Photograph by Rik Katz
The geographically informed person must understand the human imprint on the physical environment. Many of the important issues facing modern society are the result of human modifications of the physical environment. Some of these modifications are intended and positive; others unintended and negative. These changes have political, economic, and social implications at all scales, from the global to local.
Identify and describe examples of human modifications to the physical environment surrounding the school or neighborhood (e.g., paving over vegetated areas, constructing buildings, building bridges, installing culverts or drainage ditches, removing or adding trees or shrubs).
Describe human-generated changes in the physical environment during different time periods using aerial photographs or satellite images of the same location (e.g., farmland to subdivisions, open fields to baseball diamonds, traditional downtown areas to new shopping centers).
Describe examples of changes that would occur if people decided to build a new road, water park, or shopping center in the local community (e.g., changes in ecosystem, land cover, landforms, drainage patterns or runoff).
The Use of Technology
2. People use technology to get what they need from the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Describe and explain ways in which people use technology to get what they need from the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
Describe and explain examples of the technology used in different industries in the United States (e.g., high-tech farming and irrigation, excavating machinery in strip mining, drilling in oil production).
Explain how the use of technology in students’ daily lives (e.g., rototiller in the garden, applying plant fertilizer, pumps that provide bore or well water, hybrid or disease resistant seeds) can help people get things they need from the physical environment.
Describe and explain how inventions helped people settle the Great Plains (e.g., barbed wire, steel plow, railroad, steamboat, threshing machines).
Consequences for People and Environments
3. The consequences of human modifications of the physical environment
Therefore, the student is able to:
A. Identify and describe examples of how human activities impact the physical environment, as exemplified by being able to
Identify and describe the changes in local habitats that resulted from human activities.
Identify and describe the impacts that students’ dietary choices may have on the physical environment.
Describe examples of human modifications to the physical environment as a result of improving transportation routes (e.g., bridges, drainage ditches, widening streets or roads, divided highways).
Explanation:
