Content/Concepts

Globes and the Earth

Concepts:
globe, earth

The globe is a model of the earth. It shows the following:

• sphere
• axis
• direction
• rotation (24 hr.) causes day and night
• revolution (1 yr.) causes seasons

Content/Concepts

Maps and the Earth

Concepts:
globe, map, earth, projection

Globes and maps are both used to portray areas of the earth's surface. When comparing the two, consider :

• accuracy
• convenience
• projections

Content/Concepts

Location and Atlases

Concept: atlas
Atlases contain information in a variety of formats :

• maps
• charts
• graphs
• tables
• timelines
• photographs
• diagrams
• captions and paragraphs

• colours
• realistic images (oil derricks, cows)
• dots, lines, shading, geometric figures, etc.

• historical information (dates, travel routes, pictures)
• statistical information (population of cities, length of rivers, height of mountains, ocean depths, climographs)
• geographic information (diagrams related to climate, theme maps)

Content/Concepts

Information found on maps and globes may be divided into three general categories:

• what exists in nature
• what cartographers have added in order to facilitate studying maps
• Boundaries that have been politically determined.

Globes and maps portray information that occurs naturally on our earth.

• continents and oceans
• islands
• mountain ranges
• river systems
• coast
• ice caps
• minerals
• arable land

Concepts:
globe, map, elevation

Some maps use colour coding to show elevation.

• elevation
• ocean depth
• mountain ranges
• lowlands
• plains
• river systems

Content/Concepts

Concepts:
globe, map, location, grid, map symbols

Globes and maps contain a system of cartographic markings.

• grid
• direction
• hemisphere
• North and South Poles
• equator
• map symbols

If the students must use an atlas in which the index uses longitude and latitude coordinates, some instruction in this area will be necessary.

A special grid system developed by cartographers includes the following:

• lines of longitude, latitude
• Prime Meridian.

• equator
• Arctic and Antarctic Circles
• measurement using degrees

Location and Political Divisions Content/Concepts Teaching Strategies Knowledge Skills/Abilities Values Grade Six Unit One Table of Contents

Content/Concepts

Concepts:
globe, map, location, boundaries

People function on a daily basis with a variety of boundaries:

• walls of a room
• fence around a yard
• soccer field
• school yard

• countries
• provinces
• states

Boundaries may coincide with natural barriers such as water or mountain ranges.

(The teacher may choose to use maps of North, Central and South America as an example of countries, maps of Canada as an example of provinces, a map of the U.S. as an example of states. Other types of boundaries may be explored as well, e.g. reserve and treaty area boundaries especially those within Canada and Sask., park perimeters, city limits, etc.)

Location and Climate Content/Concepts Teaching Strategies Knowledge Skills/Abilities Values Grade Six Unit One Table of Contents

Content/Concepts

Location and Climate

Concepts:
globe, map, location, weather,climate

The major components of climate are:

• temperature
• precipitation
• humidity
• storms such as blizzards, tornadoes, hurricanes

• relative location in relation to poles and equator (slant of the sun's rays)
• proximity to large bodies of water (influences both temperature and precipitation)
• elevation
• ocean currents
• winds

Content/Concepts

Concepts:
globe, map, location, climate, vegetation

Location, climate and vegetation are interrelated. Natural vegetation areas may be identified as follows:

• desert
• grasslands
• forest (mixed, deciduous, coniferous)
• rainforest
• tropical forest
• temperate forest
• tundra
• savannah
  

Climate and soil largely determine the types of crops that may be grown in a region.

Table of Contents: Grade six unit one