Objectives: | Students will
• identify and discuss the six essential elements of geography;
• use the six essential elements to interpret a landscape; and
• incorporate their findings into a journal entry, including a description, sketch, and mental map.
Geographic Skills:
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Analyzing Geographic Information
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Materials: | • Computer with Internet access
• Overhead projector
• Personal journals
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Development: | Explain to students that one aspect of geography is understanding land, and what its uses are. Write the names of the six essential elements of geography on the board or a blank overhead transparency: the world in spatial terms (location), places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and uses of geography. Explain that these elements help us understand more about our land and our relationships with it. Ask students what they think is meant by each of the elements. Write their responses under each element. After they have shared their thoughts, offer the following guided questions to clarify the elements:
Location: Where might this place be located?
Places and Regions: What is special about this place? What makes it different from other places? How is this place like others near or around it?
Physical Systems: What physical processes shape the features and patterns of the place? What is the weather/climate like?
Human Systems: How might people, goods, and ideas travel into and out of this place?
Environment and Society: How have people affected this environment? How might this environment affect people?
Uses of Geography: How do physical and human features influence historical, current, or future events?
Divide the class into six groups. Assign each group one of the six essential elements of geography. Display the landscape transparency again. Give each group five minutes to brainstorm answers to the related questions about the landscape and to record their ideas. When time is up, allow the groups to share some of their findings. How did this information compare with the original observations? How would they enhance their sketches or mental maps to incorporate what they learned through their geography detective work?
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Closure: | As a class, discuss the advantages of using the six essential elements of geography as a means for interpreting and understanding landscapes. In closing, read aloud the quotation found beneath the landscape photographs of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Discuss how Lewis and Clark's geographic detective work shaped history and the expansion of the United States. |
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