World Geography Texas Book
Baldomero Prado
World Geography A is the first semester in a two-semester series. One-half credit is awarded for successful completion of each semester. In World Geography you will examine people, places, and environments at local, regional, national, and international scales from the spatial and ecological perspectives of geography. You will learn the influence of geography on events of the past and present with emphasis on contemporary issues. A significant portion of the course centers around the physical processes that shape patterns in the physical environment; the characteristics of major landforms, climates, and ecosystems and their interrelationships; the political, economic, and social processes that shape cultural patterns of regions; types and patterns of settlement; the distribution and movement of the world population; relationships among people, places, and environments; and the concept of region. You will analyze how location affects economic activities in different economic systems. You will identify the processes that influence political divisions on the planet and analyze how different points of view affect the development of public policies. You will compare how cultures shape the characteristics of regions and analyze the impact of technology and human modifications on the physical environment. You will use problem-solving and decision-making skills to ask and answer geographic questions.
The final examination is comprehensive; it covers the material from all 8 units. To pass the course, you must receive a grade of 70 percent or better. You can apply to take the Final Exam after 100 percent of your graded assignments have been submitted, and at least 70 percent have been graded and returned to you.
From a regional perspective, faculty expertise includes world regonal geography, the geography of Texas and the American Southwest, the geography of the United States and Canada, the geography of Latin and South America, and the geography of Europe.
TX.113.34 (9.1)World Geography: History: The student understands how geographic contexts (the geography of places in the past) and processes of spatial exchange (diffusion) influenced events in the past and helped to shape the present.
9.1. (A)Analyze the effects of physical and human geographic patterns and processes on events in the past and describe their effects on present conditions, including significant physical features and environmental conditions that influenced migration patterns in the past and shaped the distribution of culture groups today.
9.1. (B)Trace the spatial diffusion of a phenomenon and describe its effects on regions of contact such as the spread of bubonic plague, the diffusion and exchange of foods between the New and Old Worlds, or the diffusion of American slang.
TX.113.34 (9.3)World Geography: Geography: Such as student understands how physical processes shape patterns in the physical environment (lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere), including how Earth-Sun relationships affect physical processes and patterns on Earth's surface.
9.3. (B)Describe physical environment of regions and the physical processes that affect these regions such as weather, tectonic forces, wave action, freezing and thawing, gravity, and soil-building processes.
TX.113.34 (9.4)World Geography: Geography: The student understands the patterns and characteristics of major landforms, climates, and ecosystems of Earth and the interrelated processes that produce them.
9.4. (A)Explain the distribution of different types of climate in terms of patterns of temperature, wind, and precipitation and the factors that influence climate regions such as elevation, latitude, location near warm and cold ocean currents, position on a continent, and mountain barriers.
TX.113.34 (9.6)World Geography: Geography: The student understands the types and patterns of settlement, the factors that affect where people settle, and processes of settlement development over time.
9.6. (B)Explain the processes that have caused cities to grow such as location along transportation routes, availability of resources that have attracted settlers and economic activities, and continued access to other cities and resources.
9.7. (B)Explain the political, economic, social, and environmental factors that contribute to human migration such as how national and international migrations are shaped by push-and-pull factors and how physical geography affects the routes, flows, and destinations of migration.
9.8. (A)Explain the interrelationships among physical and human processes that shape the geographic characteristics of places such as connections among economic development, urbanization, population growth, and environmental change.
9.8. (B)Compare ways that humans depend on, adapt to, and modify the physical environment using local, state, national, and international human activities in a variety of cultural and technological contexts.
9.8. (C)Describe the impact of and analyze the reaction of the environment to abnormal and/or hazardous environmental conditions at different scales such as El Nino, floods, droughts, and hurricanes.
9.8. (D)Analyze statistical and other data to infer the effects of physical and human processes on patterns of settlement, population distribution, economic and political conditions, and resource distribution.
9.10. (C)Compare the ways people satisfy their basic needs through the production of goods and services such as subsistence agriculture versus market-oriented agriculture or cottage industries versus commercial industries.
9.14. (C)Explain the geographic factors that influence a nation's power to control territory and that shape the foreign policies and international political relations of selected nations such as Iraq, Israel, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
TX.113.34 (9.15)World Geography: Citizenship: The student understands how different points of view influence the development of public policies and decision-making processes on local, state, national, and international levels.
9.16. (A)Describe distinctive cultural patterns and landscapes associated with different places in Texas, the United States, and other regions of the world, and how these patterns influenced the processes of innovation and diffusion.
9.18. (D)Evaluate case studies of the spread of cultural traits to find examples of cultural convergence and divergence such as the spread of democratic ideas, U.S.-based fast-food franchises in Russia and Eastern Europe, or the English language as a major medium of international communication for scientists and business people.
TX.113.34 (9.21)World Geography: Social Studies Skills: The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology.
9.21. (A)Use historical, geographic, and statistical information from a variety of sources such as databases, field interviews, media services, and questionnaires to answer geographic questions and infer geographic relationships.
9.22. (A)Design and draw appropriate maps and other graphics such as sketch maps, diagrams, tables, and graphs to present geographic information including geographic features, geographic distributions, and geographic relationships.
9.23. (A)Plan, organize, and complete a group research project that involves asking geographic questions, acquiring, organizing, and analyzing geographic information, answering geographic questions, communicating results.
9.23. (C)Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
TX.113.36 (9.1)Psychology (Elective Course): The Individual in Society: The student understands the dynamics of the relationships between self and others to be a contributing member of the community.
TX.113.36 (9.3)Psychology (Elective Course): The Individual in Society: The student understands behavioral, social learning, and cognitive perspectives of motivation to describe his or her role and impact on economic systems.
9.6. (B)Define the concept of 'transformed score' and give examples of various types including percentile grade equivalent scores, intelligence quotient (IQ) scores, and College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) scores such as Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
TX.113.36 (9.13)Psychology (Elective Course): Social Studies Skills: The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology.
9.13. (F)Analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions.
9.15. (A)Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
TX.113.37 (9.1)Sociology (Elective Course): Citizenship: The student understands that individuals require knowledge of the dynamics of the relationships between self and others to be contributing members of the community.
TX.113.37 (9.8)Sociology (Elective Course): Government: The student understands different styles and forms of leadership, political socialization, and communication techniques that influence perception, attitudes, and behavior.
TX.113.37 (9.14)Sociology (Elective Course): Social Studies Skills: The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of sources including electronic technology.
9.14. (B)Analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions.
9.16. (A)Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
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