USGS Education
| Grade Four History-Social Science Content Standards USGS Education Home / California Education Standards / California Resources |
| California : A Changing State 4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California. 1. Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine the absolute locations of places in California and on Earth. |
Latitude and Longitude - The National Atlas http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/mapping/a_latlong.html#one Article describing latitude and longitude and related terms. Datum shifts and map coordinate systems http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eespteam/GISLab/Cyprus/datums.htm Explains the datums that are used with latitudes and longitudes and how changing datums can shift the coordinate system that you are using. Understanding datums can be critical when using GPS receivers. The National Map http://nationalmap.gov/ Use the ' Find Place ' tool in The National Map Viewer to zoom in on a location anywhere in the United States using latitude & longitude, U.S. National Grid coordinates, UTM coordinates, or feature name. Alternatively, use the 'Identify' tool to get the coordinates of any point in the U.S. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) http://geonames.usgs.gov/ GNIS contains information for almost 2 million physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and its territories. Query the database to find individual features and their corresponding coordinates. Search results include links to on-line air photos and topographic maps containing the feature. GNIS is also a layer of The National Map (above). The National Map Corps http://nationalmap.gov/TheNationalMapCorps Class project: Become a volunteer for The National Map Corps. Use a GPS receiver to collect the coordinates of specific features in your area. The information that you gather is added to a national database that will become a layer of The National Map. Map-It: Form-based Simple Map Generator http://stellwagen.er.usgs.gov/mapit/ Enter the longitude and latitude of points to plot on a simple map. Download a postscript version of the resulting map. What Do Maps Show? (Teacher Packet) http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapsshow_download.htm This on-line teacher packet for upper elementary and junior high school students has four lessons on reading and using maps. The packet includes a teacher's guide, four printable activity sheets, and three maps in pdf format that can be downloaded and printed on 8.5" x 11" paper. Finding Your Way with a Map and Compass http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs03501.html A brief description of how to navigate using a compass and topographic maps. All about USGS Topographic Maps http://topomaps.usgs.gov/ A comprehensive description of topographic maps and how they are made. Links to map symbols and ordering information. Topographic Salad-Tray Model http://geography.wr.usgs.gov/outreach/topo_instructions.html This basic activity-oriented lesson helps students to understand a topographic map by creating a three-dimensional model from contours on a topographic map. Public Land Surveys Map http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/mapcatalog/culture.html A highly detailed paper map showing the growth of territory of the United States from 1776 through 1965; National parks and monuments, national forests, Indian Reservations, National Wildlife Refuge, and Public Lands; and Principal Meridians and Baselines, Townships, and Ranges from the U.S. Public Land Surveys. Use this map to teach and learn about how the country grew, and the affect of the Public Land Survey System on the present-day arrangement of roads and cities. Website includes a link to a list of questions that can be used with the map. This paper product is a cost item. |
| 2. Distinguish between the North and South Poles; the equator and the prime meridian; the tropics; and the hemispheres, using coordinates to plot locations. |
| 3. Identify the state capital and describe the various regions of California, including how their characteristics and physical environments (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate) affect human activity. |
The National Map http://nationalmap.gov/ Use The National Map Viewer to create printable maps of California or local areas showing water, landforms, land use and land cover, administrative boundaries, cities, and more. |
| 4. Identify the locations of the Pacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, and mountain passes and explain their effects on the growth of towns. |
The National Map Use The National Map Viewer to create printable maps of California or local areas showing rivers, landforms, cities, cultural features, and more. http://nationalmap.gov/ |
| 5. Use maps, charts, and pictures to describe how communities in California vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation. |
| The National Atlas http://nationalatlas.gov/ Use the 'Map Maker' feature to create maps of California showing agricultural use, forestation, amphibian and bat distribution, population density (1980-2000), transportation, and more. Maps can be printed on 8.5"x11" paper. |
| 4.4 Students explain how California became an agricultural and industrial power, tracing the transformation of the California economy and its political and cultural development since the 1850s. |
More Historical USGS topographic maps of the San Francisco Bay Area http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/histopo/ This interactive website provides access to historic USGS topographic maps going back into the late 19th Century when most of California was still undeveloped. An examination of the same location on maps of different ages shows the gradual progression of land use over time. |
| 4. Describe rapid American Immigration, internal migration, settlement, and the growth of towns and cities. |
| Analyzing Land Use Change in Urban Environments http://landcover.usgs.gov/urban/info/factsht.pdf Four-page USGS Fact Sheet describing and illustrating the need for urban growth studies. Urban Dynamics - California 's Central Valley http://ceres.ca.gov/calsip/cv/index.html Preliminary assessment of urban growth in California 's Central Valley . Includes an urban growth timeline and an urban growth animation from 1906-1996. USGS Urban Dynamics Research Program http://landcover.usgs.gov/urban/intro.asp Describes a project that analyzes land use change in urban environments in order to provide a historical perspective of land use change and an assessment of the spatial patterns, rates, correlation, trends, and impacts of that change. Includes links to computer animations of urban growth in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Baltimore-Washington Area. Urban Growth in American Cities (Circular 1252) http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/circ/2004/circ1252/ An on-line publication that illustrates the spatial history of urban growth in sixteen areas around the U.S. (including Sacramento, California ) and the corresponding land use change. Images can be downloaded as GIF files. |
U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://education.usgs.gov/california/grade_4_history_ss.htm
Page Contact Information: USGS Education Web Team
Page Last Modified: Tuesday, 22-Jul-2008 17:04:28 EDT
