Geography Saves America! The Battle of Gettysburg

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This lesson was created by Kenny Shannon (Pocahontas Area Schools) for students from ninth to twelfth grade. During this lesson plan, students will learn how geography impacted the outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg. this lesson plan was supported by the Mid-Iowa School Improvement Consortium (MISIC) and a Library of Congress 'Teaching With Primary Sources' grant.

Discipline/Subject

Physical Geography

American History

English

Reading

Theme

Environmental

Landforms

Cartography/Maps

Historical

Region

United States

North America

Five Themes of Geography

Place

Human-Environment Interaction

Common Core Standards

Reading Standards for Literature (RL)

Writing Standards (W)

Speaking and Listening Standards (SL)

Iowa Core 21st Century Standards

ES 3. Demonstrate leadership skills, integrity, ethical behavior, and social responsibility while collaborating to achieve common goals

ES 4. Demonstrate initiative and self-direction through high achievement and lifelong learning while exploring the ways individual talents and skills can be used for productive outcomes in personal and professional life

National Geographic Standards

1. How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective

15. How physical systems affect human systems

16. The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources

17. How to apply geography to interpret the past

Iowa Core Social Studies Standards

GE 1. Understand the use of geographic tools to locate and analyze information about people, places, and environments

GE 3. Understand how human factors and the distribution of resources affect the development of society and the movement of populations

GE 5. Understand how human actions modify the environment and how the environment affects humans

HI 6. Understand the effects of geographic factors on historical events

Geographic Alliance of Iowa

Putting Iowa in its place

Geography Saves America! The Battle of Gettysburg