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THE FIVE COLLEGE-LEVEL GOALS
OF
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY
STANDARDS
The particular topics studied
in this course are based on the Five College-Level Goals of the National
Geography Standards developed
by
the National Council on Geographic Education. On successful completion of the course,
students should be able to:
- 1
•Use and think about maps and spatial data sets. Geography is
fundamentally concerned with the ways in which patterns on Earth’s
surface reflect and influence physical and human processes. As such, maps
and spatial data are fundamental to the discipline, and learning to use
and think about them is critical to geographical literacy. The goal is
achieved when students learn to use maps and spatial data to pose and
solve problems, and when they learn to think critically about what is
revealed and what is hidden in different maps and spatial arrays.
- 2
•Understand and interpret the implications of associations among
phenomena in places. Geography looks at the world from a spatial
perspective--seeking to understand the changing spatial organization and
material character of Earth’s surface. One of the critical advantages of
a spatial perspective is the attention it focuses on how phenomena are
related to one another in particular places. Students should thus learn
not just to recognize and interpret patterns, but to assess the nature and
significance of the relationships among phenomena that occur in the same
place and to understand how tastes and values, political regulations, and
economic constraints work together to create particular types of cultural
landscapes.
- 3
•Recognize and interpret at different scales the relationships among
patterns and processes. Geographical analysis requires a sensitivity to
scale--not just as a spatial category but as a frame-work for
understanding how events and processes at different scales influence one
another. Thus, students should understand that the phenomena they are
studying at one scale (e.g., local) may well be influenced by developments
at other scales (e.g., regional, national, or global). They should then
look at processes operating at multiple scales when seeking explanations
of geographic patterns and arrangements www.collegeboard.org/ap 5
- 4
•Define regions and evaluate the regionalization process. Geography is
concerned not simply with describing patterns, but with analyzing how they
came about and what they mean. Students should see regions as objects of
analysis and exploration and move beyond simply locating and describing
regions to considering how and why they come into being--and what they
reveal about the changing character of the world in which we live.
- 5
•Characterize and analyze changing interconnections among places. At the
heart of a geographical perspective is a concern with the ways in which
events and processes operating in one place can influence those operating
at other places. Thus, students should view places and patterns not in
isolation, but in terms of their spatial and functional relationship with
other places and patterns. Moreover, they should strive to be aware that
those relationships are constantly changing, and they should understand
how and why change occurs.