Civics Unit 1 Lesson 6

Civics Unit 1 Lesson 6

Trivia Challenge

1. My official muffin is the apple muffin. I border Canada and two of the Great Lakes. What state am I?

2. I have the world's largest prairie dog! I also appear to be in the center of the contiguous United States. What state am I?

3. Once upon a time, before I was a U.S. state, some of my people declared independence from Mexico. They named me the "Bear Flag Republic." What state am I?

4. I am a huge state. In fact, people like to say we do everything big here. I share a border with another nation, four states, and a large body of water. What state am I?

In class, we will do more trivia.

Maps can show us how we divide land into sections. We can also use maps to learn information about those sections. The information we find can be very valuable. People in countless types of work use maps.

Have you ever seen or made a treasure map? Maps may not lead you to a chest full of riches, but they can lead you to information worth learning. You can focus on a single map point, like a latitude and longitude coordinate. You can also view information on maps that apply to a wide area of points.

The Global Positioning System, or GPSGlobal Positioning System (GPS): uses satellite technology developed for the military to locate a precise coordinate point for someone or something, tells us how to find a single point on Earth. It is like an electronic treasure map. The Global Information System, or GISGlobal Information Systems (GIS): sets of descriptive or scientific data for a place, tells us information about that point. Learn more about GPS, GIS, and special types of maps

show elevation of Earth’s surface

Every place on Earth has a GPS coordinate—even your home! With many cell phones having GPS ability, real-life treasure hunting is a fun way to learn about the world around you. Through "waymarkingWaymarking: an activity where people locate and log interesting locations around the world," you can discover fascinating places to visit. In "geocachingGeocaching: an activity where people use a GPS device to hide and seek special containers around the world," people leave an object with a logbook for others to find. For example, in one Florida community, a family placed a teddy bear and notebook in a sealed container. People who find it sign the logbook with the date and time. Several websites allow people to learn about these activities and list places to explore

Why Have Borders?

People throughout history have defined their territory through bordersBorder: a line dividing land areas, such as the division between nations or states. The lines they create are imaginary. We cannot see them from the air. However, we can see borders that follow a natural boundaryNatural Boundary: physical feature on Earth used to divide political areas. For example, the Rio Grande forms a natural boundary between Texas and Mexico. Sometimes a nation builds a physical boundary along a border. For example, the United States has built barrier fences along portions of its border with Mexico. Most borders are human-made and imaginary, which means they can change. The U.S.-Canada border largely follows the latitude line at 49 degrees north.

People create borders to identify who has access to resources. They also use borders to define who may enter the territory. Many wars happen because of disputes over borders. Nations guard disputed borders, often for many years.

Borders help determine what government provides law and order to an area and who represents the people living there. Within states and nations, people create borders to determine areas served by fire and police stations, schools, and recycling services.

Most nations divide their land area into smaller sections. Imagine the United States having only one school superintendent or police chief! Political divisions make areas easier to manage. For example, the United States has 50 states, one federal district, and six major territoriesTerritory: a geographic area governed by a government or nation. Canada and Cuba have provinces, which are similar to states but use a different name.

May I Go Wherever I Want?

You could visit family or a theme park in another state. Most U.S. citizens may visit any state they wish. The government does not usually guard borders between states. Each state makes its own laws. Visitors have the responsibility of learning the laws they must follow when in another state. One example is curfews for teen drivers.

Visiting a site in another nation is not as easy. International borders are often carefully guarded. Borders could be in dispute. A nation may wish to control immigrationImmigration: the act or process of people entering a new country to live there permanently. You may need special permission, in addition to a passportPassport: government identification allowing travel outside of and reentry into a country, to visit areas outside the country.

Can We Combine Data and Maps?

Computer software allows us to collect GIS dataData: information, facts, or statistics and display it on maps. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a censusCensus: official count of a population, or the process for collecting and recording information about a population every 10 years. We can learn much about the population of the United States by mapping this data. Maps have several important clues to help you read them. The map key, or legend, tells you what any symbolsSymbols: something, such as a picture, that represents something else—in a map, an image that represents the location of a physical or political feature, colors, or patterns mean on the map.

The title tells you about the map. This map shows state population changes for the years 2000-2010. Notice the use of color. Darker states indicate greater population growth than lighter states. Michigan is orange because its population went down. How is seeing this information on a map different from a list? With a map, you can make guesses about how location affected the population changes.