Geography and Disciplinary Literacy in Elementary Classrooms
Standard Description
How to use maps and
other geographic
representations, geospatial
technologies, and spatial
thinking to understand and
communicate information
How to use mental
maps to organize
information about
people, places, and
environments in a
spatial context
How to analyze the spatial
organization of people,
places, and environments
on Earth's surface
The physical and
human characteristics
of places
The World in Spatial Terms
Theme
Disciplinary Literacy: Activity summaries
Properties and Functions of Identify and describe the properties and functions of
Geographic
maps students collect from magazines, news articles,
Representations
and tourist brochures.
Identify and describe the
properties (position and
orientation, symbols, scale,
perspective, coordinate
systems) and functions of
geographic representations.
Using Mental Maps
Identify from memory with
increasing detail maps of a
place or region
Spatial Concepts
The meaning and use of
fundamental spatial
concepts such as location,
distance, direction, scale,
movement, region, and
volume
Places to Visit in My State
Read informational text that includes major cities
and tourist sites in the state. Informational brochures
from state visitor centers are real world examples.
Use maps and information to write and draw a trifold brochure foldable to show places to visit in the
state.
Mental maps are used to answer geographic
questions about locations and characteristics of
places and regions.
Use Google Earth to illustrate areas of the local
community to develop understanding of mental
maps. Students can find their home and school.
Following the technology lesson, students will write
directions to their home from school.
Describe and explain the spatial organization of
people, places, and environments (where things are
in relation to other things) using spatial concepts.
Map it Out
Read a story that focuses on different locations in the
plot, such as Amelia’s Fantastic Flight by Rose
Bursik. Students will trace Amelia’s journey on a
world map by labeling all of Amelia’s stops.
Places and Regions
The Characteristics of
Describe and compare the human characteristics of
Places
places at a variety of scales, local to global.
Places have physical and
human characteristics
Read the informational text If You Lived Here:
Houses of the World by Giles Loroche. In this book,
students learn about homes from around the world.
Students will learn how the physical characteristics
of the place affect home construction. Students will
locate the places mentioned in the story on a world
map. To demonstrate learning, students will choose
a place in the world where they would want to live.
In the writing prompt, students will write about the
kind of house they would need to build for the
location that they have chosen.
That people create regions
to interpret Earth's
complexity
How culture and
experience influence
people's perceptions of
places and regions
The physical processes
that shape the patterns of
Earth's surface
The characteristics and
spatial distribution of
ecosystems and biomes on
Earth's surface
The Concept of Region
Regions are areas of
Earth’s surface with
unifying physical and/or
human characteristics
Read informational text about landform regions in
the state. Informational text can be found online or
in the social studies textbook. Label a map of the
state to show different landform regions. Using a
map for structure, phrases and words are used to
describe each region.
The Perception of Places
and Regions
Describe how people view places in their community
differently.
Google Earth
Use Google Earth to locate well-known places in the
People can have different
community. Students will work with a partner to
views of the same places
discuss each place. Students will complete a graphic
and regions
organizer to write and share their perceptions of the
place.
Physical Systems
Components of Earth’s
Identify attributes of Earth's different physical
Physical Systems
systems.
There are four components
of Earth's physical systems
(the atmosphere, biosphere,
hydrosphere, and
lithosphere)
Read the informational text One Well: The Story of
Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss. As a read aloud,
this book will take several sessions to cover the
entire book. Students will a summary of what they
have learned from reading the book.
Characteristics and
Geographic Distribution of
Biomes
Describe the characteristics of biomes.
The characteristics of
biomes
The characteristics,
distribution, and migration
of human populations on
Earth's surface
Describe the distinguishing characteristics and
meanings of several different regions.
Use the interactive NASA website
http://www.arthobservatory.nasa.gov/Experiments/B
iome/
To investigate earth’s biomes. Working in the
computer lab, students will test their knowledge of
biomes and ecosystems. Along with this computer
activity, students will compete a graphic organizer to
organize information to describe each biome.
Human Systems
Characteristics of
Describe and compare the demographic
Population
characteristics of people in the local area.
Use the census bureau website
https://www.census.gov/schools/facts/
Demographic
characteristics can be used
to describe a population
Divide the class into small groups. Assign each
group a state to investigate and report on the
demographic data.
The characteristics,
distribution, and
complexity of Earth's
cultural mosaics
Cultural Diffusion and
Change
Cultures change and
diffuse in multiple ways
The patterns and networks Location and Spatial
of economic
Patterns of Economic
interdependence on Earth's Activities
surface
Some locations are better
suited than others to
provide certain goods and
services
The processes,
patterns, and functions
of human settlement
How the forces of
cooperation and conflict
among people influence
the division and control of
Earth's surface
Patterns of Settlement
There are different types of
settlements
Cooperation
The role cooperation has in
managing Earth’s surface
Describe examples of the spread of a culture.
Why do we eat pizza?
Read informational text to investigate how foods
such as pizza and bagels entered American culture.
A sample can be found at this website.
http://constitutioncenter.org/media/files/CK130001_
CivicsKids-2013-PAGES-FNL-Lesson1.pdf
Students will read and report their findings. Label a
world map to identify the country where the listed
food came from.
Identify where goods and services are produced and
consumed.
Where do groceries come from?
To prepare for this lesson, food packaging will be
saved for a small group activity. Students will read
the packing information on the labels to locate where
the product came from. Students will sort the food
containers by region of the country that they
originated. Working in small groups, students will
analyze where the food came from.
Compare and explain the different types of
settlements in the local region and the United States.
Google Earth: Rural, Urban and Suburban
Use Google Earth to teach students the difference
between rural, suburban and urban settlements.
Working in small groups, students will compare the
patterns of settlement in an assigned city. Students
will investigate their city and report to the whole
class in an oral presentation.
Describe how communities and states cooperate in
providing relief efforts during and after natural
disasters (e.g., donations of money and food aid,
sending medical teams and supplies, construction
workers and equipment).
Anticipation Guides and World News
Use news of a natural disaster to develop an
understanding of cooperation in the world. Time for
Kids http://www.timeforkids.com/ post news stories
for the elementary reader that include stories from
around the world. Stories of cooperation come from
natural disasters or political unrest. Use an
anticipation guide to engage the students in thinking
about their perceptions before and after they read the
news story.
How human actions
modify the physical
environment
How physical systems
affect human systems
Environment and Society
Consequences for People
Identify and describe examples of how human
and Environments
activities impact the physical environment.
Literature Circles: The Dust Bowl
Use literature circles to learn about the Dust Bowl.
Each group will work together to learn about the
The consequences of
human modifications of the causes and effects of the Dust Bowl. Use a graphic
organizer to prepare a report on the book that they
physical environment
read.
Adaptation to the
Describe how people adapt to conditions of the
Environment
physical environment
People adapt to the
conditions of the physical
environment
The changes that occur in
the meaning, use,
distribution, and
importance of resources
How to apply
geography to interpret
the past
Types and Meanings of
Resources
All Kinds of Transportation in the World
Use online resources to investigate different places
in the world. Select of group of world cities with
different environments such as Venice, Greece,
Alaska, Florida for the students to investigate using
informational texts. Each group will report of the
transportation that is needed in their assigned city.
Identify and explain the characteristics of renewable,
nonrenewable, and flow resources.
All About Resources: A Class Newspaper
Students will use informational text and work in
small groups to investigate types of resources.
Students will work together to make entries to a
class newspaper that will be distributed in the school
and sent home to parents.
The Uses of Geography
Using Geography to
Describe the geographic context of famous events in
Interpret the Past
US history using maps and narrative accounts.
The characteristics of
renewable, nonrenewable,
and flow resources
Geographic contexts (the
human and physical
characteristics of places
and environments) are the
settings for events in the
past
How to apply geography
Perceptions of Geographic
to interpret the present and Contexts
plan for the future
People’s perceptions of the
world—places, regions,
and environments—are
constantly changing
The Boston Tea Party
Use maps and informational text to describe the
events of the Boston Teac Party. The writing
prompt should include the perspectives of the
Loyalist and Patriots. Use a Venn Diagram to
organize the write to compare and contrast different
views.
Explain how people’s perceptions of the world can
change with new information and new experiences,
Read the book Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of
Afghanistan by Tony O’Brien and Mike Sullivan.
Locate Afghanistan on a world map. Discuss current
events in Afghanistan. Using a random drawing,
groups will select a student to report on in a whole
group meeting.