Virginia SOL S.CE.b

Social Studies7th Grade

The Standard

applying geographic skills to determine and predict patterns and trends of people, places, or events

Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read maps, graphs, tables, and timelines to find where and how change occurs. They use visible evidence to explain a pattern and predict what may happen next.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can identify clusters, movement, growth, or decline across places and time periods. They make a reasonable prediction and support it with two details from the data.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat one unusual data point as a trend or assume that nearby events caused each other. They may also ignore the map key, scale, dates, or missing data when making predictions.
How to Assess It: Give students population maps from 2010 and 2020. Ask them to predict one change by 2030 and support it with two mapped details.

Lesson moves

Place colored counters on a Virginia map using county population data, then group the counters to identify areas of growth and decline.
Study a population map and highway map, then write which areas may grow next and cite two geographic clues.
Play Pattern Prediction Relay, where teams identify a map pattern, make a prediction, and earn points for clear evidence.
Use local housing and school enrollment maps to recommend where the district should consider building its next school.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to S.CE.b, 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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