Unit 1 - Lesson 2: What Do Geographers Do?

Big Ideas of the Lesson

Geographers use an inquiry-based process to study Earth and the ways people interact
with it.
This process involves asking geographic questions, acquiring geographic information, and
organizing and analyzing the information to answer geographic questions.
Geographers use a variety of sources and methods to carry out this inquiry process.
Geographers use an inquiry process to study and solve a variety of problems from local to
global spatial scales.

Lesson Abstract:
In this lesson students learn a method for geographic inquiry as foundational knowledge for the
many global problems and solutions they will be exploring in this course. Students are introduced
to the five questions of geographic inquiry through a short PowerPoint presentation relating to the
drying up of the Aral Sea. The teacher then models applying the questioning process to a local
problem relating to the pollution of a river. Students then apply what they have learned as they
independently create an inquiry plan to investigate the problem of where to place a new park in a
community.
Content Expectations: 6 - G1.2.4
6 - G1.2.1
Common Core State Standards: RH.6-8.7
Key Concepts
geographic inquiry
geographic thinking
social science fields (anthropology, civics, economics, geography, history, sociology)