Geography enables the student to see, understand and
appreciate the web of relationships between people, places,
and environments. The student will use the knowledge,
skills, and understanding of concepts within the six
essential elements of geography: world in spatial terms,
places and regions, physical systems, human systems,
environment and society, and the use of geography.
Social Studies Resources
Best Activities
Games & Lessons
Glencoe Social Studies
Harcourt Brace Social Studies
High School Social Studies
Holt Reinhart Winston Social Studies
Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Houghton Mifflin We the People
Interactive Websites
McGraw Hill Social Studies
Middle School Social Studies
Presentations
Schedule
Scott Foresman Social Studies
Science Games
Social Studies Presentations
Social Studies Web Resources
Teachers
TN Social Studies Curriculum Framework
Word Game Boards
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.
TOP
First
Grade
I
Recognize that maps and
globes are representations or models of specific places.
D
Locate their home,
neighborhood, and school on a visual representation.
I
Use map symbols and
legends to identify locations and directions.
I
Interpret symbols that
represent various forms of geographic data and use these
symbols to identify locations and directions.
I
Define what cardinal
directions are.
I
Locate places using
cardinal directions on maps and globes.
I
Locate cities, states,
countries, continents, and major bodies of water on maps
and globes.
D
Describe the concept of
human features as in cities, buildings, farms, roads,
and railroads.
D
Locate and name the places
in school and the neighborhood.
I
Identify the geographic
location of the
United States and Tennessee on a
globe and a map.
D
Estimate distances such as
from home to school.
D
Explain how land is used
for different tasks in the local area.
D
Define natural resources
and explain how people are dependent on them.
D
Compare and contrast
natural and artificial features of the earth.
I
Describe what weather is.
TOP
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
Explore With Pumpkins
I
Recognize that a map contains
elements such as title, scale, symbols, legends, grids, and
cardinal and intermediate directions.
What’s on A Map
A Map of Your Community
Map Reading
Reading Maps
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
TOP
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
Learning Directions on a Map
Longitude and Latitude
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
What is a Desert?
Types of land
Label land forms
Encyclopedia of Physical Features
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
Pollution
A
Differentiate the cultural
population distribution in the United States using a bar
graph.
TOP
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
Explorer Jeopardy Game
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
National Geographic
USA Latitude and Longitude Worksheet
Latitude & Longitude Lookup!
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
PBS-Flood
Tramline- Virtual Field trip to a Volcano
Land and Formation Activity
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
Fred the Fish
TOP
Fifth Grade
D
Locate the major physical features and cities of the United
States on a map or globe.
Graphic maps
A
Locate the 50 states using a
map with each state outlined.
The 50 Nifty States
Identify the state’s location.
Locating one of the 50 states
Timed States quiz
Interactive U.S. Geography Activities
GeoSpy
A
Locate
continents and significant bodies of water (i.e., the Great
Lakes, Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans, Columbia,
Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande, Ohio, Tennessee, St.
Lawrence and Mississippi Rivers).
Continents
United States Geography
Locate continents and oceans
Major rivers
A
Locate information from an
atlas entry.
National Atlas.gov
Children's Atlas
Online atlas
A
Locate a major United States
city using latitude and longitude.
Xpeditions Lesson Plan
Locate a major city or your home address using latitude and
longitude
Latitude and Longitude
D
Understand the latitude,
longitude, the global grid and time zones of sites within
the United States and Tennessee.
D
Recognize landforms,
climate, and natural resources as determining factors in the
location and development of communities.
A