Reporting Category RC 1: History, Government and Citizenship Standard WG.1 History. The student understands how geography and processes of spatial exchange (diffusion) influenced events in the past and helped to shape the present. The student is WG.1A analyze the effects of physical and human geographic patterns and processes on the past and describe their impact on the present, including significant physical features and environmental conditions that influenced migration patterns and shaped the distribution of culture groups today 1. How does the colonial history of Latin America impact its culture today? 2. How did the slave trade affect the distribution of culture groups in Latin America? 3. How does the physical geography of a continent influence political borders? # of Possible Questions WG.1B trace the spatial diffusion of phenomena such as the Columbian Exchange or the diffusion of American popular culture and describe the effects on regions of contact. 4. What were the negative impacts of the Columbian Exchange on the Americas? 5. How has diffusion of American popular culture impacted other regions of the world? 0-2 WG.13 Government. The student understands the spatial characteristics of a variety of global political units. The student is WG.13B compare maps of voting patterns or political boundaries to make inferences about the distribution of political power. 6. How are political maps used to make inferences about the distribution of political power? WG.14 Government. The student understands the processes that influence political divisions, relationships, and policies. The student is 1
WG.14B compare how democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, republic, theocracy, and totalitarian systems operate in specific countries WG.14C analyze the human and physical factors that influence the power to control territory and resources, create conflict/war, and impact international political relations of sovereign nations such as China, the United States, Japan, and Russia and organized nation groups such as the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU). 7. Describe each of the major types of government: a. Democracy: b. Dictatorship: c. Monarchy: d. Republic: e. Theocracy: 8. Give an example of a country for each of the major types of government: a. Democracy: b. Dictatorship: c. Monarchy: d. Republic: e. Theocracy: 9. What is the purpose of NAFTA? 10. What countries are involved in NAFTA? RC 2: Geography WG.3. Geography. The student understands how physical processes shape patterns in the physical environment. WG.3A explain weather conditions and climate in relation to annual changes in Earth-Sun Relationships 11. How do Earth-Sun relationships impact climate? 12. What are the factors of climate? 13. Give two examples of climate zones: a. b. 2
WG.3B describe the physical processes that affect the environment of regions, including weather, tectonic forces, erosion, and soil-building processes 14. What physical process causes mountains to form? 15. What physical process causes canyons to form? 16. Draw a diagram to describe the hydrological cycle (water cycle): WG.3C examine the physical processes that affect the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere 17. What physical processes affect the earth s lithosphere? WG.4. Geography. The student understands the patterns and characteristics of major landforms, climates, and ecosystems of Earth. WG.4A explain how elevation, latitude, wind systems, ocean currents, position on a continent, and mountain barriers influence temperature, precipitation and distribution of climate regions 18. What information can be found on a climograph? 19. What inferences can be drawn from the information on a climograph? 20. How do mountain barriers influence climate? 21. Which two factors of climate have the most impact? Explain your answer. 3
WG.4B describe different landforms and the physical processes that cause their development WG.4C explain the influence of climate on the distribution of biomes in different regions 22. What are plate tectonics? 23. What is the difference between convergent and divergent plate boundaries? 24. Describe each of the following landforms: a. Strait b. Canyon c. Atoll d. Fjord 25. How does climate influence the distribution of biomes on the earth? 26. How does climate influence the biomes found in Canada, the US, and Mexico? WG.5 Geography. The student understands how political, economic, and social processes shape cultural patterns and characteristics in various places and regions. WG.5A analyze how the character of a place is related to its political, economic, social, and cultural elements WG.5B interpret political, economic, social, and demographic indicators (gross domestic product per capita, life expectancy, literacy, and infant mortality) to determine the level of development and standard of living in nations using the 27. The character of a place is a combination of its political, economic, social and cultural elements. Give an example of each for Brazil: a. Political characteristic b. Economic characteristic c. Social characteristic d. Cultural characteristic 28. How do political, social, and demographic indicators help determine a country s level of development? 29. Give an example of a country that is best described in each of the following categories and JUSTIFY your answer: 4
terms Human Development Index, less developed, newly industrialized, and more developed a. Less developed: b. Newly industrialized: c. More developed: WG.6 Geography. The student understands the types, patterns, and processes of settlement. The student is WG.6A locate and describe human and physical features that influence the size and distribution of settlements WG.6B explain the processes that have caused changes in settlement patterns, including urbanization, transportation, access to and availability of resources, and economic activities WG.7 Geography. The student understands the growth, distribution, movement, and characteristics of world population. The student is WG.7B explain how political, economic, social, and environmental push and pull factors and physical geography affect the routes and flows of human migration 30. What physical feature has the greatest influence in determining the size and distribution of human settlement? 31. How has urbanization caused changes in settlement patterns in North America? 32. Give an example of an economic pull factor for immigration into more developed countries: 33. Give an example of an environmental push factor affecting human migration: WG.7C describe trends in world population growth and distribution 34. Describe the current world population trend: 35. Explain why the world s population is distributed according to its patterns of physical geography: 5
WG.8 Geography. The student understands how people, places, and environments are connected and interdependent. The student is expected to: WG.8A compare ways that humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the physical environment, including the influences of culture and technology WG.8B Describe the interaction between humans and the physical environment and analyze the consequences of extreme weather and other natural disasters such as El Nino, floods, tsunamis, and volcanoes. WG.8C evaluate the economic and political relationships between settlements and the environment, including sustainable development and renewable/non-renewable resources WG.9 Geography. The student understands the concept of region as an area of Earth's surface with related geographic characteristics. The student is WG.9A identify physical and/or human factors such as climate, vegetation, language, trade networks, political units, river systems, and religion that constitute a region WG.9B describe different types of regions, including formal, functional, and perceptual regions 36. Compare a positive human modification of the environment, such as building levees, to a negative one, such as depleting the rain forests: 37. Describe at least 2 possible consequences to human life from: a. the eruption of a volcano: b. El Nino: 38. Define sustainable development: 39. How have some Central and South American countries tried to balance their economic needs while sustaining their natural resources? 40. What physical geographic factors constitute a physical geographic region? 41. Describe the climate zones found in the tropics: 42. Give one example of each of the following types of regions: a. Formal region: b. Functional region: c. Perceptual region: 0-2 6
RC 3: Culture WG.16 Culture. The student understands how the components of culture affect the way people live and shape the characteristics of regions. The student is WG.16A describe distinctive cultural patterns and landscapes associated with different places in Texas, the United States, and other regions of the world and how these patterns influenced the processes of innovation and diffusion WG.16B describe elements of culture, including language, religion, beliefs and customs, institutions, and technologies 43. What evidence of different cultures might you find in our region of Texas? 44. How does American culture celebrate different cultural traits of its immigrants? 45. Which features of culture are used to differentiate between different cultural regions? 46. Why is Latin America considered a different cultural region from North America? WG.16C explain ways various groups of people perceive the characteristics of their own and other cultures, places, and regions differently 47. In what ways do Americans view the characteristics of other cultures in other parts of the world, such as: a. East Asia? b. The Middle East? WG.18 Culture. The student understands the ways in which cultures change and maintain continuity. The student is WG.18C identify examples of cultures that maintain traditional ways, including traditional economies 48. What cultural group or groups living in the U.S. maintain their traditional ways that are very different from mainstream American culture? RC 4: Economics, Science, WG.10 Economics. The student understands the distribution, characteristics, and interactions of the 7
Technology and Society economic systems in the world. The student is WG.10A describe the forces that determine the distribution of goods and services in free enterprise, socialist, and communist economic systems; 49. Who determines the distribution of goods and services in each of the following economic systems? a. Free enterprise (free market): b. Communist (command market): WG.10B classify where specific countries fall along the economic spectrum between free enterprise and communism WG.10C compare the ways people satisfy their basic needs through the production of goods and services such as subsistence agriculture versus commercial agriculture or cottage industries versus commercial industries 50. In which of the following countries would the government own the most businesses? a. Sweden: b. Canada: c. Venezuela: 51. Describe each of the following way people satisfy needs through the production of goods and services: a. Subsistence agriculture: b. Cottage industries: c. Commercial industries: WG.11 Economics. The student understands how geography influences economic activities. The student is WG.11A understand the connections between levels of development and economic activities (primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary) WG.11B identify the factors affecting the location of different types of economic activities, including subsistence and commercial agriculture, manufacturing, 52. What is the connection between how a nation s government invests in social programs and that nation s level of development? 53. What factors affect the location of each of the following types of economic activity? a. Primary (like mining): b. Secondary (like refining oil): 8
and service industries c. Tertiary (like selling cars): d. Quaternary (like research & development): WG.11C assess how changes in climate, resources, and infrastructure (technology, transportation, and communication) affect the location and patterns of economic activities WG.12 Economics. The student understands the economic importance of, and issues related to, the location and management of resources. The student is WG.12A analyze how the creation, distribution, and management of key natural resources affects the location and patterns of movement of products, money, and people 54. How do well-planned and established infrastructure, such as computer networks, highway systems, and satellite communications, benefit consumers in a society? 55. How do industries, such as the oil industry, engaged in various levels of economic activity, manage the movement of its resources, products, and services? a. How might a company drilling in the Gulf of Mexico manage this differently than a company drilling in Alaska? WG.12B evaluate the geographic and economic impact of policies related to the development, use, and scarcity of natural resources such as regulations of water. WG. 19 Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of technology and human modifications on the physical environment. The student is WG.19A evaluate the significance of major technological innovations in the areas of transportation and energy that have been used to modify the physical environment 56. How might water regulations affect a country that depends on water sources that originate in a separate country? 57. Give an example of a major technological innovation in transportation, requiring modification of the physical environment, that significantly impacts how goods and resources are delivered around the world: 9