Social Studies Curriculum

One

“The world as flat” (Identity)

American un-exceptionalism

N/A

1. What does the term, “niggerized”, mean?

2. To what extent is “niggerization” a universal experience and evidence that the world is flat?

3. What is the evidence of “niggerization” throughout U.S. history and world history?

4. How is New York City a microcosm for examining the themes of geography?

1. Read Cornel West interview to develop definition of “niggerization”

2. Watch Democracy Now show on September 11th’s throughout the world and identify instances of “niggerization” in US and world histories

ü Identify 9/11 events on map

ü Identify 9/11 memorials in studied countries

ü Craft letter to mayor, governor, and president advocating commemoration of 9/11 as universal event

4. Field trip- Visit to the 9/11 memorial or United Nations

1. cosmopolitanism/the world as flat

2. “niggerization”

3. Salvador Allende

4. Augusto Pinchot

5. Myra Mack

6. Stephen Biko

7. Attica prisoners

8. Geographical themes (adaptation to physical environment, populations, disasters, urbanization, globalization, sustainable living/development)

Two

Introducing geographical concepts

1. The tools of geography

2. Seeing the world like a geographer

3. Relative and Absolute location: What makes Australia Unique?

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 33

1. How do geographers show information on maps?

2. Why do geographers use a variety of maps to represent the maps?

3. How does a country’s location shape life within its borders?

1. Create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, label various maps, create map of the classroom

2. Design advertisement that encourages people to move to your city, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, create poem about country of choice

3. Describe Australia, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, identify and draw various aspects of city affected by its location

4. Project-

5. Field trip- Visit to the United Nations/embassy

1. absolute/relative location, distortion, map projection

2. climate, economic activity, landform, physical feature, population density, region, thematic map, vegetation

3. continental drift theory, endangered/ exotic/native/threatened species

Three

Adaptation to physical environments (Tools)

1. Settlement patterns & Ways of Life in Canada

2. Life in the Central Andes: Adapting to a Mountainous Region

3. The Nile River: A Journey from Source to Mouth

4. Life in the Sahara and the Sahel: Adapting to a Desert Region

5. Mount Everest: Climbing the World’s tallest physical feature

6. The Pacific Islands: Adapting to Life Surrounded by Ocean

1. Chapter 3

2. Chapter 13

3. Chapter 19

4. Chapter 20

5. Chapter 29

6. Chapter 34

1. How does where you live influence how you live?

2. How do people adapt to living in a mountainous region?

3. How do rivers change as they flow across Earth’s surface?

4. How do people adapt to living in a desert region?

5. How can people both experience and protect the world’s special place?

6. How do people adapt to life in an island region?

1. Create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, describe aspects of life about the Canada’s regions, identify three examples that show that where you live influences how you live

2. List/draw 6 things you do everyday, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, record elevation range and its characteristics, explain human adaptation to living in mountainous region, compare mountainous region similar to Andes

3. Identify 5 details on Nile River, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, make drawing and write caption of 10 features of river, create questions about Nile and answer them

4. List/draw 6 things you do everyday, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, answer questions on desert, sahel, and oasis, draw ideas about how people adapt to their environment

5. Identify place you would want to visit and why, and identify clothing supplies you would need, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete worksheet on Mount Everest, write four journal entries that reflect on climbing Mount Everest

6. Answer questions on satellite image of Pacific Islands, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete notes on Pacific Islands, compare three types of islands using Venn diagram

7. Project- How does geography influence the names we are given? What are the connections between names and places?

1. Plural society, urban, rural, ecumene

2. Altitudinal zonation, snow line, terracing, tree line, vertical trade

3. Hydroelectric potential, perennial irrigation, river basin, water cycle

4. Desertification, drought, marginal land, pastoral nomads

5. Acclimatize, carrying capacity, exposure, World Heritage Site

6. Atoll, continental island, lagoon, volcanic island

Four

Disasters

1. Dealing with Extreme Weather: Hurricanes in the Caribbean

2. Invisible Borders: Transboundary Pollution in Europe

3. Waiting for the rains: The effects of monsoons in South Asia

4. Antarctica: Researching Global Warming at the coldest place on Earth

1. Chapter 11

2. Chapter 16

3. Chapter 27

4. Chapter 35

1. What causes extreme weather and how do people deal with it?

2. How can one country’s pollution become another country’s problem?

3. How does climate influence human activity in a region?

4. How might global warming affect the environment in the world’s coldest places?

1. Draw and label map of Caribbean, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, create pamphlet for Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management

2. Create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes

3. Answer questions on the climagraph of Mumbai, India, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, complete chart on your city’s monthly rainfall amounts and temperature, graph data, and answer questions

4. Identify fact/exaggeration of Antartica’s climate, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes

5. Project- Identify places in Manhattan that is most vulnerable to a natural disaster such as hurricane. Visit sites and take pictures/video footage. How can we integrate this information within the school’s emergency protocol?

1. El Nino, extreme weather, meteorology, natural disaster, tropical cyclone

2. Acid rain, nuclear radiation, river system, transboundary pollution

3. Atmospheric pressure, monsoon, orographic effect, rain shadow

4. Biome, global warming, greenhouse effect, ice shelf

Five

Urbanization (Aesthetics)

1. Urban Sprawl in North America: Where will it end?

2. Spatial Inequality in Mexico: From Cardboard to Castles

3. Istanbul: A Primate City throughout History

1. Chapter 5

2. Chapter 9

3. Chapter 25

1. How does urban sprawl affect people and the planet?

2. Why does spatial inequality exist in urban areas?

3. Where are primate cities located, and why are they important?

1. Brainstorm how Phoenix, AZ might be affected as it grows larger, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, create diagram of where you live

2. Draw and label some main features of city you know or recently visited, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes

3. Create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, determine if your state has a primate city

4. Project- Identify places in Manhattan where construction is taking place

5. Field trip- Visit to the Museum of the City of New York on urban planning in NY

1. Metropolitan, rural fringe, suburb, urban core, urban fringe, urban sprawl

2. Rural decline, spatial inequality, standard of living, urbanization

3. Capital city, primate city, site, situation

Six

Populations (Diversity)

1. Population Dilemmas in Europe

2. Micro-entrepreneurs: Women’s role in the development of Africa

3. Nigeria: A Country of Many Cultures

4. China: The world’s most populous country

5. Population density in Japan: Life in a crowded country

1. Chapter 15

2. Chapter 21

3. Chapter 22

4. Chapter 30

5. Chapter 31

1. How do population trends affect a country’s future?

2. How are women micro-entrepreneurs in developing countries changing their communities?

3. How can dividing a diverse country into regions make it easier to understand?

4. How does a country meet the challenges created by a large and growing population?

5. How does population density affect the way people live?

1. Determine what people might look like in Lawrence, KS, Yuma, AZ, Jacksonville, NC, and Punta Gorda, FL look like?, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, answer questions on US population from 1950 through 2050

2. Examine picture of woman from Benin and answer questions with partner, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes

3. Analyze map for best way to divide Nigeria into three regions, create illustrated dictionary of the geoterms, complete reading notes, design home page for educational website about regions of Nigeria

4. Create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, create reading notes, create demographic profile of the country with rapidly growing population

5. Use map of Japan to identify five facts, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, conduct study of how population density affects city life

6. Project- Identify stores that demonstrate ethnic diversity (Latino, Chinese, African)

1. Demography, dependency ratio, life expectancy, replacement rate, total fertility rate

2. Gender-based division of labor, informal economy, micro-enterprise, micro-entrepreneur

3. Colonialism, cultural region, ethnic diversity, linguistic group

4. Doubling time, famine, rate of natural increase, zero population growth

5. Arable land, arithmetic population density, physiologic population density, population distribution

Seven

Globalization (Contact)

1. Consumption Patterns in the United States: The Impact of Living Well

2. Migration to the United States: The Impact on People and Places

3. The Global Sneaker: From Asia to Everywhere

4. Tech Workers and time zones: India’s comparative advantage

1. Chapter 7

2. Chapter 8

3. Chapter 28

4. Chapter 32

1. How do American consumption affect people & the planet?

2. How does migration affect the lives of people and the character of places?

3. What is globalization, and how does it affect people and places?

4. What factors give some countries a comparative advantage in the global IT revolution?

1. Complete illustrated dictionary of geoterms, create reading notes, create political cartoon of what might happen to the world if consumer class continues to grow

2. Use map to identify where someone you know moved from and to, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, interview immigrant

3. Use map to identify workers around the world, average English skill of workers, and average annual salaries of IT programmers, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms

4. Inspect labels on your clothes and others items and list the country where it was made, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, identify 20 items from home and the country it was made

5. Project-

1. Consumption, developed, developing, GDP, per capita

2. Emigrate, immigrate, migration stream, pull factor, push factor, refugee

3. Economic interdependence, free trade, globalization, multinational corporation

4. Comparative advantage, information technology, outsource, time zone

Eight

Sustainable living/ development (Sustainability)

1. The Great Lakes: U.S. and Canada’s Freshwater Treasures

2. National Parks: Saving the Natural Heritage of the US and Canada

3. Indigenous Cultures: The Survival of the Maya of Mesoamerica

4. Land Use Conflict in the Amazon Rainforest

5. Resources and Power in Post-Apartheid South Africa

6. Oil in Southwest Asia: How “Black Gold” has shaped a region

7. The Aral Sea: Central Asia’s shrinking water source

1. Chapter 4

2. Chapter 6

3. Chapter 10

4. Chapter 12

5. Chapter 23

6. Chapter 24

7. Chapter 26

1. How does where you live influence how you live?

2. What features make national parks special and worth preserving?

3. How do indigenous peoples preserve their traditional culture while adapting to modern life?

4. How should the resources of rainforests be used and preserved?

5. How might ethnic group differences affect who controls resources and power in society?

6. How might having a valuable resource affect a region?

7. How are humans affected by changes they make to their physical environment?

1. Answer questions on Great Lakes, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, label Great Lakes ecosystem and identity positives and negatives

2. Complete elevation profile of Grand Canyon National Park, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, create poster to let people know about dangers to national parks in North America

3. Examine photograph and answer questions, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, complete illustration of Maya family

4. Determine what family should do with several square miles of land, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, write letter to Brazilian gov’t explaining your ideas about how to best preserve and use the resources of the Amazon rainforest

5. List 5 ways life would be if gov’t took rights of people in your ethnic group, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, find evidence that help determine whether statement is true or false, use rating scale to determine if South Africa has made progress in political, job, educational, and living opportunities

6. Identify 3 ways oil might affect Southwest Asia, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, on map, use rating scale to rank Southwest Asia’s countries according to size of proven oil reserves and human development index (HDI), identify OPEC members and contributors to Persian Gulf War, use geoterms to explain how oil has affected at least countries in Southwest Asia

7. Examine image and answer questions, create illustrated dictionary of geoterms, complete reading notes, determine where water in your home comes from

8. Project- Identify farmers’ markets and supermarkets in Manhattan, where farmers are located in NY. Identify patterns. Use variables to determine sustainability

1. Ecosystem, food chain, food web, freshwater, watershed

2. Conservationist, fauna, flora, topographic map

3. Adaptation, indigenous peoples, subsistence farming, traditional culture

4. Biodiversity, carbon-oxygen cycle, deforestation, sustainable development, tropical rainforest

5. Apartheid, distribution, multiracial, segregation

6. Crude oil, nonrenewable resource, oil reserves, renewable resources

7. Environmental degradation, groundwater, salinization, water stress