7th Grade: World Geogrphy Syllabus (English Version)

World Geography
Grade Seven
Mr. Pitts-Dilley

Course Overview:
The primary goals of this course are to have students improve their English skills (speaking, listening, writing and reading), learn about the different cultures and traditions of the world and make connections between problems faced by different regions and nations (past and present) in a critical way. Students will study how geographers use different tools such as thematic maps related to physical features, economic activity, climate, vegetation and political boundaries to study and solve real problems such as AIDS epidemic and other diseases spread, hurricane relief, global warming, and poverty. Students will not be expected to memorize random facts. Instead, students will be expected to read, write, infer, analyze, discuss, and debate how history and geography impact people’s lives.
This course focus on human and physical geography of modern Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica. This course will also make connections and review the sixth grade content (ancient civilizations) so students can be better prepared for May’s history MCAS. Students will leave seventh grade having improved their proficiency in English and appreciation for world, history, geography and cultures. This class is structured utilizing the “workshop” approach to teaching and learning. Within this model, students and teacher will learn and teach each other about history and geography as process that affects people’s daily life such as poverty, who gets and does not get opportunities such as an education, sexism, racism, treatment of minorities, spatial inequality, immigrants and non-citizens, peasants, and war, global warming and climate and natural challenges and not as an abstract system of copying thematic maps and geographic terms.

Content objectives-World Geography:

By the end of the school year students will be able to:

· Locate the seven continents and four oceans.
· Identify the tools used by geographers.
· Identify how to read maps and make use of mental maps
· Identify the difference in between absolute and relative locations
· Identify how petroleum is formed, what causes earthquakes (tectonic plates), how the water cycle functions and the theory of the super continent (Pangea)
· Analyze the magnitude of global warming, spatial and social inequality, immigration, pollution and deforestation.
· Identify and locate the geography of each continent: major nations, capitals, bodies of water, and landmasses, population density, vegetation and social issues.
· Analyze the issues and problems with poverty, spatial and social inequality world wide
· Compare and contrast how immigrants, women, minorities, and non-citizens are treated world wide
· Analyze how different countries deal with population growth (positive & negative)
· Analyze how different countries of the world deal with population density
· Identify how humans adapt to environment
· Identify how humans change their environment (for better or worse)
· Analyze how different countries deal with religions and ethnic conflicts in heterogeneous nations
· Identify the difference in between homogeneous and heterogeneous
· Analyze the impact of Primate cities within a country
· Analyze the importance of major rivers and analyze the pros and cons of hydro electrical power
· Identify how to interpret maps and graphs and use such information to support debate

Language Objectives:

By the end of the school year students will be able to:

· Read, mark text, use graphic organizers and learn to read for a purpose
· Identify strategies such as Cornell Notes, outlines and web organizers to make notes
· Identify how to use technology in the classroom
· Identify how to use internet and library research appropriately (no plagiarism)
· Identify the difference in between note taking and note making
· Listen, Speak, discuss and debate important issues
· Read and analyze primary sources and interpret historical relevance: Who gets what, when, how and why? Who does not?
· Learn how to use graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams and T-Charts to help students write drafts
· Use PowerPoint, Microsoft Word and other digital and non-digital technologies to show how much the students have learned
· Write well-written and thoughtful 5-paragraph essays with title, introduction, body, strong details, and conclusion
· Each students will improve their own English language proficiency level in the four domains: reading, writing, listening and speaking
· Use the students native language to foster English language development

Products & Behavior Outcomes:

· Students are expected to read and respond to a do now question every day
· Students are expected to answer critical thinking questions every day
· Students are expected to keep a well organized notebook
· Students will complete several projects throughout the school year
· Students will take and pass the city wide midterm and final with a grade of C or better
· Students will participate orally and in writing everyday
· Students will work as a team everyday
· Students will become better citizens
· Students will improve their English proficiency so they can succeed in high school and beyond
· Students will develop a greater appreciation for a bicultural and bilingual United States and multicultural and multilingual world

Approximate Pacing Guide:

September:
· Setting up the notebook
· Introduction to the class rules & routines
· Introduction to technology, note making & the class website
· Identity boxes & Getting to know each other
· Geography Tools: How to use thematic map & how to read maps
· Latitude & Longitude
· Latino Heritage Month: Latin American Nations geography & history
· Latin American Map Challenges

October:
· Latin American Map Challenges
· Latin American Physical & Human Geography & History
· Was Columbus a hero? Howard Zinn’s The Peoples History of the United States primary sources
· Treaty of Tordesillas.
· Spatial Inequality, Rural decline, immigration, Indigenous Populations (Mayas), Adapting to the land & weather
· Amazon Basin, Mexico Plateau, Panama Canal, Caribbean Sea, Pampas, Atacama Dessert, Andes Mountains.

November:
· Latin American: Finish the unit & Assessment
· European Map Challenges
· European Physical & Human Geography & History
· European Union, population dilemmas (aging population), pollution, what causes earthquakes (tectonic plates), Soviet Union & post Cold War Russia
· Iberian Peninsula, Black Sea, Alps, Scandinavia, Mediterranean Sea, Ural Mountains, Siberia, Rhine River, Danube River

December:
· Europe: finish up the unit & Assessment
· African Map Challenges
· African Physical & Human Geography & History
· Hydro electrical power, Water Cycle, Adapting to the land & weather, Sexism, diversity, racism (apartheid) & Nelson Mandela
· Sahara Dessert, Nile River, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Lake Victoria, Lake Chad
· Mesopotamia & midterm Christmas Break Review Package: December 24th to January 2nd

January:
· Africa: Finish up the unit & Assessment
· Review
· Midterm
· Southwest (Middle East) & Central Asia Map Challenges
· Southwest (Middle East) & Central Asia Physical & Human Geography & History

February:
· Southwest (Middle East) & Central Asia Physical & Human Geography & History
· Poverty, War, Oil resources, Primate cities and how humans adapt to changes (natural & human made) to the environment
· Arabian, Black, Red, Mediterranean, Caspian and Aral Seas, Persian Gulf, Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia), and Zagros Mountains
· Southwest (Middle East) & Central Asia Assessment
· February Vacation: February 18th-22nd: Egypt & Israel Review package

March:
· Monsoon Asia Map Challenges
· Monsoon Asia Human & Physical Geography & History
· Adapting to Monsoons, comparative advantages, Time Zones, protecting the environment, population growth & population density challenges, hydroelectric power and globalization
· Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Bay of Bengal, Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan, Hong Kong, Mt. Everest, Gobi Dessert, and Plateau of Tibet.

April:
· Monsoon Asia: Finish up & Assessment
· Oceania & Antarctica Map Challenges
· Oceania & Antarctica Physical & Human Geography & History
· How does absolute & relative locations shape a region, adapting to the environment & Global warming
· Antarctica, Lake Eyre, Indian Ocean, and Western Plateau
· April Vacation: April 21st-25th: Greek & Rome Review Package

May:
· Oceania & Antarctica: Finish up & Assessment
· MCAS Review
· MCAS

June:
· Review
· Final Exam & Final Project
· Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”: Book & Film


Classroom Preparation:

· Students should come to class everyday and on time and ready to work.
· They are required to have their Social Studies Interactive Notebook and pencils and/or pens with them at all times.
· I expect all students to become familiar with the rules and regulations found in the agenda book provided for them by the school and Boston Public Schools.

Homework:

Homework for this class is given daily. The purpose of homework is to emphasize the objectives and goals that are presented in class each day. Students who complete homework everyday will most likely pass the class and get prepared for social studies classes in later middle school years, high school and beyond.

Teacher Conference:

I am available nearly every day to meet students after school in my homeroom (208). Parents may meet with me any day. I am here to work with you so your child leave the Curley ready for a successful career in high school and college. I request that parents make appointments to meet with me when I am not teaching a class; however, I understand that the world that we live today is very fast pace and that parents may have more than one job. Although I encourage parents to set up conference times, I have an open door policy.

Class Website:

All homework and other assignments, class announcements and helpful resources can be found at http://www.curleyhistorypage.blogspot.com/

You can also email any questions or concerns to
ppittsdilley@boston.k12.ma.us

You can also reach the Curley School at
617-635-8176

Grading:

Numerical and letter grades will be used.
· Formal writing assignments, tests, and quizzes account for 25% of a student’s grade each quarter.
· Homework: 25% of a student’s grade each quarter. Each homework assignment is worth 5 points. Total points divided by number of homework assignments multiplied by 5
· Notebook: Notebook taking is the task that most incoming high school students do not complete well. Your child will leave the Curley with the ability to take good notes, which is essential for high school and college. The notebook is 25% of s student’s grade each quarter.
· Class participation: This is a course, which focus on personal responsibility, leadership, group work and character. Students who do not contribute positively to the class will not pass this course.
· Projects, Midterm and Finals: Each term there will be two projects, the midterm or the final. These count to 25% of a student’s grade in a quarter.