Oklahoma Academic Standard 2. The student will analyze the physical systems of the major regions of the Western Hemisphere.

Objectives:

6.2.1  Use visual information to identify and describe on a physical map the landforms, bodies of water, climate, and vegetation zones that are important to each region.

6.2.2  Explain how the processes and factors of latitude, elevation, Earth-Sun relationships, prevailing  winds, and proximity to bodies of water influence climate. 

In a Nutshell

In order to understand the more complex content of geography it is important to establish a set of basic geographic knowledge and concepts. The Earth’s physical geography has a major influence on the life of individuals; therefore, knowledge of the relative location of major physical features and the natural processes that influence weather and climate are tantamount to geographic study.

Teacher Action 

Student Action 

• Assist students in using various mapping techniques and data visuals to create and analyze spatial patterns of environmental characteristics in the Western Hemisphere.

• Assist students in making connections between spatial patterns of physical and human features of earth’s surface by interpreting satellite images. 

• Integrate use of visual information (maps) with textual information from primary and secondary sources to identify on a physical map or globe a region's major landforms and bodies of water. 

• Describe multiple factors that influence the distribution of major renewable and nonrenewable resources of a region.   

Key Concepts 

Misconceptions 

• major types of landforms, including mountain, peninsula, desert, isthmus, hills, plateau, plain, canyon, valley, basin, trench

• major types of water bodies, including gulf, aquifer, fjord, river, tributary, sea, ocean, straight, lake

• climate and vegetation zones, including polar, tundra, boreal forest, temperate forest, mediterranean, desert, dry grassland, tropical grassland tropical rainforest

• climate, weather, precipitation, prevailing winds, factors impacting climate, including elevation and distance from large bodies of water or the Equator

• Most students will possess prior knowledge from previous social studies coursework and will not require an extensive review of the basic types of landforms and bodies of water. However, grade 6 geography requires students to go beyond identification of types to the analysis of how such landforms and bodies of water were formed and can change due to natural processes or human actions.

Instructional Resources