NY Social Studies 3.2b

Social Studies3rd GradeKey Idea 3.2

The Standard

World communities can be located in relation to each other and to principle parallels and meridians.

New York State K–12 Social Studies Framework

The location of world communities can be described using geographic tools and vocabulary.

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students locate selected world communities on a map or globe. They describe each location relative to the United States and other communities using cardinal and intermediate directions. They also tell whether a community is north or south of major parallels and east or west of the Prime Meridian.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can point to a named community and describe its location with accurate direction words. The student can compare two communities and correctly use the equator, tropics, polar circles, and Prime Meridian as reference lines.
Common Misconceptions: Students may confuse east and west or treat map directions as left and right. They may think a community must sit directly on a reference line, or confuse the equator with the Prime Meridian.
How to Assess It: Give students a labeled world map and ask: “Where is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, relative to New York City, the equator, and the Prime Meridian?” Require three direction statements.

Lesson moves

Give pairs a globe, yarn, and sticky dots to mark major reference lines and three selected world communities.
Ask students to write directions from the United States to one selected community using at least two direction words.
Play Map Clue Challenge, where students identify a hidden community from clues about reference lines and relative location.
Use a world weather map to compare temperatures in communities north and south of the equator.

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