6​th​ grade SS
Unit 5
​
Title
Central America and the Caribbean
Suggested Dates
1.5 weeks
Big Idea/Enduring Understanding
Cultures change as new ideas are introduced.
Guiding Questions
How do cultures spread to new geographic regions?
How do geographic features influence the culture?
What are the positive and negative impact of cultural diffusion?
TEKS
●
Readiness TEKS
3A*
4D
6A
7A
15E*
17AD
Safety Net Standards
Supporting TEKS
4AE
10A
16B
17BCE
Vertical Alignment Expectations
*TEKS one level below*
*TEKS one level above*
SS TEKS
Sample Assessment Question
How does reforestation help economies and the environment in Central America?
How do natural disasters affect Central America physically and economically?
Identify the two types of economies foundin the Caribbean and give an example of each.
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
Process Skills
21B
22AC
The resources included here provide teaching examples and/or meaningful learning experiences to address the District Curriculum. In order to address the TEKS to
the proper depth and complexity, teachers are encouraged to use resources to the degree that they are congruent with the TEKS and research-based best practices.
Teaching using only the suggested resources does not guarantee student mastery of all standards. Teachers must use professional judgment to select among these
and/or other resources to teach the district curriculum. Some resources are protected by copyright. A username and password is required to view the copyrighted
material.
Knowledge and Skills with Student
Expectations
District Specificity/Examples
Focus : Understanding relationships among world cultures.
(17) Culture. The student understands Students should understand how
relationships that exist among world
occupation by various European
cultures. The student is expected to:
Countries left its mark on the
cultures of various Caribbean
(A) identify and describe how culture
nations.
traits such as trade, travel, and war
Belize—
spread;
Language
English
Currency
Belize Dollar
Guatemala​Language- Spanish and Mayan
languages
Currency
Quetzal
Dominican Republic​ Language
Spanish
Currency
Peso
Haiti
Language
French
Currency
Gourde
Students should understand how
trade with other countries and
travelers from other regions spreads
culture.
Currently many of these locations
are trying to attract tourism. How
does tourism change a culture?
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Vocabulary
European
Countries
Caribbean
nations
Instructional
Strategies
Suggested Resources
Resources listed and categorized to indicate
suggested uses. Any additional resources
must be aligned with the TEKS.
Research in
groups: Belize,
Guatemala,
Dominic Republic
and Haiti. Share
informatin with
the class.
McGrawHill Text/Online Resources
Chrome book
ELPS​ Recurring
Strategies:
-Cornell Notes
-Vocabulary
Foldables -KWL
-Graphic
Organizers
-Anticipation
Guides (used
throughout
Our World Today Regional Atlas pages
480-481
Material World
Hungry Planet
United Streaming Videos (Open United
Streaming in another window and log
in-then click on the link below)
​Geography of Mexico and Central America
Central America Today: Life in Central
America
Latin American Art and Architecture
(17) Culture. The student understands
relationships that exist among world
cultures. The student is expected to:
(B) identify and describe factors that
influence cultural change such as
improved communication,
transportation, and economic
development;
(17) Culture. The student understands
relationships that exist among world
cultures. The student is expected to:
Communication- Island nations are
less isolated when improved
communication allows easy outside
communication
Factors
Cultural
change
(Imporved)
Communicatio
n systems
(Improved)
transportation
systems
Economic
development
Think/pair/share
work on chart
with
communication,
improved
transportation and
economic
development as
headings
-improvements in
20th/21st century
Communicatio
n
Technology
Chart -column 1
cultural diffusion,
column 2 identify
positive effects ,
column 3 negative
effects
Define the impact of cultural
diffusion on individuals
Define the impact of cultural
diffusion on world societies
Globalizationn
Choose several
countries, students
research cultural
aspects of the
culture
McGraw Hill
Postitive examples of cultural
diffusion
Negative effects of cultural
diffusion
Positive effects
Negative
effects
Cultural
diffusion
Research
examples of
Poitive and
negative effects of
cultural diffusion
McGraw Hill
Transportation
Panama Canal
Air travel
Infrastructure
Economic Development
Oil production
Tourism
Evaluate the impact of improved
communication technologies(Cell
phones and satellite TV’s)
(C) evaluate the impact of improved
communication technology among
cultures;
(17) Culture. The student understands
relationships that exist among world
cultures. The student is expected to:
(D) identify and define the impact of
cultural diffusion on individuals and
world societies;
(17) Culture. The student understands
relationships that exist among world
cultures. The student is expected to:
(E) identify examples of positive and
negative effects of cultural diffusion.
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
(6) Geography. The student
understands that geographical
patterns result from physical
environmental processes. The student
is expected to:
(A) describe and explain the effects
of physical environmental processes
such as erosion, ocean currents, and
earthquakes ​on Earth's surface;
In relationship to Central
America Define:
Earthquakes- d​ iscuss physical
effects on Haiti after the 2010
earthquake
Physical
Chart the cycles
United Streaming Video
process
and relatiohsips
Haiti’s Killer Quake: Why it Happened
Erosion
of geographic
Ocean currents
processes and
Earthquake
features.
Geographic
tools
Geographic
questions
Use the Three
Levels of
Questioning
McGraw Hill
Latitude
Longitude
Absolute
location
Model using the
latitude and
longitude to find a
location
McGraw Hill
Reoccurring TEKS
(3) Geography. The student uses
geographic tools to answer
geographic questions. The student is
expected to:
(A) pose and answer geographic
questions, including: Where is it
located? Why is it there? What is
significant about its location? How is
its location related to the location of
other people, places, and
environments?
Whrere is it located?
● What is the absolute
location?
● What is the relative
location?
Why is it there?
● What physical features
influenced its placement?
● What human features
influenced its placement?
What is significant about its
location?
How is its location related to the
location of other people, places
and environments?
(4) Geography. The student
understands the factors that influence
the locations and characteristics of
locations of various contemporary
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What nations make up this
region?
Students must be able to locate
● Panama
● Cuba
● Puerto Rico
societies on maps and globes and uses
latitude and longitude to determine
absolute locations. The student is
expected to:
●
●
●
Guatemala
Jamaica
Aruba
(A) locate various contemporary
societies on maps and globes using
latitude and longitude to determine
absolute location;
And the cities listed in 4.D using
longitude and latitude.
(4) Geography. The student
understands the factors that influence
the locations and characteristics of
locations of various contemporary
societies on maps and globes and uses
latitude and longitude to determine
absolute locations. The student is
expected to:
Central American features that
students must know should include
the following… (other landforms,
bodies of water and urban centers
may be included as necessary )
Landforms
● Sierra Maestra
● Sierra De Los Organos
● Islands
Bodies of Water
● Panama Canal
● Pacific Ocean
● Caribbean Sea
● Atlantic Ocean
● Gulf of Mexico
(D) identify and locate major
physical and human geographic
features such as landforms, water
bodies, and urban centers of various
places and regions;
(4) Geography. The student
understands the factors that influence
the locations and characteristics of
locations of various contemporary
societies on maps and globes and uses
latitude and longitude to determine
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
Urban Centers
● Panama City
● Havana
Use sketch maps to creat mental
and physical images of places.
Prime
Meridian
Equator
Show examples
Landforms
Bodies of
water
Climate
Use physical and
political maps of
the region to
identify and locate
major land/water
forms, urban
centers
associated with
that region
McGraw Hill
Sketch maps
Illustrate
Create a sketch
map of each world
region, including
key countries
McGraw Hill
absolute locations. The student is
expected to:
(E) draw sketch maps that illustrate
various places and regions;
(5) Geography. The student
understands how geographic factors
influence the economic development,
political relationships, and policies of
societies. The student is expected to:
(A) identify and explain the
geographic factors responsible for the
location of economic activities in
places and regions;
​Central America​ and ​the
Caribbean - t​ ropical
vegetation, rainforest, limited
farmland, limited fresh water
resources, agrarian
Use​ physical, political, and resource maps.
Review​:
The study of ​economic​ ​development​ involves
the analysis of how people fulfill their basic
human needs. At its most primary level,
economics is the study of scarcity and how
people and societies deal with scarcity.
Scarcity​ is the concept of unlimited wants and
limited resources
Influence of the ocean
Tourism
Geographic factors
Economic Activity
(7) Geography. The student
understands the impact of
interactions between people and the
physical environment on the
development and conditions of
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
Student should compare the ways
people in various regions of Central
America and various regions of the
Caribbean have adapted to their
environments.
Given special purpose maps of a selected
region, ask students to explain, orally or in
writing, the economic activity of the
region based on geographic factors
(climate, arable land, natural resources)
Have students, working in “expert” groups
analyze the economic development of
their region in a chart including such
topics as: country name, climate, land use,
farming, exports, manufactured products,
and so on.
Adapt
Physical
enviornemnt
Human-
Brainstorm ways
humans adapt to
weather, to
climate, terrian,
McGraw Hill
places and regions. The student is
expected to:
enviornemnt
interaction
housing, food
choices
Ethnic groups
Charts, Venn
Diagram to
organize and
analyze
differences in
societies
(A) identify and analyze ways
people have adapted to the physical
environment in various places and
regions;
(15) Culture. The student understands
the similarities and differences within
and among cultures in various world
societies. The student is expected to:
(E) analyze the similarities and
differences among various world
societies;
(16) Culture. The student understands
that all societies have basic
institutions in common even though
the characteristics of these institutions
may differ. The student is expected to:
Students must do a graphic
organizer to compare various
Central American and Caribbean
countries. T-Charts, Venn
Diagrams, or Matrixes are all
appropriate.
McGraw Hill
Students should be comparing the
economic systems, government
systems, religions, of Central
American and Caribbean Countries.
(B) compare characteristics of
institutions in various contemporary
societies;
Skills
(21) Social studies skills. The student
applies critical-thinking skills to
organize and use information acquired
through established research
methodologies from a variety of valid
sources, including electronic
(21) Social studies skills. The
student applies critical-thinking skills
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
On going, embedded
On going, embedded
Activity
technology. The student is expected
to:
(B) analyze information by
sequencing, categorizing, identifying
cause-and-effect relationships,
comparing, contrasting, ​finding the
main idea​, summarizing, making
generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions
to organize and use information
acquired through established research
methodologies from a variety of
valid sources, including electronic
technology. The student is expected
to:
Show me the Money
In groups, students examine money from
different countries to locate symbols and
images. Then have students chart the
information with headings such as; Country of
Origin, Monetary Unit, Year, Watermarks or
Authenticators, People, Buildings, Natural
Features, Animals, Symbols. Have students
share findings. Then ask students to design the
front and back of a bill for a country.
(C) organize and interpret
information from ​outlines, reports,
databases, and visuals, including
graphs,​ ​charts,​ ​timelines, ​and maps;
(21) Social studies skills. The
student applies critical-thinking skills
to organize and use information
acquired through established research
methodologies from a variety of
valid sources, including electronic
technology. The student is expected
to:
(B) analyze information by
sequencing, categorizing, ​identifying
cause-and-effect relationships,
comparing, contrasting, finding the
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16
On going, embedded
main idea, summarizing, making
generalizations and predictions, and
drawing inferences and conclusions;
CISD 2016-17, Updated 11/11/16