Kindergarten

I

Explain what a globe and map represent.

I

Use personal directions such as up, down, left, right, near and far to describe relative direction.

I

Locate places in community such as the student’s home and the classroom on the campus.

I

Identify the human characteristics of places such as types of houses and ways of earning a living.

I

Describe how weather impacts daily life.

I

 Describe seasons.

I

Identify the concept of physical features as in mountains, plains, hills, oceans, and islands.

Second Grade

D

Describe how the globe is a model of earth locating hemispheres, poles, and equator.

I

Recognize that natural regions are represented on different types of maps by showing physical features, climate, vegetation, and natural resources.
North Carolina Agriculture Overview

Explore Through Globes

Create A Globe
Landform Notes
World Atlas
Fun with Maps-lesson plan

I

Subdivide the world by positioning the equator, continents, oceans, and hemispheres on a map and globe.

The Equator

Continents

I

Recognize that a map contains elements such as title, scale, symbols, legends, grids, and cardinal and intermediate directions.

What’s on A Map

Map Zone

D

Analyze how individuals and populations depend upon land resources.
Natural Resources :Can we Us Them Forever?

D

Describe the importance of physical geographic features on defining communities.
The Earth’s Rotation

D

Understand the Earth-sun relationship such as the varying length of day.
The Earth’s Orbit

I

Understand the rudimentary elements to the hydrologic cycle.
A Summary of the Hydrologic Cycle
Water Science for Schools
The Water Cycle
Drip, Drop, Water Journey
The Water Cycle - Enchanted Learning

D

List earth’s natural resources such as minerals, air, water, and land.
Natural Resources :Can we Us Them Forever?
Natural Resources

Environmental Kids Club

D

Show how landmasses and bodies of water are represented on maps and globes.
From Sea to Shining Sea
Landforms
Create a globe
u.s. map

D

Locate the state of Tennessee and its major cities on a map.
Geography of Tennessee
State Maps
graphic maps

D

Name the physical and human characteristics of the neighborhood and the community.
Take Off On The Mega Flyover Project
Build a Neighborhood

Kids Neighborhood Workshop

Community Club

Sign Walk
We all live together

Third Grade

I

Show how the spatial elements of point, line, and area are used on a map or globe.

I

Explain the difference between relative and absolute locations.

D

Locate places on a map using cardinal and intermediate directions.

A

Recognize and use a map key.
Making Personalized Map Grids
Mapping a Garden

A

Find a specific location on a school or community map.
A Map of Your Community

A

Use absolute and relative locations to identify places on a map (i.e., north, south, east, west, borders, lines of longitude and latitude, the equator, and the north and south poles.)

Directions: Understanding North, South, East and West

A

Utilize skills to locate a place using cardinal directions and symbols given an appropriate map with a key.
Getting Lost
Making Personalized Map Grids
Create a Compass

A

Determine the climate of a specific region of the world using a map. 
Creative Climates
Regional Climates
Where in the U.S. Would You Want to Live
Regional Climates

D

List the similarities and differences of local places and regions with other places and regions. House Around the World

I

List the basic components of earth’s physical systems (e.g., landforms, water, climate and weather, and erosion and deposition).
Landforms
Landforms II

I

Understand the concept of an ecosystem.

D

Describe how environments and regions differ around the world.

A

Identify the major physical components of the world (i.e., oceans, equator, continents, and hemispheres).
The Earth’s Big Features
Tropical Rainforest Cluster

A

Identify basic components of earth’s systems (i.e., landforms, water, climate, and weather). 
The Earth’s Big Features

A

Differentiate the distinguishing characteristics of ecosystems (i.e., deserts, grasslands, and rainforests). 
Ecosystems

A

Recognize the identifying characteristics of certain geographic features (i.e., peninsula, islands, continents, mountains, rivers, deserts, oceans, and forests).

NASA Landformations: Deserts

I

Understand how technology allows people to adapt the environment to meet their needs.

D

Locate the major cities of Tennessee and the world on a map or globe.

I

Describe the concept of formal (uniform) regions.

I

Define the characteristics that comprise a region.

I

Explain how change affects region and place over time.

I

Show the population distribution of the state and country.
United States

D

Differentiate between urban, suburban, and rural regions.

A

Recognize some of the major components of a culture (i.e., language, clothing, food, art, and music).
Peace Corps Kids World
Culture Quest World Tour
Global Trek
Friends and Flags Global Chain
Culture Quest

A

Determine similarities and differences in the ways different cultural groups address basic human needs (i.e., food, water, clothing, and shelter) by interpreting pictures.
Culture Quest

A

Interpret a chart or map identifying major cultural groups of the world. 
Cultural Connection: The Tapestry of Life
Culture Quest

A

Recognize major global concerns (i.e., pollution, conservation of natural resources, global warming, and destruction of rainforest).
Global Warming: Kids Site
Save Our Seas
Rainforest Education
Polluted Runoff

Virtual Field Trip--Pollution

A

Differentiate the cultural population distribution in the United States using a bar graph. 

Fourth Grade

D

Locate major countries of the world involved in early American Development on a map or globe.
MapZone 
Continents & Oceans Interactive Quiz

D

Locate places on a map using cardinal and intermediate directions, latitude and longitude, and time zones.

D

Locate the routes of early explorers of North America on a map.

Explorer PowerPoint

A

Identify and use key geographical features on maps (i.e., mountains, rivers, plains, valleys, and forests).

Plains and Mountains
Visions of Earth-Landforms
Mapping It Out (PowerPoint)

A

Identify on a map the routes of Americas’ explorers (i.e., Columbus, Balboa, Pizarro, and Desoto). Enchanted Learning-Routes

A

Use latitude and longitude to identify major North American cities on a map (i.e., Boston, Mexico City, Toronto, Charleston, Savannah, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Sante Fe, and Los Angeles).

Latitude and Longitude Lesson

Boat Safe Kids-Introduction

I

Explain how physical and human characteristics of places and regions within the state and the United States developed.

A

Recognize the reasons settlements are founded on major river systems. (i.e., transportation, manmade boundaries, and food and water sources).
Rivers- the basics
Rivers & Coasts

A

Determine how physical processes shape the United States' features and patterns (i.e., erosion, volcanoes, plate tectonics, and flooding).

National Geographic-Forces of Nature

Plate Techtonics

I

Explain how the major river systems affected the development of early settlements.

A

Recognize river systems that impacted early American history (i.e., Mississippi, Mystic, Charles, and Hudson).
Mississippi River

I

Explain how physical processes shape the United States’ features and patterns.

I

Understand the differences in early population characteristics of the state and of the United States such as density, distribution, and growth rates.

A

Determine how density, distribution, and growth rate affected United States settlement patterns.

Human Population: Fundamentals of Growth-Population Growth and Distribution

D

Describe how geography affected the development of transportation and communication networks.

I

Explain the influences of physical and human features on historical events.

I

Explain how the patterns and processes of migration affect the development of Tennessee.

I

Explain how environmental issues such as water supply, air quality, and solid waste confronted humans when settling Tennessee.

A

Identify cause and effect relationships between population distribution and environmental issues (i.e., water supply, air quality, and solid waste).

Environment and Society