Power of Place: Seeing Connections Between Community and the World

Standards: (National Social Studies Standards for 8th grade Geography)
• 4.1Personal, community, and national identities are rooted in and attached to places
o Therefore, the student is able to:
 Explain how personal, community, or national identities are based on places, as exemplified by being able to
 Describe and explain the factors that contribute to the identity of being from a specific place (e.g., a “New Yorker,” a “Southerner,” a “Texan,” a postal code such as 90210).
 Explain how a place-based identity results from the characteris¬tics of a place (e.g., environmentally conscious Inuit of Northwest Canada, seafaring traditions of Gloucester Harbor, Massachusetts, nomadic herders in the eastern steppes of Mongolia).
 Explain how place-based identities can sometimes result in stereo¬types of people from a specific place (e.g., fitness-conscious people from Colorado, cowboys from Wyoming or Texas, miners from Appalachia, coffee-drinking people from Seattle).
• 4.2 Physical and human characteristics of places change
o Therefore, the student is able to:
 Explain the ways that physical processes change places, as exemplified by being able to:
• Explain how changes in climate may result in changes to places (e.g., drought and stressed vegetation, more precipitation and increased vegetation, warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons at higher latitudes).
 Explain the ways that human processes change places, as exemplified by being able to:
• Describe and explain how the introduction of a new industry or the closing of an existing industry could change the characteristics of a place.
• 6.1 People’s different perceptions of places and regions are influenced by their life experiences
o Therefore, the student is able to:
 Describe examples of how perceptions of places and regions are based on direct experiences (e.g., living in a place, travel) and indirect experiences (e.g., media, books, family, and friends), as exemplified by being able to
• Describe students’ perceptions of a place that are based on indirect sources (e.g., television, films, movies, travel brochures).
• Describe students’ perceptions of a place that are based on direct sources (e.g., visiting the place, multiple visits, or residing in the place).
• Describe students’ possible stereotypical perceptions of US regions (e.g., the West as open and sprawling region, the East Coast as densely populated and noisy, the South full of small towns where people move at a slower pace) and upon what experience or information their perceptions are based.
• 6.2 Perceptions of places and regions change by incorporating multiple direct and indirect experiences
o Therefore, the student is able to:
 Analyze the ways in which people change their views of places and regions as a result of media reports or interactions with other people, as exemplified by being able to
• Describe the changing views people may develop about places featured prominently in the news (e.g., Super Bowl site or World Series cities, the scene of a natural disaster, a venue hosting a significant international meeting).
 Analyze the way in which traveling to a new place (city, state, or country) may change prior views of that place to more informed and developed views based on the experiences there (e.g., travel for sporting contests at schools, travel for outdoor recreational activities, travel for historical interests or visiting museums).
 Analyze the effects of different sources of information that may cause people to change their views of a place or region (e.g., travel brochures or guidebooks, cable travel channels or documentaries, information from friends or family).

(Idaho Standards)
• Goal 1.8: Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.
o 6-9.GEH.1.8.4 Explain how and why events may be interpreted differently according to the points of view of participants and observers.
• Goal 2.4: Analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions. Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:
o 6-9.GEH.2.4.2 Describe major cultural characteristics of regions in the Eastern Hemisphere.
o 6-9.GEH.2.4.3 Compare and contrast cultural patterns in the Eastern Hemisphere, such as language, religion, and ethnicity.
o 6-9.GEH.2.4.4 Analyze the locations of the major manufacturing and agricultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.
• Goal 2.5: Explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.
o 6-9.GEH.2.5.2 Give examples of how both natural and technological hazards have impacted the physical environment and human populations in specific areas of the Eastern Hemisphere.
• Standard 5: Global Perspectives Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence. Goal 5.1: Build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.
o 6-9.GEH.5.1.1 Discuss how social institutions, including the family, religion, and education, influence behavior in different societies in the Eastern Hemisphere.