Idaho Social Studies 6-9.WG.2.12

Social StudiesGrades 6–9Geography

The Standard

Analyze the availability of natural resources in regions throughout the world.

Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students locate freshwater, forests, minerals, and fuels on world maps. They compare regions and use rainfall or geology to explain why a resource is plentiful or scarce.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can compare two regions using evidence from a resource map. They can explain a difference without assuming the resource is evenly spread across either region.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume a dry region has no water, overlooking rivers and aquifers. They may also mistake a large mineral deposit for a supply that is easy to mine.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: The Amazon Basin gets about 2,000 mm of rain yearly; much of the Arabian Peninsula gets under 250 mm. Which likely has more renewable freshwater, and what else would you check before deciding?

Lesson moves

Give pairs a blank world map, an atlas, and cards labeled oil, freshwater, and timber; have them place cards and explain two choices.
Ask, 'Why might the Arabian Peninsula have oil but limited renewable freshwater?' Have students use a climate map and an oil map.
Have pairs match region cards to resource cards using an atlas, then point to map evidence for each match.
Use a Chilean copper mine map and a phone parts diagram to show where the copper in a phone may come from.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 6-9.WG.2.12, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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