Social Studies Curriculum

Area Studies Electives

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Adopted January 1999

ESL Area Studies

Course Description:

ESL Area Studies is designed for the student who is learning English as a second language and has been identified and assessed as bilingual.  The physical and cultural geography of selected regions will be investigated.  The area studied may include Alaska, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific Rim, the Middle East, or another region/area of the world.

The course title and description have been approved by the Anchorage School Board.  This course outline is meant to serve as an example of one possibility for organizing this class.  It does not represent the only way the course may be organized.  Each course outline has been written by a different teacher so there will be differences in the approach used from one course to another.

Course Goals:

Through this course students will:

• Develop geographic concepts and skills (location, place, human/environment interactions, movement and regions) of the area being studied.
• Understand the physical, cultural, social, political, and economic features of the area being studied.
• Develop a historical perspective (from ancient to modern times) of the area being studied.
  

Course Objectives:

The student will:

• Define and apply the five themes of geography (i.e., location, place, human/environment interactions, movement, regions) to the area being studied
• Read, interpret, and create globes, physical and political maps.
• Identify, research, and discuss current events in the area/region of study.
• Participate in a variety of classroom activities (discussion, cooperative learning groups, partnering, individual, hands-on, field trips, guest speakers, etc.) to learn more about the selected area of the world.
• Maintain a daily/weekly learning log of vocabulary and material covered.
• Identify and use geographic vocabulary.
• Read, view, and listen to a variety of area studies presentations covering the history and geography of the region.
• Conduct research, using a variety of sources and resources, on the area being studied.
• Share his/her research findings through activities, orally, in writing, multi-media presentations, using illustrations, pictures or other visuals.
• Compare, contrast and show similarities between the student’s country of origin and the area being studied.
• Design and develop a project which includes the vocabulary and concepts of physical, economic and cultural geography and illustrates the interrelationship of each concept.

Course Outline:

1. Geography - the 5 Geographic Themes
   1. Location - where is the area located?
      1. Absolute location(physical)-specific location
      2. Relative location(cultural)- the location of the area in relationship to other areas
   2. Place - What are the characteristics of the area?
      1. Physical characteristics
         1. Terrain - land formations and bodies of water
         2. Climate and weather
      2. Human characteristics (e.g.. density of population, ethnic composition of population, etc.)
   3. Human/Environment Interactions - How? What? Why? Relationships within places
      1. How do these relationships develop?
      2. How and why have people changed the environment?
      3. What are they consequences of these changes?
   4. Movement - Mobility of people, goods and ideas
      1. Effects of travel and transportation
      2. Effects of communication and the information age
   5. Regions - Formation and change
      1. Physical characteristics - terrain, land formations, bodies of water, climate and weather, natural resources
      2. Human characteristics - demographics; impact of people on the land
      3. The interrelationship and interplay between the physical and the human characteristics
2. History - Refer to ASD Integrated History 9 & 10 Goals for specifics to each of the areas below.
   1. Government (political)
   2. Economics
   3. Sociology/Anthropology (social, cultural)
   4. Religion/Philosophy
   5. Humanities

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