D2.Geo.3.6-8: Mapping and Graphing Spatial Patterns
In plain English: D2.Geo.3.6-8 is the C3 Framework geography indicator for grades 6-8 that asks students to use paper and electronic mapping and graphing techniques to show and analyze spatial patterns of environmental and cultural characteristics. Students plot real data on maps and graphs, by hand and on a computer, and then describe where things are, how patterns line up and what might explain them.
Use paper based and electronic mapping and graphing techniques to represent and analyze spatial patterns of different environmental and cultural characteristics.
C3 Framework for Social Studies (NCSS) · Dimension 2: Applying Disciplinary Concepts and Tools · Discipline: Geography · Geographic Representations: Spatial Views of the World · Official standard
Students learn the four tools named in D2.Geo.3.6-8: paper maps, electronic maps, paper graphs and electronic graphs. They use them on one real region, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor on the coast of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. A National Park Service page (Source 1) describes the cultural characteristic: the corridor honors the history and culture of the Gullah Geechee people, including their language, foods, crafts and traditions. U.S. Geological Survey elevation data (Sources 2 and 3) describe an environmental characteristic: how high the land is above sea level.
Students first represent the data: they plot points on a base map, draw an elevation graph on graph paper and build the same graph and a map layer on a computer. Then they analyze: they compare the cultural layer with the environmental layer, describe each pattern with numbers and ask what could explain where the two line up. All maps on this page are drawn from U.S. Census Bureau boundary files, and every elevation is a USGS value, rounded to the nearest meter.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Represent an environmental characteristic (elevation) and a cultural characteristic (a heritage corridor) on a map, using symbols, a legend and a scale bar.
Draw an elevation profile from a data table both on graph paper and in a spreadsheet, with labeled axes and a sensible scale.
Analyze a spatial pattern by naming its shape (clustered, linear or scattered) and describing it with numbers from the data.
Compare a cultural pattern with an environmental pattern by overlaying layers, and explain one possible link using a source.
Explain one strength and one limit of paper-based and electronic mapping and graphing techniques.
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Reading information from maps, charts and graphs and connecting it to a text RH.6-8.7
Plotting points on a coordinate grid and choosing a scale for an axis
Knowing the cardinal directions and how a map legend works
"You have a list of 11 cities and how high each one sits above sea level. Would you show the list on a map, on a graph or on both? Write one thing a map would help you see and one thing a graph would help you see."
Take four or five answers and sort them into two columns on the board, Map and Graph. Students usually say a map shows where things are and a graph shows how much or how things change. Tell them that geographers use both, and that today they will make each one twice: once by hand and once on a computer.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Key terms for D2.Geo.3.6-8 (working definitions)
Term
What it means
Example from this lesson
Spatial pattern
The way something is arranged across space. Common shapes: clustered (bunched in one area), linear (along a line, such as a coast or river) and scattered (spread out with no clear shape)
Where the 11 cities in Source 2 sit on the map
Environmental characteristic
A feature of the natural world: landforms, elevation, water, climate, soil, plants
Elevation; marshes; islands
Cultural characteristic
A feature that people create and share: language, foods, music, crafts, beliefs, building styles
The traditions the corridor honors
Elevation
Height of the land above sea level, here in meters (m). Values near 0 m are at sea level; a reading slightly below 0 m is water or marsh
Columbia, SC: 99 m
Elevation profile
A line graph of elevation along a line drawn on a map: distance along the line goes across, elevation goes up
Diagram 2
Barrier island
A long, narrow island of sand that lies along the mainland coast and faces the open ocean
Many islands along the South Carolina and Georgia coast
Paper-based technique
Making or marking maps and graphs by hand: base maps, colored pencils, tracing-paper overlays, graph paper
Activities 1 and 2
Electronic technique
Making maps and graphs on a computer: spreadsheets, charts, web maps and GIS
Activities 2 and 3
GIS and layer
A geographic information system (GIS) is software that stores map data in layers. A layer is one set of data, such as cities or elevation, that you can switch on or off, style and stack on other layers
A city layer over a shaded-relief layer
Legend and scale bar
The legend (or key) explains each symbol; the scale bar shows how map distance matches real distance
Diagram 1: 100 km bar
Part 1: Four tools, two jobs. Draw a 2 x 2 grid on the board: paper and electronic across the top, map and graph down the side. Every technique in this lesson fits one box. Then name the two jobs the standard asks for: to represent (turn data into a map or graph that others can read) and to analyze (find the pattern, describe it with numbers and ask what explains it).
Part 2: Read Diagram 1 together. Point out the legend, the north arrow and the 100 km scale bar. Filled dots are cities in coastal counties of the corridor; hollow dots are inland cities. The number beside each city is its elevation in meters. The two shaded counties are the corridor's end points named by the National Park Service. The dashed line is the line used for the elevation profile in Diagram 2. Do not describe the patterns yet: students do that in Independent Practice.
Part 3: Worked examples. Model each technique once, using Source 3 (the elevation profile data) and the city list.
Paper graphing (environmental characteristic)
Plot the first five points of Source 3 on graph paper. Choose a scale that fits: 1 square across = 5 km and 1 square up = 2 m. Label the axes with names and units.
Result: Points: (0 km, -1 m), (10, -1), (19, 2), (29, 10), (38, -1). Joined in order, the line stays within a few meters of sea level, with one small rise to 10 m at 29 km. This is the start of an elevation profile.
Type all 21 points of Source 3 into a spreadsheet: distance in column A, elevation in column B. Select both columns and insert a scatter chart with straight lines.
Result: The chart has the same shape as Diagram 2. The spreadsheet can also do the arithmetic: the formula =MAX(B2:B22) returns the highest value in the column without hunting for it by eye.
Paper mapping (linking a graph to a map)
On a tracing-paper sheet laid over Diagram 1, mark where along the dashed line the profile first climbs above 20 m. The line is 190 km long.
Result: Source 3 is 7 m at 57 km and 26 m at 67 km, so the mark goes between those distances. 57 / 190 = 0.30 and 67 / 190 = 0.35, so the mark sits about one third of the way from Hunting Island toward Columbia.
Electronic mapping (cultural characteristic)
Make a GIS or web-map layer from a table with four columns: city, latitude, longitude and corridor (yes or no). Style the points by the corridor column and switch on a shaded-relief layer underneath.
Result: Two layers: a city layer with two symbols (corridor yes, corridor no) and an elevation layer. Switching the city layer on and off lets students compare the cultural layer with the land underneath, the electronic version of a tracing-paper overlay.
Teacher tip. Students often put distance on the wrong axis or start the elevation axis at 0 when some values are below 0. Ask, "What goes across, and what goes up?" and "What is your lowest value?" before they draw.
Guided Practice15 minutes
A cultural region in words. Source 1 is the National Park Service's description of the corridor. Read it aloud while students follow along. Paragraph 1 is about the people and their history; paragraph 2 is about where the corridor is and who looks after it. Work through paragraph 2 together, then save paragraph 1 for the quiz and Independent Practice.
1The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor was created to call attention to the historic and cultural contributions of the Gullah Geechee people. The Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved and bought to the lower Atlantic states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Georgia to work on the coastal rice, Sea Island cotton and indigo plantations. Because their enslavement was on isolated coastal plantations, sea and barrier islands, they were able to retain many of their indigenous African traditions. These traditions are reflected in their foodways, arts and crafts, and spiritual traditions. They also created a new language, Gullah, a creole language spoken nowhere else in the world.
2The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, and the federal Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission established to oversee it, were designated by an act of Congress on October 12, 2006 through the National Heritage Areas Act of 2006. The Corridor runs from Pender County North Carolina to St. John’s County Florida. The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Commission is charged with helping to achieve the goals of the Corridor designation: to recognize, sustain, and celebrate the important contributions made to American culture and history by the Gullah Geechee; to assist state and local governments and public and private entities in South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida in interpreting the story of the Gullah Geechee and preserving Gullah Geechee folklore, arts, crafts, and music; and to assist in identifying and preserving sites, historical data, artifacts, and objects associated with Gullah Geechee people and culture for the benefit and education of the public.
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (Source 1, National Park Service place page) (2024). US government work (17 U.S.C. 105). Source text.
Where is it? Prompt: which two counties mark the ends of the corridor (paragraph 2)? Teacher note: Pender County, North Carolina, and St. Johns County, Florida. Students find both shaded counties on Diagram 1.
How big is it? Prompt: use the scale bar to estimate the straight-line distance between the two end-point counties. Teacher note: the centers of the two counties are about 600 km apart, so accept 550-650 km; the point is to use the bar, not a ruler reading in centimeters.
Which tool fits? Prompt: you want to show the corridor on a paper map. What would you draw? Teacher note: shade the coastal counties between the two ends with one color and add it to the legend. On a computer, the same job is a county layer filtered to the corridor counties.
What could be mapped next? Prompt: paragraph 2 lists the Commission's goals. Which of them gives data a map could show? Teacher note: "identifying and preserving sites" gives point locations, which would make a dot layer.
Ask a geographic question. Prompt: the corridor follows the coast. What environmental layer would you compare it with, and why? Teacher note: elevation, distance from the ocean or marshes are good answers. This leads into Independent Practice.
Independent Practice15 minutes
Real data: elevation. Sources 2 and 3 are U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) elevations from its Elevation Point Query Service, which reads the national 3D Elevation Program data. Source 2 gives the elevation at the U.S. Census Bureau's center point for each of 11 cities. Source 3 gives 21 evenly spaced points along the dashed line on Diagram 1, from Hunting Island to Columbia.
Source 2: Elevation of 11 Southeast cities (USGS, rounded to the nearest meter)
City
State
Location
Elevation (m)
Wilmington
North Carolina
Coastal county, in the corridor
13
Charleston
South Carolina
Coastal county, in the corridor
1
Beaufort
South Carolina
Coastal county, in the corridor
6
Savannah
Georgia
Coastal county, in the corridor
2
Brunswick
Georgia
Coastal county, in the corridor
0
Jacksonville
Florida
Coastal county, in the corridor
1
Florence
South Carolina
Inland
37
Raleigh
North Carolina
Inland
95
Columbia
South Carolina
Inland
99
Augusta
Georgia
Inland
106
Macon
Georgia
Inland
113
Source 3: Elevation along the line from Hunting Island to Columbia, South Carolina (USGS, rounded)
Distance (km)
Elevation (m)
Distance (km)
Elevation (m)
Distance (km)
Elevation (m)
0
-1
67
26
133
61
10
-1
76
26
143
107
19
2
86
22
152
58
29
10
95
36
162
30
38
-1
105
40
171
44
48
2
114
45
181
87
57
7
124
52
190
95
Sources 2 and 3: U.S. Geological Survey, Elevation Point Query Service (epqs.nationalmap.gov), queried October 2026; city points from the U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer files. Values are rounded to the nearest meter.
Task (pairs). (1) Make a paper bar graph of Source 2, with one color for corridor cities and another for inland cities. (2) Give the lowest and highest elevation in each group. (3) Write two sentences that compare the groups, using numbers. (4) Look at Diagram 2: in which part of the line is the land lowest?
Look for: the corridor group runs from 0 m to 13 m and the inland group from 37 m to 113 m, so every corridor city is lower than every inland city. On Diagram 2 the land is lowest at the coastal end, where the shaded band shows readings of 10 m or less for the first 57 km. Strong pairs say that the patterns line up but that the data alone do not explain why.
Closure10 minutes
Exit ticket: On an index card, finish two sentences: "A paper map or graph is useful when ..." and "An electronic map or graph is useful when ..." Then add one question you would want to answer with another data layer.
Teacher note on Source 1: the passage is quoted exactly from the National Park Service page. It contains two slips: "bought" in paragraph 1 means "brought," and "St. John's County" in paragraph 2 is officially St. Johns County. Point them out so students do not copy them. The passage states plainly that the Gullah Geechee people descend from Africans who were enslaved on coastal plantations; treat this as documented history and keep the focus on the culture they built and kept.
Teacher note on the data: each elevation is a single point. A city's elevation changes from street to street, and a single point can land on a creek or a small hill. The values are real, but they are samples, which is why geographers use many points and why Source 3 has 21 of them.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a pre-drawn graph frame for Source 3 with axes already scaled (0-200 km across, -10 to 120 m up), so students only plot points.
Pair the key-terms table with a picture card for each pattern shape: clustered, linear and scattered.
In Guided Practice, let students highlight place names in one color and traditions in another before answering.
For Advanced Students
Ask them to sample five more elevations with the USGS Elevation Point Query Service (or The National Map viewer) along a different line and graph them.
Ask them to design a third layer that could test their explanation, for example the location of heritage sites, and say what pattern would support or weaken it.
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Strong work uses a legend, labeled axes with units and a scale that fits the data; names the shape of a pattern and backs it with numbers; compares two layers without claiming that one causes the other; and can say what each technique does well. Watch for graphs with distance on the vertical axis, maps with no legend and claims such as "low land makes culture."
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Tracing-Paper Layers
20 minPairs
Each pair builds a two-layer paper map. A printed copy of Diagram 1 is the base map, and each tracing-paper sheet is one layer: this is how geographers layered maps before computers, and it is the same idea a GIS uses.
Setup
Give each pair a printed Diagram 1, two sheets of tracing paper, a paper clip and colored pencils. Students clip the first sheet over the map and trace the coastline and the four state borders so the layers line up.
Steps
Layer A, cultural: on the first sheet, color the two end-point counties and draw a band along the coast between them. Label it "Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor (NPS)" and add a legend box.
Layer B, environmental: on the second sheet, sort the 11 cities of Source 2 into three classes and give each class a symbol: 0-20 m (small triangle), 21-60 m (medium triangle) and over 60 m (large triangle). Add a legend.
Stack Layer A on Layer B and hold them up to the light.
Discussion
Ask: Which elevation class falls inside the band you drew on Layer A? Which class falls outside it? Every corridor city is in the 0-20 m class, and no inland city is. Then ask: Does the overlay show why the corridor is where it is? (No: it shows where the layers match. Explaining needs a source.)
2
Two Ways to Graph the Coast
20 minPairs
Pairs graph the same 21 points twice, by hand and on a computer, and compare the two methods. The data are Source 3, the elevation profile from Hunting Island to Columbia.
Paper graph (10 min)
Partner A draws the profile on graph paper. Before plotting, the pair agrees on the axes: distance from the coast across (0-200 km) and elevation up (-10 to 120 m). Partner A labels both axes with units, plots all 21 points in order and joins them.
Spreadsheet graph (10 min)
Partner B types Source 3 into two spreadsheet columns, inserts a scatter chart with straight lines, adds axis titles and a chart title, and uses =MIN and =MAX on the elevation column. Then the partners swap roles and check each other's work against Diagram 2.
Compare
Each pair writes one strength and one weakness of each method on a T-chart and gives one example of a mistake that the other method would have caught. Collect a few T-charts for the class to compare in Closure.
3
Build a Map Layer on a Computer
20 minGroups of 3
Groups turn a data card into a digital map layer, style it and filter it. Any web map or GIS tool that your school allows and that can import a spreadsheet with latitude and longitude will work. The USGS's free viewer, The National Map, can show a shaded-relief elevation layer underneath.
Data card
City points (U.S. Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer) with USGS elevations, as in Source 2.
City
Latitude
Longitude
Elevation (m)
Corridor
Wilmington
34.21
-77.89
13
yes
Charleston
32.83
-79.97
1
yes
Beaufort
32.46
-80.72
6
yes
Savannah
32.02
-81.20
2
yes
Brunswick
31.14
-81.47
0
yes
Jacksonville
30.34
-81.66
1
yes
Florence
34.18
-79.79
37
no
Raleigh
35.83
-78.64
95
no
Columbia
34.04
-80.91
99
no
Augusta
33.37
-82.07
106
no
Macon
32.81
-83.69
113
no
Steps
Type the card into a spreadsheet and save it as a CSV file.
Import it into the map tool as a point layer, using the latitude and longitude columns.
Style the points by the Corridor column: one symbol for yes, another for no. Add a legend.
Filter the layer to show only cities with an elevation under 20 m. Record which cities stay on the map.
Turn on an elevation or shaded-relief layer under the points and describe what the land looks like where the yes symbols are.
Variation: no devices
Run a "human GIS." Give each group a printed base map and three clear plastic sheets (or tracing paper) labeled City layer, Corridor layer and Filter. Students draw the points on the City layer, circle cities under 20 m on the Filter sheet, and stack and unstack the sheets to mimic switching layers on and off.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: Corridor Cities, Inland Cities and Their Elevations
Map of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida drawn from U.S. Census Bureau 2023 boundary files. Filled dots are cities in coastal counties of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor; hollow dots are inland cities. Numbers are USGS elevations in meters (Source 2). The shaded counties are the corridor's end points named by the National Park Service (Source 1). The dashed line is the profile line for Diagram 2.
Diagram 2: Elevation Profile from Hunting Island to Columbia
Line graph of the 21 USGS elevations in Source 3, drawn to scale: distance along the dashed line on Diagram 1 across, elevation in meters up. The dotted line marks sea level (0 m). The shaded band covers the points that are 10 m or lower.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
D2.Geo.3.6-8 Homework: A Second Profile Line in Georgia
Directions: Use Source 4 below, Diagram 1, Diagram 2 and Source 1. Source 4 is a new USGS elevation profile. It starts on Sapelo Island, Georgia, about 37 km north-northeast of Brunswick, and runs 110 km inland to Baxley, Georgia. Source 4 (distance from the start in km: elevation in m, USGS Elevation Point Query Service, rounded): 0: 1; 11: 1; 22: 5; 33: 6; 44: 5; 55: 16; 66: 33; 77: 45; 88: 51; 100: 55; 110: 61. Show your work for every number.
Part 1: Represent the Data (Problems 1-3)
Draw an elevation profile of Source 4 on graph paper. Write down the scale you chose for each axis, label both axes with units and give the graph a title.
Explain, step by step, how you would make the same graph in a spreadsheet. Then write the formula that would give the total rise from the first point to the last point, and give its result.
On your copy of Diagram 1, draw the Source 4 line in a new color and add it to the legend. How many 100 km scale bars long should your line be? Explain how you know.
Part 2: Analyze the Patterns (Problems 4-6)
For how many kilometers from the start does Source 4 stay at 6 m or lower? Compare this with the low coastal stretch on Diagram 2.
Find the average rise per kilometer for Source 4 (from the first point to the last) and for Source 3 (from Hunting Island to Columbia). Round to two decimal places. Which line climbs faster on average?
Write a paragraph of 4-6 sentences. Describe how the cultural pattern (the corridor) and the environmental pattern (elevation) relate on the coast, using at least two numbers from Sources 2-4. Use Source 1 to suggest one reason the patterns might be linked. Then name one more map layer, paper or electronic, that you would add to test your idea.
Rubric
Criterion
3: Strong
2: Developing
1: Beginning
Graph and map
Axes labeled with units, a scale that fits all values, points plotted correctly; map line drawn to scale and added to the legend
Minor errors in scale, labels or plotting
Missing labels or scale; points or line misplaced
Technique
Paper and spreadsheet steps are complete and in order; formula correct
Steps mostly complete; small error in the formula
Steps missing or formula incorrect
Pattern with numbers
Describes each pattern with correct distances, elevations and rates
Some numbers missing or slightly off
Describes the pattern without numbers
Explanation
Links the two patterns with evidence from Source 1, avoids claiming that elevation causes culture, proposes a fitting new layer
Link is stated but evidence or the new layer is weak
No link or an unsupported cause
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 1, 2 and 19 use Source 1 (National Park Service) in Guided Practice. Questions 4, 11 and 15 use Source 2 and Questions 5 and 17 use Source 3, both in Independent Practice. Other questions use Diagrams 1 and 2 and the activities. Choose an answer to see whether it is right; for short-answer questions, write your answer first and then open the model answer.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
According to paragraph 1 of Source 1, the Gullah Geechee people are descendants of people from which region?
Answer: B
B is right. Paragraph 1 says, "The Gullah Geechee people are the descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved" and brought to the lower Atlantic states. C and D name other regions linked to the Atlantic slave trade, but the source does not name them. A is not mentioned at all.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Source 1 names several characteristics of the region. Which one is a cultural characteristic?
Answer: D
D is right. A language is something people create and share, so it is cultural; paragraph 1 calls Gullah "a creole language spoken nowhere else in the world." A, B and C are landforms or locations, which are environmental characteristics. A student who picks C may think anything named in a text about culture must be cultural.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student wants a map that shows each of the 11 cities in Source 2 as a separate place and tells corridor cities from inland cities at a glance. Which map works best?
Answer: A
A is right: one dot per city keeps each place separate, and two dot styles show the two groups, as Diagram 1 does. B and C show no cities at all. D draws a line, which would hide the separate cities and the inland group.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use Source 2. How much higher is the highest inland city than the highest corridor city?
Answer: C
C is right. The highest inland city is Macon (113 m) and the highest corridor city is Wilmington (13 m): 113 - 13 = 100 m. A uses the lowest inland city instead (113 - 37 = 76). B uses Augusta, the second-highest inland city (106 - 13 = 93). D subtracts the lowest corridor city, Brunswick (113 - 0 = 113).
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Source 3, between which two neighboring points does the elevation drop the most?
Answer: C
C is right: from 107 m to 58 m is a drop of 49 m. The other drops are smaller: A, 10 m to -1 m (11 m); B, 26 m to 22 m (4 m); D, 58 m to 30 m (28 m). A student who picks D may be looking for the lowest point in that part of the line rather than the biggest change.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Diagram 2 dips from 58 m at 152 km to 30 m at 162 km and then climbs again. Which is the best explanation for a dip like this on an elevation profile?
Answer: A
A is right. A profile that goes down and then back up is crossing low ground between higher ground, which is what a river valley is; here the line passes near the Congaree River, which flows southeast from Columbia. B cannot be right: the point is more than 150 km from the coast and still 30 m above sea level. C confuses the graph with the map: the graph's scale is the same all the way across. D would make a bump, not a dip.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which of these is an electronic mapping or graphing technique?
Answer: D
D is right: a spreadsheet chart is made on a computer. A, B and C are all paper-based. C is easy to mix up because a GIS also uses layers, but tracing paper is the hand-made version.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In Activity 1, a pair stacks Layer A (the corridor) on Layer B (elevation classes). What does this technique let them do?
Answer: B
B is right: an overlay puts two layers over the same base map so you can see where they match. A is wrong because the layer shows only 11 city points in three classes, not every county. C confuses matching with causing. D is wrong because the layers are traced at the base map's scale.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which graph is best for showing how elevation changes as you move inland along the line in Source 3?
Answer: A
A is right: an elevation profile is a line graph with distance across and elevation up, so the line shows change along the way. B shows parts of a whole, which elevations are not. C and D use Source 2, a different data set, and D is a map rather than a graph.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
On Diagram 1, what shape is the spatial pattern of the six corridor cities?
Answer: C
C is right: the filled dots run in a line from Wilmington in the north to Jacksonville in the south, following the coast. A is wrong because they are spread over about 560 km, not bunched together. D ignores that none of them is inland.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use Source 2. What is the mean (average) elevation of the six corridor cities, to the nearest tenth of a meter?
Answer: B
B is right. 13 + 1 + 6 + 2 + 0 + 1 = 23 m, and 23 / 6 = 3.8 m. C is the sum, not divided by 6. A is the median (the middle of 0, 1, 1, 2, 6, 13 is halfway between 1 and 2). D is the mean of the five inland cities: (37 + 95 + 99 + 106 + 113) / 5 = 90 m.
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use the 100 km scale bar on Diagram 1. About how far apart are Charleston and Savannah in a straight line?
Answer: B
B is right: the gap between the two dots is about one and a half scale bars (1.46 bars), and 1.46 x 100 km is about 145 km, which matches the true straight-line distance. C reads the bar as 200 km (1.46 x 200 = 292). A reads it as 50 km (1.46 x 50 = 73), and D as 10 km (1.46 x 10 = 15).
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A classmate looks at the overlay from Activity 1 and says, "Low land causes Gullah Geechee culture." Which response is best?
Answer: D
D is right. An overlay shows that two patterns line up; it cannot show why. Source 1 offers a reason that involves people and history: isolation on coastal plantations and islands. A treats a match as a cause. C is false: the inland cities are 37-113 m, all higher than every corridor city. B gives a reason that has nothing to do with cause.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A student's web map has a city layer on top of an elevation layer. She wants to see the land under the cities without the city symbols in the way. What should she do?
Answer: A
A is right: in a GIS each layer can be switched off without deleting it, and the elevation layer underneath stays visible. B removes the very layer she wants to see. C changes how distance is shown, not which data appear. D is a paper technique and would not hide the symbols.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
Florence is the inland city closest to the coast on Diagram 1. Use Source 2 to compare its elevation with the corridor cities and with the other inland cities. What pattern does this suggest?
Model answer: Florence is 37 m. That is higher than every corridor city (the highest is Wilmington at 13 m) but lower than the other four inland cities (95-113 m). Since Florence is between the coast and the other inland cities, this suggests that elevation tends to rise as you move away from the coast. Rubric: 1 point for both comparisons with numbers, 1 point for the pattern.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
Source 2 could be shown as a map (like Diagram 1) or as a bar graph. Which would you choose to show that the corridor cities follow the coast, and which to compare their heights? Explain both choices.
Model answer: To show that the corridor cities follow the coast, I would use the map, because only a map shows where each city is. To compare heights, I would use a bar graph, because bars put every elevation on the same scale side by side, so the difference between 0-13 m and 37-113 m jumps out. Rubric: 1 point for each choice with a reason.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Source 3 is a table and Diagram 2 is a graph of the same 21 points. Name one thing the graph shows faster than the table and one thing the table shows more exactly.
Model answer: The graph shows the overall shape at once: the land stays near sea level close to the coast, then climbs, with a high point and a dip before Columbia. The table shows exact values, such as 61 m at 133 km, which are hard to read from the graph to the meter. Rubric: 1 point for each, with an example.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
Give one strength and one limit of paper-based mapping or graphing, and one strength and one limit of electronic mapping or graphing.
Model answer: Paper: a strength is that it needs no device and makes you look at every point as you plot it; a limit is that it is slow to change and hard to redo at a new scale. Electronic: a strength is speed, since a spreadsheet or GIS can sort, filter, compute and redraw in seconds; a limit is that it needs devices and software, and a typing error can change the whole chart without anyone noticing. Rubric: 1 point for each of the four parts.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Use Source 1 and Diagram 1. Explain one possible link between the cultural pattern (the corridor) and the environmental pattern (low coastal land). Use one quotation.
Model answer: On Diagram 1, the corridor cities sit on low land by the ocean. Source 1 suggests a link: "Because their enslavement was on isolated coastal plantations, sea and barrier islands, they were able to retain many of their indigenous African traditions." The coast's islands and marshes may have kept communities apart from the mainland, which helped traditions such as their language survive. The map shows the match; the source supplies the reason. Rubric: 1 point for the pattern, 1 for an accurate quotation, 1 for the explanation.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Diagram 1 shows only 11 cities. Explain why that is not enough to draw the corridor's exact boundary or the full elevation pattern, and name one data layer that would help.
Model answer: Eleven points are only samples: elevation changes between them, and the corridor's boundary is a set of lands and waters, not a list of cities. The law that created the corridor says its boundary is the one shown on an official map, so a county layer of the corridor counties (from that map) or a full elevation layer, such as USGS shaded relief in The National Map, would help. Rubric: 1 point for the reason, 1 point for a fitting layer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does D2.Geo.3.6-8 mean?
D2.Geo.3.6-8 asks middle school students to make maps and graphs, both by hand and on a computer, and to use them to study spatial patterns. The patterns can be environmental (landforms, elevation, climate) or cultural (language, traditions, building styles). Students have to do two things: represent the data so others can read it, and analyze what the pattern shows.
Is D2.Geo.3.6-8 only about maps, or about graphs too?
Both. The indicator names "mapping and graphing techniques," so a lesson should include at least one map and one graph. In geography, graphs often come from map data: an elevation profile, for example, is a graph of the land along a line drawn on a map.
What is the difference between paper-based and electronic techniques?
Paper-based techniques are done by hand: base maps, colored pencils, tracing-paper overlays and graph paper. Electronic techniques use a computer: spreadsheets, charts, web maps and geographic information systems (GIS). The indicator asks for both, because each one teaches something the other does not.
Do students need GIS software for D2.Geo.3.6-8?
No paid software is needed. A spreadsheet program covers electronic graphing, and free web viewers such as the USGS's The National Map show elevation and other layers. If devices are scarce, a "human GIS" with clear plastic or tracing-paper sheets teaches the same layer idea, and the electronic part can be done as a teacher demonstration.
What counts as an environmental characteristic and what counts as a cultural one?
Environmental characteristics come from nature: elevation, landforms, water bodies, soils, climate and vegetation. Cultural characteristics are made and shared by people: languages, foods, music, crafts, religions as practiced, place names and building styles. Some features, such as farms, mix both, so ask students to say which side of the feature they are mapping.
Where does the elevation data on this page come from?
All elevations come from the U.S. Geological Survey's Elevation Point Query Service, which returns the elevation of any point in the United States from the national 3D Elevation Program. City locations come from the U.S. Census Bureau's Gazetteer files, and the map outlines from Census cartographic boundary files. Students can query new points themselves at epqs.nationalmap.gov.
What mistakes do students make when they map and graph data?
Common ones are leaving out the legend or the units, choosing an axis scale that cuts off the lowest or highest values, swapping the axes, and reading a match between two layers as proof that one causes the other. A quick checklist (title, legend or axis labels, units, scale, source) before students hand in a map or graph catches most of them.
How is D2.Geo.3.6-8 different from D2.Geo.1.6-8?
D2.Geo.1.6-8 is about constructing maps to represent and explain spatial patterns. D2.Geo.3.6-8 widens the toolkit to graphs as well as maps, and to both paper and electronic methods, and it stresses analysis: comparing patterns of different characteristics.
Why does this lesson use the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor?
It is a real cultural region set by Congress and described by the National Park Service, and it lies along a coast where the land is low and flat, so a cultural layer and an environmental layer can be compared clearly. The source states the history of enslavement plainly; the lesson treats it as documented history and keeps the focus on the culture people built and kept.
What comes after D2.Geo.3.6-8 in high school?
In grades 9-12, D2.Geo.3.9-12 asks students to use geographic data to analyze how spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics vary at multiple scales, for example comparing a pattern across states with the same pattern across the counties of one state.
07
Related Standards
5 standards
These standards connect to D2.Geo.3.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
RH.6-8.7Prerequisite
Integrate visual information such as charts, graphs and maps with information in texts
Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.
