In this class, students will first examine some of the important principles of geography, and then they will study in depth the physical and cultural geography of several continents, including Africa, Europe, and Australia. Students will learn how humans shape the environment around them, and how the environment affects the ways people live in different parts of the world. Students will investigate the issues that currently impact countries and lives in Africa, Europe, and Australia. Finally, students will examine the historical themes and events that have shaped these regions of the world over the past few centuries.
We will begin this year by reviewing the skill of using latitude and longitude to identify specific cities around the world. During sixth grade in World Explorations, students also demonstrate the ability to convert a cm measurement on a map of the distance between two cities into the actual distance in miles. Students will review the five themes of geography (location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, regions), and they will use this framework all year long as they study the world around them. Next week, students will complete a matching terms quiz using some of the vocabulary words from Chapter 3 of the classroom set of blue textbooks.