Mr. Bowden’s PNW website

yesterday we started our election unit. We started yesterday with a pre-test that the students did very bad on, as was expected. The class average was about 14%.  We will repeat the exact same test in 3 weeks at the end of this unit.

The focus of the unit will be on the state-wide issues: Initiative 1033 and Referendum 71. The reason that we are focusing on these is because they are good representations of the powers that citizens have to influence state government.

We will be looking at a variety of sources. Today we will be looking at the basic information regarding the issue through the King5.com site . The first video is examining voter opinion on the two ballot measures. The next two videos examine the separate issues and how they got to the ballot (R-71 and I-1033  and here .)

It is important for students to be aware of the issues from all sides. We will be using the TVW page through the Secretary of State website to examine pros and cons for each of the two state issues. If we have time we will look at how the ballots are processed. We will also look at what exactly an initiative is and examine some of the more frequently asked questions regarding them. We will also look at the different types of initiatives and some of the their history.

On Friday we will vote on the two state-wide issues along with students from all over the state.

Friday we have a unit test of everything that we have done so far. Here is a study guide for that:

Study guide for Geography Unit Exam

TOPICS

Directions

Compass Rose

Coordinates

Geographical features

Washington State Cities

Washington State Regions

Latitude and Longitude

Directions: Using your past assignments and quizzes go through and find answers to the following questions. Just because something is on this assignment doesn’t mean that it will be on the test and just because it is not on this assignment does not mean that it won’t be on the test.

1. Be able to identify all of the directions on the compass rose and what each set is called.
2. Be able to identify where a place is based on the given coordinates
3. Be able to give the coordinates of a specific place
4. Be able to identify which quadrant of the globe a specific place is
5. Be able to identify the names of geographical features from a picture
6. Be able to analyze a map to answer questions
7. Be able to identify what businesses use what parts of Washington for natural resources
8. Be able to identify where a variety of cities are
9. Be able to identify where each region in Washington state is
10. Be able to identify which region various cities are in
11. Be able to identify major cities and mountains
12. Be able to differentiate between various regions for different topics (for example, tell which region has the highest population, which has the most farming,etc.)

Yesterday in class we took a pre-test on locations of cities and regions in Washington state. The overall averages were low, just what should be expected. Those test scores are in the grade book but they are not counted. The students will be taking another version of that same test early next week to see how they have improved.

To prepare they will be creating a map to study today and then the next couple days be working with large maps that we have to become more familiar with the state an its regions.

Today we are starting our unit on Washington state geography. We will be focusing on where different places are located and why they are located there. The interaction between humans and the environment will continue to be a theme.

First we will explore the general areas of washington. Then we will look at expanded regions of Washington. Then counties of Washington. Then we will explore the tourism site of Washington State.

Please don’t forget, the hand maps are due Tomorrow (wed 10/14)!

The past two days we have been workign on map symbols. The students were making up their own and having other students guess what they were, which was fun. Starting tomorrow we will be working on the hand map project.

The hand map project is worth 35 points and will demonstrate how well the students have learned the different parts of maps and geographical terms.

Starting in the middle of next week we will move on to geography of Washington state and on the 23 we will have our first large scale exam; the entire geography unit.

This week we are focusing on latitude, longitude and coordinates. This is often difficult for students to wrap their heads around the first couple days but gets easier. We will have a quick assessment of this topic later this week, Thursday or Friday. PLease review the latitude and longitude.

We will also be watching a short video on the topic.

Today we will be having our first quiz of the year. This year there will be a greater focus on assessment and we will have them more frequently. This also means that we will have less focus on daily assignments for points.

The quiz today will be on geographical terms, compass rose points and different type sof maps.

We will be exploring some more types of maps. We will look at the website show.mappingworlds.com . We will be examining this map as our warm-up.

We will also play a review game using different geographical terms. We will use this picture , this picture, this picture, this picture, this picture , this picture and this one . In this game students will have their back to the image and will have 10 yes or no questions to ask of their classmates to see they can guess what the geographical feature is.

After that we will be using a worksheet that will go over the main different types of maps and will review the geographical terms. The part regarding the different types of maps may end up beign homework. The other assignment that they may have that is homework is their compass rose assignment. The students may be done with this but it is due on Thursday.

Today in class students are making their own compass roses. the requirements include including through super-sub-cardinal direction, labelling North and doing it in full color. Later I will include some examples, hopefully.

Also, this Friday we will have a quiz on the directions, types of maps and geographical terms.

Thsi week we have been starting to look at geography and how our environment affects us and vice versa. We have been using the classroom atlases, which unfortunately we are unable to send home. We are going over each lesson in class and the students are keeping them to use as study aides for a quiz that we will have next week on this information.

On Friday, 9/18, we are going to be looking at different types of maps online and then also looking at compass roses. Next week the students will creating their own compass roses. We will be looking at the variety of maps that exist, one of the main areas we will examine is the worldmapper.org . Other examples of maps are from Washington state like this topographical one, this road one, this elevation one, this geological one and this precipitation one.

After we are done looking at maps we look at the compass rose and go over some examples. Here is one, another, another , another  , another and we will quickly explore this compass game. Then we will look at more compass roses, like this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one and this locally famous one.

If we have time we will explore a few geography videos like this one , this one , this one .

Here is our warm-up picture . The goal is to find as many geographical features as possible in this picture and guess where this place might be and explain why you think so. Here is our next warm-up picture .