S.S.+Course+of+Study


 * __People, Places, and Regions: Geographic Studies__**
 * 1. Locate the prime meridian, equator, tropic of Capricorn, tropic of Cancer, international date line, and lines of latitude and longitude on maps and globes.**
 * Using cardinal and intermediate directions to find a location on a map or globe
 * Demonstrating an understanding of simple grid lines
 * Measuring distance between two locations using a scale of miles
 * Locating physical and human features on a map using labels, symbols, and legends
 * Identifying limitations of maps
 * Examples: projections and distortions of maps
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 2. Describe physical characteristics, including landforms, bodies of water, soil, and vegetation of various places on Earth.**
 * Examples: landforms—mountains, hills, plateaus;bodies of water—oceans, rivers, lakes;soil—silt, clay, sand;vegetation—tropical, desert, plains
 * Locating countries in the Western Hemisphere
 * Locating historical landmarks on maps
 * Examples: the capitol of the United States, the Alabama state capitol, previous site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, Statue of Liberty, Pearl Harbor
 * Identifying processes of Earth, including continental drift, erosion, natural hazards, weather, and climate
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 3. Identify components of various ecosystems**
 * Example: discussing differences in soil, climate, vegetation, or wildlife
 * Identifying ways in which humans alter the physical environment
 * Examples: oil spills, landfills, clearing of forests, urbanization, replacement of wetlands with farms, reforestation of cleared land, restocking of fish in waterways, planting of nitrogen-fixing crops such as legumes to restore nitrogen to the soil, planting of cover crops to prevent erosion
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 4. Locate population shifts due to geographic, economic, and historic changes in the Western Hemisphere.**
 * Examples: geographic—floods, hurricanes;economic—crop failures;historic—disease, war
 * Identifying human and physical criteria used to define regions
 * Examples: human—city boundaries, school district lines;physical—hemispheres, regions within continents or countries
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 5. Identify national and international trading patterns of the United States.**
 * Differentiating between producers and consumers and imports and exports
 * Examples: producers—suppliers, sellers;consumers—buyers;imports—coffee from Colombia, pineapples from Hawaii;exports—corn from Iowa
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 6. Identify conflicts involving use of land, economic competition for scarce resources, different political views, boundary disputes, and cultural differences within and between different geographic areas.**
 * Example: disputes over water rights, landfill locations, or prison locations
 * Identifying examples of cooperation within and between different geographic areas
 * Examples: participation in Neighborhood Watch programs, provision of emergency assistance, participation in America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alert programs
 * Locating areas of political conflict on maps and globes
 * Explaining different viewpoints on contemporary issues at the local, state, national, and international levels
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 7. Describe the relationship between locations of resources and patterns of population distribution in the Western Hemisphere.**
 * Examples: presence of trees for building homes, availability of natural gas supply for heating and water supply for drinking and for irrigating crops
 * Locating major natural resources and deposits throughout Alabama, the United States, and the Western Hemisphere
 * Examples: Alabama—iron, United States—timber,Western Hemisphere—fish from Canada
 * Describing present-day mechanization of labor as opposed to the historical use of human labor to harvest natural resources
 * Example: present-day practices of using machinery to mine coal and to harvest cotton and pecans
 * Evaluating the geographic impact of using major energy and technological resources in the twenty-first century
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 8. Identify geographic links of land regions, river systems, and interstate highways between Alabama and other states.**
 * Example: Tombigbee River
 * Locating the five geographic regions of Alabama
 * Comparing laws that pertain to citizens of the United States, including pollution laws, highway speed limit laws, seat belt laws, and interstate trade laws
 * Describing cultural, political, and economic characteristics of people in the Western Hemisphere
 * Examples: cultural—types of clothes, homes, languages, religions;political—functions of political units at different levels such as cities, states, and nations;economic—natural resources, industrialization, living standards
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 9. Identify ways to prepare for natural disasters in the United States**
 * Examples: preparing for earthquakes by identifying structural needs of homes before building, constructing houses on stilts in flood-prone areas, buying earthquake and flood insurance, providing hurricane or tornado shelters, establishing evacuation routes
 * [|Lessons from ALEX]


 * 10. Describe characteristics and migration patterns of human populations in the Western Hemisphere**
 * Examples: characteristics—birth rate, death rate, life expectancy, population density, food, clothing, shelter;migration—movement of migrant workers to other locations
 * Lessons from ALEX


 * 11. Identify significant historical sites in Alabama, including locations of civil rights activities**
 * Examples:
 * Montgomery—birthplace of the Confederacy, birthplace of the modern Civil Rights Movement;
 * Tuskegee—home of Tuskegee Institute;
 * Mobile—site of Fort Morgan and the Battle of Mobile Bay;
 * Huntsville—home of the United States Space and Rocket Center;
 * Tuscumbia—location of Ivy Green (birthplace of Helen Keller);
 * Moundville—location of Moundville Archaeological Park;
 * Birmingham—home of Vulcan and Vulcan Park,
 * Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark;
 * Selma—site of voting rights activities
 * Lessons from ALEX