praxis social studies exam: geographic content
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Preparing to Teach Social Preparing to Teach Social Studies: Geographic Content Studies: Geographic Content
for the Praxis Examfor the Praxis Exam
Social Studies Praxis Exam: About This Test
• Demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary for a beginning secondary social studies teacher.
• Understand and apply social studies knowledge, concepts, methodologies, and skills across the fields. A number of the questions are interdisciplinary.
130 Multiple Choice Questions
• 60 percent knowledge, recall, and/or recognition questions• 40 percent higher-order thinking questions. • Some based on interpreting materials
– written passages, maps, charts, graphs, cartoons, diagrams, & photos.
• 10 -15 percent of the questions contain content reflecting the diverse experiences of people in the U.S. as related to gender, culture, and/or race, and/or content relating to Latin America, Africa, Asia, or Oceania.
Geo-literacy
Distance and Time
I. Understands map types and projections and is able to acquire, organize, and analyze information from a spatial perspective
Mapping Map Projections
I. Understands map types and projections and is able to acquire, organize, and analyze information from a spatial perspective
spatial mapping map projections
II. Is familiar with the use of mental maps to organize spatial information
Mental maps
III. Knows how to recognize and interpret spatial patterns (e.g., population density,
literacy rates, infant mortality) presented at different scales from local to global
Which is the best map?
A
B
C
D
GEOGRAPHICAL CLASSIFICATION
World
Realms
Regions
Neighborhoods
IV. Knows how to locate and use sources of geographic data (e.g., Census Bureau,
Population Reference Bureau)
statisticsGIS
geospatial census
V. Understands spatial concepts (e.g., location, place, region) and knows how to apply them to
interpret data
location place regions
What name would you use to describe these beverages?
Multiple layers on the landscapeMultiple layers on the landscape
2002 2010
20102010
Place
Sept. 2010
Messages of cultural landscapes?
Cultural Landscape Meanings
VI. Understands how physical processes, climate
patterns, and natural hazards affect human societies
disastersphysicalweather and climate
VII. Knows the characteristics and spatial distribution of Earth’s ecosystems
ecology
VIII. Understands the interrelationships of humans and their environments
environment dependenvironment adapt
environment modify
IX. Understands renewable and nonrenewable natural resources
resources
X. Understands spatial patterns of cultural (e.g., ethnic, linguistic, religious) and economic
activities
culture ethnicity language religion economic
GDP per capita
XI. Understands patterns of migration (internal and international) and settlement (urban and
rural)
migration rural
Providence County Newport County
XII. Understands the development and changing nature of agriculture (e.g., genetically modified
crops, agribusiness, biotechnologies)
agricultureGMOs agribusiness.
Subsistence – predominantly low-income regions
Intensive subsistence – subtropical monsoon areas
Shifting cultivation – tropical forests & savannas
Nomadic herding – semiarid and arid lands
Commercial – predominantly high-income regions
Crop farming – more humid climates
Livestock ranching - drylands
Von Thünen Model
Fig. 10-13: Von Thünen’s model shows how distance from a city or market affects the choice of agricultural activity in (a) a uniform landscape and (b) one with a river.
XIII. Knows contemporary patterns and impacts of development, industrialization, and
globalization.
development industry globalization
XIV. Understands demographic patterns (e.g., composition, density, distribution) and
demographic change
population density
Population Distribution
Demographic Transition
XV. Knows basic concepts of political geography, including borders, state formation, and
contemporary areas of conflict
Political borders states conflict
Conflicts
devolution
Borders
supranationalism