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The Eighteen National Geography Standards

The Geographically Informed Person knows and understands . . .


THE WORLD IN SPATIAL TERMS:
STANDARD 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information.
STANDARD 2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments.
STANDARD 3: How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface.

PLACES AND REGIONS:
STANDARD 4: The physical and human characteristics of places.
STANDARD 5: That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity.
STANDARD 6: How culture and experience influence people's perception of places and regions.

PHYSICAL SYSTEMS:
STANDARD 7: The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth's surface.
STANDARD 8: The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface.

HUMAN SYSTEMS:
STANDARD 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
STANDARD 10: The characteristics, distributions, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics.
STANDARD 11: The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth's surface.
STANDARD 12: The process, patterns, and functions of human settlement.
STANDARD 13: How forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface.

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY:
STANDARD 14: How human actions modify the physical environment.
STANDARD 15: How physical systems affect human systems.
STANDARD 16: The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

THE USES OF GEOGRAPHY:
STANDARD 17: How to apply geography to interptret the past.
STANDARD 18: To apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.