Virginia SOL 3.3.b
The Standard
identifying and locating major mountain ranges
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find and label major mountain ranges on a world map. They use continents, nearby bodies of water, and direction words to describe each location.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students place studied mountain ranges in the correct region, not just on the correct continent. They distinguish a mountain range from a single mountain and give a clear location clue.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may mark one dot instead of showing the long area covered by a range. They may confuse mountain names with continents or place a range in the wrong part of a continent.
How to Assess It
- Give students a blank world map and the names of two studied ranges. Ask them to shade and label each range, then name its continent.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build raised mountain ranges on a laminated world map using clay, then add name labels and continent cards.
Ask students to write two clues that would help a classmate locate one studied mountain range without naming it.
Play Mountain Range Match by pairing range name cards with numbered locations on a world map.
Compare a relief map with a modern road map and discuss how mountain ranges affect travel routes and settlement locations.
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Printable 3.3.b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.3.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 2.11.b
identifying major rivers, mountain ranges, lakes, and other physical features in the United States
- WG.6.a
identifying and analyzing the location of major geographic regions and major cities on maps and globes;
- WG.9.a
identifying and analyzing the location of major geographic regions and major cities on maps and globes;
- WG.8.a
identifying and analyzing the location of major geographic regions and major cities on maps and globes;
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