Texas TEKS 5.7.B
The Standard
explain the geographic factors that influence patterns of settlement and the distribution of population in the United States
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use maps to identify where people live in the United States. They explain how water, climate, landforms, resources, and transportation affect those locations.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students compare two regions and explain why one has more people. They support the explanation with details from physical and population maps.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume people are spread evenly or that climate is the only factor. They may also confuse a large state with a heavily populated state.
How to Assess It
- Give students physical and population maps of the United States. Ask them to name one dense area and explain two geographic reasons people settled there.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Layer printed population, river, landform, and climate maps, then circle three dense areas and label the likely geographic reasons.
Discuss or write: Why are many large cities located near rivers, lakes, oceans, or major transportation routes?
Play a location card sort, matching U.S. cities with factors such as ports, mild climate, fertile land, minerals, or transportation.
Use local maps to identify nearby water, roads, landforms, and resources that may have influenced where the community developed.
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Printable 5.7.B Worksheet
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identify and explain the geographic factors responsible for patterns of population in places and regions
- 4.7.A
explain the geographic factors such as landforms and climate that influence patterns of settlement and the distribution of population in Texas, past and present...
- 5.12.B
identify and explain how geographic factors have influenced the location of economic activities in the United States;
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