World Geography. This course seeks to develop geographically informed young adults through a better understanding of the Earth’s physical and human systems, including a focus on the interdependency of living things and the environment. This knowledge, in turn, provides a basis for future citizens to make wise decisions regarding the best interests of their communities and their planet.

1. (1) Practice Standards. 
2. (A) Practice Standard 1. The student will apply critical thinking skills to address authentic civic issues.
3. (i) Demonstrate an understanding of the virtue of civil discourse to analyze and address real-world problems.
4. (I) Evaluate the impact of perspectives, civil discourse, and democratic principles on addressing civic issues.
5. (II) Engage in a range of deliberative and democratic processes to develop strategies to address authentic, real-world problems in community and out-of-school contexts.
6. (III) Gather and evaluate information regarding complex problems, assessing individual and collective actions taken to address them.
7. (ii) Develop practices which demonstrate an understanding that social studies involves the evaluation of evidence.
8. (I) Develop, investigate, and evaluate plausible answers to essential questions that reflect enduring understandings across time, real world circumstances, and social studies disciplines.
9. (II) Evaluate points of agreement and disagreement from reliable information and expert interpretations used to answer supporting questions related to content knowledge.
10. (III) Reinforce critical thinking by evaluating and challenging ideas and assumptions, analyzing and explaining inconsistencies in reasoning.
11. (IV) Demonstrate understanding of content through the development of self-driven inquiries and the completion of multi-staged, authentic tasks and assessments.
12. (B) Practice Standard 2. The student will use interdisciplinary tools to acquire, apply, and evaluate content understanding of the four strands of social studies.
13. (i) Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of government, the benefits of democratic systems, and their responsibilities as citizens.
14. (I) Evaluate various significant documents from the United States and other nations to compare civic virtues and principles of political systems.
15. (II) Evaluate the impact of the structure and powers exercised by governmental systems on public policy, using historical and contemporary examples.
16. (III) Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements, by comparing how various governmental powers and responsibilities have changed over time.
17. (ii) Develop skills which demonstrate an understanding of historical events and the people who shaped our history.
18. (I) Gather and evaluate the usefulness of various formats of evidence for specific inquiry, analyzing the broader historical context, and assessing potential bias and credibility of sources.
19. (II) Analyze complex and interacting factors that influence multiple perspectives during different historical eras and contemporary events.
20. (III) Evaluate how multiple, complex events are shaped by unique circumstances of time and place; construct and interpret parallel timelines.
21. (iii) Demonstrate a mastery of geographic concepts and the use of geographic tools to understand the impact of geography on the past and present.
22. (I) Actively engage in asking and answering geographic questions by acquiring, organizing, and analyzing multiple sources of data and information about the world’s past and present.
23. (II) Compare and analyze complex maps and mapping technologies to analyze spatial patterns of human and physical environments, explaining relationships between the environment and events, past and present.
24. (III) Evaluate the extent to which political and economic decisions have had significant impact on human and physical environments of various places and regions.
25. (iv) Identify the principles of economic systems and develop an understanding of the benefits of a market system in local, national, and global settings.
26. (I) Evaluate economic data from charts and graphs, noting trends and making predictions.
27. (II) Construct arguments using a combination of evidence regarding solutions used by nations to address historical or contemporary economic issues.
28. (III) Evaluate the impact, both intended and unintended, of government policies on market outcomes at national and global levels, past and present.
29. (C) Practice Standard 3. The student will engage in critical, active reading of primary and secondary sources related to social studies concepts.
30. (i) Comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize textual sources to acquire and refine knowledge in the social studies.
31. (I) Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, evaluating features such as author, date, and origin of information.
32. (II) Analyze information from visual, oral, digital, and interactive texts (e.g., maps, charts, images, political cartoons, videos, artwork) in order to draw conclusions and defend arguments.
33. (ii) Apply critical reading and thinking skills to interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts and perspectives.
34. (I) Evaluate the extent to which historical or cultural perspectives affect an author’s stated or implied purpose.
35. (II) Evaluate the author’s point of view, potential bias, and how authors can reach different conclusions regarding the same issue.
36. (III) Actively listen, evaluate, and analyze a speaker’s message, asking questions while engaged in collaborative discussions about social studies topics and texts.
37. (D) Practice Standard 4. The student will develop a variety of evidence-based written products designed for multiple purposes.
38. (i) Summarize and paraphrase, integrate evidence, and cite sources to create written products, research projects, and presentations for multiple purposes related to social studies content.
39. (I) Compose informative essays and written products, developing a thesis, citing and incorporating evidence from multiple sources and maintaining an organized, formal structure.
40. (II) Compose argumentative written products, including a precise claim as distinguished from opposing claims, organizing logical reasoning, and providing credible evidence to develop an argument.
41. (ii) Engage in authentic research to acquire, refine, and share knowledge through written presentations and products.
42. (I) Develop self-generated theses or claims related to independent research and investigations using credible and relevant sources.
43. (II) Integrate quotes and summaries of research findings into written products while avoiding plagiarism.
44. (III) Construct presentations or products for a designated audience, using research and reasoning to enhance understanding of a topic or issue.
45. (2) Content Standards.
46. (A) Content Standard 1. The student will use maps and other geographic representations, tools and technologies to acquire, process, and solve problems from a spatial perspective.
47. (i) Analyze key concepts underlying the geographical perspectives of location, space, place, scale, pattern, regionalization, and globalization.
48. (ii) Utilize geographic skills to understand and analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on the Earth’s surface.
49. (iii) Define regions and analyze changing interconnections among places, using historical and contemporary examples.
50. (iv) Utilize geographic technologies and geographical data including census data and imagery to draw conclusions about the influence of geography on the world’s people and places.
51. (B) Content Standard 2. The student will analyze how the human population is organized geographically in order to understand how change affects human systems.
52. (i) Interpret geographic data measuring population including density, distribution, patterns of composition, and population trends and projections to analyze issues related to population change.
53. (ii) Examine common characteristics of urban versus rural communities, including the patterns and impact of modern migration to urban centers and megacities.
54. (iii) Explain the push and pull theory of migration and its impact on human capital and demographic transitions, including the consequences of major voluntary and involuntary migrations.
55. (C) Content Standard 3. The student will analyze the components and regional variations of cultural patterns and processes.
56. (i) Compare the world’s major cultural landscapes to analyze cultural differences, cultural identity, social mores, and sets of beliefs which determine a sense of place.
57. (ii) Describe and draw conclusions about the spatial dimensions of culture as defined by language, religion, and ethnicity.
58. (iii) Analyze the role of the environment in influencing a region’s culture.
59. (iv) Explain the processes of cultural diffusion and interdependence, analyzing their impact on defining a region.
60. (D) Content Standard 4. The student will explain the political organization of space.
61. (i) Analyze the nature and meaning of territorial boundaries and their influence on identity, interaction, and exchange.
62. (ii) Compare the world’s political systems of government, based on limited versus unlimited authority, including the rights and opportunities of citizens within each system.
63. (iii) Examine changes and challenges to political/territorial arrangements, by describing the forces that shape the world’s contemporary political map, including the rise or devolution of nation-states.
64. (iv) Evaluate how the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the control and management of territory and resources.
65. (v) Explain how international alliance networks respond to changing needs of people, places, and regions.
66. (E) Content Standard 5. The student will analyze patterns of land use among the world’s people.
67. (i) Examine how different civilizations have sought to improve the well-being of their people by modifying or adapting to their environments.
68. (ii) Analyze settlement patterns associated with major agricultural regions and linkages among regions of food production and consumption.
69. (iii) Describe the characteristics of modern commercial agriculture including major production regions, variations within major zones, and the effects of markets.
70. (iv) Examine the impact of agricultural practices (e.g., irrigation, levees, terraced farming, crop rotation, artesian wells, conservation, water resource management, and deforestation) on the environment and quality of life.
71. (v) Explain how transportation improvements (e.g., aqueducts, canals, railroad systems, airports) impacted human development through modification of the environment.
72. (vi) Analyze the influence of geography on current issues to consider decisions regarding future land use, including the costs and benefits of environmental regulation.
73. (F) Content Standard 6. The student will analyze the impact of industrialization on economic development.
74. (i) Examine the significance of access to natural resources, energy, and technological innovations (e.g.,wind, solar, nuclear) to the economic development of a region.
75. (ii) Compare the impact of government policies in both market and command economic systems on the availability and use of natural resources and development.
76. (iii) Compare contemporary patterns of industrialization and development in selected regions of the world.
77. (iv) Describe common characteristics of developed nations and compare variations in levels of development.
78. (v) Explain how changes in the physical environment and political environment influence changes in economic activity within a region.

Added at 36 Ok Reg 755, eff 7-25-19

Amended at 42 Ok Reg, Number 21, effective 7-26-25