Oklahoma Academic Standard 2. The student will examine Oklahoma’s geography and how people of Oklahoma interact with their environment.

Objective 2.2 Examine Oklahoma’s political and physical features. 
C.  Summarize how the weather and the environment have impacted the economy of Oklahoma in events such as the Dust Bowl, floods, and tornadoes.

D. Summarize how Oklahomans affect and change their environments such as the construction of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, creation of recreational lakes by the building of dams, irrigation of croplands, and the establishment of wildlife refuges.       

In a Nutshell

This objective focuses on the unique location of our state and how it contributes to a wide range of weather and climate conditions which impact the lives of people and have affected our state’s progress. Students should also examine how Oklahomans have altered the physical landscape in order to utilize and protect resources for the development of expanded economic opportunities. 

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Provide students with frequent opportunities to ask and respond to enduring essential questions of common concerns to the student, related to the use of natural resources of the community and the state. 

• Assist students to describe how the physical environment impacts our daily lives and affects human activities in the past and present. 

• Identify and describe how humans adapt to their physical environment, using historic examples to illustrate how humans react to weather-related events and challenges. 

• Identify and describe how humans modify their physical environment.

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• weather, natural disaster, irrigation, refuge, environmental factors, floods, drought, winds

• Some students may have prior knowledge of historic events, such as the Dust Bowl, but the standard does not require an extensive examination of the causes for the extended drought that created the Dust Bowl. Historic examples are intended as concrete illustrations to establish an understanding that humans have always adapted to their environment or have chosen to modify it for their survival and growth.

Instructional Resources