook.
©Angela Oquin, 2018

A Note About Response Journal Prompts
• The response journal prompts found in the units I create are based on the “big ideas” in social studies. It is very important that students are provided the time to write at least a paragraph for each prompt and that they are held accountable for the work.
• You can use whatever rubric your district/school requires. I provide a RACE writing rubric because it helps remind students how to completely answer a question, it is simple, and it can easily be cut and glued into the journals or onto their papers.
• I designed the prompts to go in the journals, but of course they don’t have to. You could easily ask students to glue the prompt onto loose leaf paper so you can add them to writing portfolios.
• Consider asking students to draw a line under their writing before you have a class discussion about it or before you review it. This way, students can correct their misconceptions simply by rewriting under the line. Students learn a lot from mistakes, so it helps to encourage them to leave the incorrect responses, but maybe draw a single diagonal line across them before rewriting. They need to make the corrections, though!
©Angela Oquin, 2018

Blue Marble, NASA, 1972, http://nsssfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/a17_h_148_22727.html
Earth: The Water Planet
• About 75% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water.
• As you learn about the history of the United States this year, you will see just how big a role the Earth’s oceans, rivers, and other water sources played in the development of this nation!

Notebook
Page A
Pacific
Ocean
Arctic Ocean
Atlantic
Ocean
Indian
Ocean
Southern Ocean
Pacific
Ocean

The Seven Continents
• Among all of that water, we find seven continents and many, many islands.
• What makes a continent different from an island?

Notebook
Page A
North
America
Europe
Africa
Asia
South
America
Australia
Antarctica

Exploration
• People learned how to navigate the oceans to get from one continent to another thousands of years ago!
• If you were exploring an ocean or new land for the first time, what might your captain or leader need to know?

Notebook
Page B
Abraham Cresques, 1375, Bibliotheque national de France
The Compass Rose
• The compass rose to the left was created by cartographer
Abraham Cresques of Majorca in 1375.
• Make Predictions Based on a Source!
• What do you think a cartographer is?
• What do you think a compass rose is used for?

Notebook
Page B
What direction would we go in if we sailed from…
1. Australia to Asia?
2. Asia to Europe?
3. Europe to North America?
4. Europe to Africa?
5. Africa to Antarctica?
6. Antarctica to South America?
7. South America to North America?
8. North America to Asia?

Notebook
Page C
The Prime Meridian is an imaginary line that separates the
Eastern Hemisphere from the Western Hemisphere.
• Is Australia located in the
Eastern or
Western
Hemisphere?
• What about
North
America?

Notebook
Page D
Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere

Equator Marker in Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
Make Predictions Based on a Source!
• The Democratic Republic of São
Tomé and Príncipe is an island.
Which continent do you think this island is near? Why?
• What do you think the weather is like in lands near the equator?
Why?

Lines of Latitude Lines of Longitude

Portion of a Map by Nicolaus Germanus, 1481
Notice the lines of longitude.
• Do you see the numbers at the bottom of the map?
• What do you think the numbers are used for?

Notebook
Page E
We Use Coordinates to Locate a Specific Point on the Map!
B
E
A
D
C
F
E E E E
What are the coordinates for the red dots?

Most maps have a legend that will give you important information to help you understand what you might see depicted.
Always check the legend when you analyze a map!
Who do you think might use the map containing the legend you see to the right?

The original purchaser may:
• Make copies for his/her classroom.
• Retain a digital copy of the original document for future use.
• Share this document with his/her students via Google Classroom, Edmodo, etc.
The purchaser may not:
• Make copies for an entire grade level, school, or school district.
• Share this document via Google Classroom, Edmodo, etc. with anyone who is not a current student.
• Claim this product as his/her own work.
Thank you for following the rules!
©Angela Oquin, 2018

Thank you to the following artists for the clipart and frames: