NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS INDEX

“The world facing the high school graduates of 2025 will be even more crowded than the world of today. The physical environment will be even more threatened. The global economy will be even more competitive and interconnected.

Understanding and responding to the challenges and opportunities of the world in the twenty-first century will require many skills; the capacities to think and communicate mathematically and scientifically will remain at a premium. Geographic literacy will also be necessary for reasons of enhancing economic competitiveness, preserving quality of life, sustaining the environment, and ensuring national security. As individuals and as members of society, humans face decisions on where to live, what to build where, how and where to travel, how to conserve energy, how to wisely manage scarce resources, and how to cooperate or compete with others.

Making all of these decisions, personal and collective, requires a geographically informed person—someone who sees meaning in the arrangement of things on Earth’s surface, who sees relations between people, places, and environments, who uses geographic skills, and who applies spatial and ecological perspectives to life situations. Geographic skills enable a person to understand the connections between patterns of rivers and the physical processes that create them, between patterns of cities and the human processes that create them, and between what happens in the places in which we live and what happens in places throughout the world, near and far.

The goal of the National Geography Standards is to enable students to become geographically informed through knowledge and mastery of three things: (1) factual knowledge; (2) mental maps and tools; (3) and ways of thinking.”

Geography For Life: National Geography Standards, Second Edition

“GEOGRAPHY IS FOR LIFE IN EVERY SENSE OF THAT EXPRESSION: LIFELONG, LIFE-SUSTAINING, AND LIFE-ENHANCING.”

StandardDescription (Link)Essential Element
1How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate informationThe World in Spatial Terms
2How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial contextThe World in Spatial Terms
3How to analyze the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth’s surfaceThe World in Spatial Terms
4The physical and human characteristics of placesPlaces and Regions
5That people create regions to interpret Earth’s complexityPlaces and Regions
6How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places and regionsPlaces and Regions
7The physical processes that shape the patterns of Earth’s surfacePhysical Systems
8The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems and biomes on Earth’s surface Physical Systems
9The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth’s surfaceHuman Systems
10The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaicsHuman Systems
11The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surfaceHuman Systems
12The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlementHuman Systems
13How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth’s surfaceHuman Systems
14How human actions modify the physical environmentEnvironment and Society
15How physical systems affect human systemsEnvironment and Society
16The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resourcesEnvironment and Society
17How to apply geography to interpret the pastThe Uses of Geography
18How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future.The Uses of Geography

CREATED BY

GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION PROJECT

PHOTOS: TOP IMAGE: JOHN STANMEYER

Get updates about our critical work to explore and protect our planet.

GIVE TODAY!
The National Geographic Society is proud to invest in a global community of intrepid Explorers working to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world. Make a tax-deductible gift to support the Society today, and your support will help fund the next generation of changemakers.