NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS

The goal of the National Geography Standards is to produce a geographically informed person who sees meaning in the arrangement of things in space and applies a spatial perspective to life situations. The geographically informed person knows and understands:

The World in Spatial Terms

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

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

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

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

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

17. How to apply geography to interpret the past

18. How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future

These standards were taken from: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/education/standardslist.html

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