Indiana Social Studies 7.G.5
The Standard
Compare and contrast the distribution of natural resources in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific; describe how natural resource distribution can impact the wealth of a country.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use maps to compare where natural resources are found in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific. They explain how selling those resources can bring money into a country.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name a resource found in two regions and one that is concentrated in a particular place. They can explain why having a valuable resource does not guarantee a country will be wealthy.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every country in a region has the same resources. They may also assume that a country with oil is automatically wealthy, without considering extraction costs or who receives the profits.
How to Assess It
- Show a map marking oil in Nigeria and Saudi Arabia and iron ore in Australia. Ask students to name one pattern they see and explain how selling one of those resources could affect a country's income.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups blank maps and colored stickers for oil, cobalt, and iron ore; have them mark deposits using a resource atlas.
Ask students to write: Nigeria and Saudi Arabia both have oil. Why might oil sales bring different amounts of money to each country?
Run a map-match relay: teams pair resource cards with Nigeria, DR Congo, Saudi Arabia, and Australia, then name one regional difference.
Show a phone battery photo, locate cobalt mines in DR Congo on a map, and discuss how cobalt exports could bring in money.
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Printable 7.G.5 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- WG.5.4
Identify patterns of world resource distribution and utilization, and explain the impacts of using renewable and nonrenewable resources.
- 7.C.2
Compare and contrast historical and contemporary governments in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific.
- WG.5.5
Identify examples from different world regions, involving the use and management of resources. Explain how different points of view influence policies relating ...
- 7.G.2
Describe and compare major cultural characteristics of regions in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific.
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