Application of the “Powerful Knowledge” Concept in School Geography: Topics for the Creation of the Curriculum and Learning Tasks

This article describes the use of the “powerful knowledge” concept in geography education in primary schools. First, the concept of powerful knowledge is briefly introduced in the context of building geographical thinking. Next, we describe four key geographical concepts: place, space, environment, and interconnection. The main part of the article describes the possibilities of applying these four key concepts to teaching. We further specify individual concepts using generalizations (big ideas). For each of the key concepts, there are also tips for learning tasks that can be used to develop these concepts. Building geographical thinking, that is, thinking in spatial contexts, is important for modern geography education (Brooks, Butt, and Fargher 2019). A clear and well-thought-out structuring of educational content is important for building geographical thinking, which can be problematic in competence-oriented curricula, where subject content is often “suppressed into the background” and key competencies (for learning, communication, problem solving, etc.) are prioritized. However, these key, cross-disciplinary competences must be placed in the field context. In other words, they must be filled with specific content so that they can be grasped by the students. This problem could be overcome by using the concept of powerful knowledge. The concept of powerful knowledge was defined more than a decade ago (Young 2008; Young and Muller 2010). According to Young (2010), we should not view the world (which is the subject of geography teaching) merely as a place of experience, but rather it should become an object of thought. The meaning of the concept of powerful knowledge lies in the fact that it is context-independent and therefore transferable to situations that are outside the student’s personal experience. This knowledge makes it possible to think and understand beyond the framework of one’s own experiences. The school acquires a vital role here, as the student cannot learn this powerful knowledge on their own, only on the basis of personal experience. According to Young (2014, 74), “knowledge is powerful when it can predict (formulate hypotheses), explain, consider alternatives, and if it helps people think in new ways.” If we compare the concept of powerful knowledge with Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives (Krathwohl 2002, 215), we get to the operational levels of understanding and then applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. If we were to use an example, teaching geography is not only about listing the names of specific cities or just finding them on a map. The intention is to lead students to understand that every city is a unique place, with specific characteristics that shape it, and from which its location also depends. This ultimately has a number of practical consequences for human life. It is decision-making and active shaping of geographical space.


Introduction: The Concept of Powerful Knowledge
This article describes the use of the "powerful knowledge" concept in geography education in primary schools.First, the concept of powerful knowledge is briefly introduced in the context of building geographical thinking.Next, we describe four key geographical concepts: place, space, environment, and interconnection.The main part of the article describes the possibilities of applying these four key concepts to teaching.We further specify individual concepts using generalizations (big ideas).For each of the key concepts, there are also tips for learning tasks that can be used to develop these concepts.
Building geographical thinking, that is, thinking in spatial contexts, is important for modern geography education (Brooks, Butt, and Fargher 2019).A clear and well-thought-out structuring of educational content is important for building geographical thinking, which can be problematic in competence-oriented curricula, where subject content is often "suppressed into the background" and key competencies (for learning, communication, problem solving, etc.) are prioritized.However, these key, cross-disciplinary competences must be placed in the field context.In other words, they must be filled with specific content so that they can be grasped by the students.This problem could be overcome by using the concept of powerful knowledge.
The concept of powerful knowledge was defined more than a decade ago (Young 2008;Young and Muller 2010).According to Young (2010), we should not view the world (which is the subject of geography teaching) merely as a place of experience, but rather it should become an object of thought.The meaning of the concept of powerful knowledge lies in the fact that it is context-independent and therefore transferable to situations that are outside the student's personal experience.This knowledge makes it possible to think and understand beyond the framework of one's own experiences.The school acquires a vital role here, as the student cannot learn this powerful knowledge on their own, only on the basis of personal experience.According to Young (2014, 74), "knowledge is powerful when it can predict (formulate hypotheses), explain, consider alternatives, and if it helps people think in new ways." If we compare the concept of powerful knowledge with Bloom's taxonomy of learning objectives (Krathwohl 2002, 215), we get to the operational levels of understanding and then applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.If we were to use an example, teaching geography is not only about listing the names of specific cities or just finding them on a map.The intention is to lead students to understand that every city is a unique place, with specific characteristics that shape it, and from which its location also depends.This ultimately has a number of practical consequences for human life.It is decision-making and active shaping of geographical space.

Application of the Concept of Powerful Knowledge in Geography Education
Maude (2020,(235)(236)(237) describes the application of powerful geographical knowledge in more detail as four key geographical concepts, which can be used in teaching in the process of generalization and development of thinking that goes beyond specific contexts or cases.There is a more or less general consensus in the professional community on these four key concepts.These are place, space, environment, and interconnection.These key concepts are also called big ideas.These need to be further developed for school teaching into a set of interconnected "smaller ideas" (Michael 2017).It means that big ideas need to be "unpacked" so that students can get a clear idea of what is hidden in them and understand the ways of thinking that they represent.
A place as a subject of geographical education is a certain territory on Earth (locality).Each place has its own unique characteristics, but it also depends on the angle from which we look at the world.Individual places (localities) are not randomly distributed on Earth, but create meaningful and well-thought-out units.The layout of places has its patterns and rationale.Here we are talking about space.Places have a number of their own natural and social characteristics and therefore create a human environment.Preserving a suitable environment and its sustainable development is absolutely crucial for human life on planet Earth.Therefore, it is necessary to teach students to look at the landscape around them through the lens of sustainability.The fourth concept of interconnection describes the fact that individual places are interconnected.No geographical phenomenon can be studied in isolation in order to be properly understood.The individual components of the landscape (landscape sphere, which are the main subject of the study of geography) are in interaction, meaning that they affect each other.By revealing these connections, the student learns to understand the world in context; they learn to think about the complexity of the world of which they are a part.At the same time, thanks to the integration of geographical topics in teaching, the student can better remember essential ideas and key concepts and understand them more deeply than if they were only introduced to them separately.
In the following text, we elaborate on all four of the key concepts described above.The generalizations (as a content objective of geography education) are generally valid and can be applied to any region of any size, hence their universality.Individual generalizations can therefore be applied to the relevant geographical space that the student encounters in the course: house/ school; village; region; country; Europe/the world.

The Concept of Place
The key concept of place allows students to view any place on Earth in a specific way.Each place is bounded in space, has different sizes and specific characteristics, and is the subject of geographical study.The domain is describing, comparing, and classifying places, according to their character.What can be found at the specific location?Physical characteristics (relief, water, soil), economic characteristics (conditions for agriculture, industry, services, and the share of individual sectors in the economy), social characteristics (composition of the population, accommodation types), transport infrastructure, tourism (what can be visited in the place), politics (who manages the place and how?).• Task P7: The Alien: Students have pictures from a selected region and one does not belong there.They must choose which picture does not belong and justify their choice.

Generalization 3: Locations Vary in Size (Local to Global)
• Task P8: The Diverse Places: Students measure the area of certain places and compare them on the basis of their amount of territory; it is also possible to describe their borders and to notice how the compositions and numbers of their populations change.).This will be different in the polar regions (fishing) and different in the desert (e.g., where there are deposits of oil).

Generalization 5: Due to the Uniqueness of the Place, Different Influences (Environmental, Socioeconomic) Manifest Themselves Differently There, and the Resulting Problems Require Different Solutions/Strategies
• Task P15: Blackout: Students describe the repercussions of an electricity outage in different places on Earth (e.g., the impacts of a blackout will be different in a metropolis than in a village).• Task P16: Hunger Risk: Students analyze the impacts of the global export of grain (from Ukraine) on selected states of the world (the places on Earth that are not agriculturally self-sufficient will be affected more).

Generalization 6: Places Can Be Perceived, Experienced, Understood, and Appreciated Differently, Depending on a Person's Point of View and Their Life Situation (People Can Have Different Views on the Same Places/Regions)
• Task P17: Changing a Territorial Plan: Students assess a fictitious change to a city's territorial plan to include an athletic field from the perspective of families, youth, senior citizens, long-settled residents, and newcomers).• Task P18: Developer or Cultivator?A model situation contrasting a developer who wants to acquire land to build on and a local farmer who wants to preserve arable land.Students separate into two groups, one of which argues for the conservation of the arable land (the cultivators) and one for construction on that arable land (the developers).• Task P19: Survey in a Community: Students perform a survey (e.g., among their parents, neighbors, and teachers at school) about what would be appropriate to built on a plot of land that is unused in the community.They then assess the results of the survey.

The Concept of Space
An essential feature of geography education is to lead students to think about why something is where it is.Places are not arranged randomly, but there are relevant reasons for their location.Understanding spatial patterns leads to a deeper understanding of the environment in which a person lives, which can subsequently be positively reflected in a person's practical life and actions (e.g., the appropriate design of bus stops in a city).Spatial thinking is a fundamental part of geographic literacy.Now we will once again present several framework topics for learning tasks supporting the development of the concept of space.

Generalization 1: Each Place Can Be Located in Space and Determine Its Specific Position
• Task S1: The Absolute Address: Students determine the absolute geographic position of a place by using geographic coordinates.• Task S2: The Relative Address: For the youngest students, it is appropriate to begin by localizing a place spatially by using relative geographic positions (parts of the world with respect to an important/known point, such as a state capital/regional capital, an important river, a neighboring state).It is possible to work with a chessboard (chess fields A1, B2, etc.) and graph paper and draw the places/points.

Generalization 3: The Natural and Social Characteristics of Places Are Influenced by Their Location
• Task S11: The Scarce Water: Students read maps and hydrological data to analyze the distribution of water on Earth (unevenly) and then compare the data with the density of human settlement in the area on the appropriate thematic maps.
• Task S12: Up or Down?Students compare the landscape/living conditions/phenomena in a mountainous region (e.g., the Himalayas) and in flatlands (e.g., a small island in the Pacific Ocean).• Task S13: The Map of Services: Students analyze selected locales/regions from the perspective of the distribution of services in a city/region/state (it is possible to create their own thematic map, augmented by photographs of the services/ facilities) and on that basis formulate a spatial model of the distribution of services.• Task S14: Heavy Industry and Its Localization: Students research a specific example in a region and answer why heavy industry is located in a certain place (e.g., why industrial enterprises are built more frequently in cities than in villages due to the relative availability of the labor force).

Generalization 4: The Influence of the Location and Distance of Places on Human Life Is (Unevenly) Reduced due to the Improvement of Transport and Technologies
• Task S15: How to Get There?Students research the transportation connections between different kinds of locales (a village, a small town, a big city) and compare their frequencies and their connection times (the locations of more significance have better, faster connections).

Generalization 5: Spaces Are Shaped, Structured, and Managed by People for Certain, Specific Purposes
• Task S16: Administrative Map: Students draw a schematic of the administrative articulation of a region/state and compare it with a general geographic map, noticing the interesting locations of county seats (looking for spatial pattens).

The Concept of the Environment
The third key concept-the Environment-allows the student to view the world not only as an object of interest but as a space that directly affects their lives, with the person directly responsible for how they will live on Earth.The main focus is the investigation of human impact (whether positive or negative) on the natural environment and the transformation of this environment.At the same time, the concept of the environment does not forget that the natural environment also directly affects the life of a person and puts not only opportunities in their way but also threats that they have to deal with.install a children's playground such that its negative impacts on the environment will be reduced as much as possible and so it will be beneficial for inhabitants of the locality concerned.• Task E9: Tourism Destinations: Students select one of the more important tourist destinations in the region and assess its positive impact on people and its negative impact on the environment (case study).

Generalization 4: The Environment Gives a Person the Opportunity to Develop, but at the Same Time It Has Its Limits; Exceeding Them Leads to Its Irreversible Damage
• Task E10: Industry: Threat or Opportunity?Students assess the influence of extractive industry/local industrial firms on the landscape and society, listing their pros and cons (aiming for the typology of a cultivated landscape versus a balanced one).• Task E12: Fair Trade: Students propose a business plan/production plan for a product of their choice in the form of "fair trade, " which has to take into consideration not just profit but also the burden production places on the environment.• Task E13: Highway: Students discuss the building of a new highway connecting two places where the route is supposed to pass through a protected territory (one group of pupils will the role of conservationists, the other the role of construction companies).
• Task E14: The Amazon Warehouse: Students critically assess the pros and cons of building a big Amazon warehouse by annexing some arable land and part of a forest.• Task E15: Combustion Engines or Electric Cars? Students compare the costs of purchasing and using a combustion automobile and an electric one, identifying the pros and cons of electromobility.

Generalization 5: The Sustainability of Places Is Threatened by Many Factors (Especially Economic, Social, Technological, Political)
• Task E16: The Risks! Students create a map of risky sites for nature, where humans threaten the environment in a selected region.• Task E17: The Aral Sea: Students elaborate a case study of the locality around the Aral Sea, concentrating on changes in the hydrological conditions and the living conditions around the lake and recording the causes and consequences of its drying out.

Generalization 6: In Order to Maintain a Quality Environment, Its Sustainable Development Is Necessary, Which Depends Above All on Political Cohesion and the Personal Responsibility of Man
• Task E18: The Ecological Farm: Students compare ecological farms to traditional farms, mapping and assessing their operations and the processes underway in them (in relation to both the natural and social environments).• Task E19: The Zoning Plan: Students pick out several changes to a city's zoning plan that would be beneficial for its inhabitants as well as gentle on the environment.• Task E20: The Green Deal: Students work with accessible data on atmospheric emissions and assess the specific impacts of political agreements about their emissions on the lives of inhabitants and on the environment, formulating both the pros and the cons, or the limitations, of these political agreements.

The Concept of Interconnection
The discovery of relationships and connections is a dominant characteristic of the concept of interconnection.The world (planet Earth) is not only a sum of subparts functioning independently of each other, but on the contrary, it is an organically interconnected system, where events on one side of the world can have consequences on the other (e.g., the economic crisis in the USA in 2008 had a powerful impact in Europe), which is especially evident with the development of globalization.In the following text, we want to indicate the possibilities of connecting partial geographical thematic units with each other.Systematic linking of geographic topics will allow students to gain a deeper understanding of the issue.When it comes to learning procedures (types of learning tasks), it is generally possible to use a procedure where students first collect information about a given phenomenon (from a map, tables, graphs, geographical texts, video, etc.) and then process this information, compare it and, based on this, draw conclusions.It is ideal to always work with specific cases (especially for students of younger school age) and then generalize.The following topics for thematic connections are not intended to be complete, but are merely intended to serve as inspiration for the teacher's further thinking about the thematic integration of various geographical topics.

Ideas for Content Linking Partial Geographical Topics
When students learn about the surface of the Earth, they can: • Follow the relationship between altitude and precipitation (which increases as altitude increases) • Follow the relationship between altitude and temperature (which decreases as altitude decreases) • Analyze the kinds of surface (the parent rock) and their influence on the kinds of soil and the incidence of flora and fauna (the soil and biosphere)-what grows or lives in different parts of the world • Follow the influence of the kind of surface and the altitude on the concentration of human settlement (population and residences)-draw on a map the density of the population in selected places • Follow the concentration of agricultural production in lowlands and plains-draw the places appropriate for agriculture and determine their altitude • Follow the kind of the earth's surface, its face and form, and its influence on the building of industrial infrastructure • Identify (find on a map) the appropriate kind of surface for a certain service (e.g., draw places appropriate for skiing or installing ski slopes) • Follow the location of routes for transportation (this must respect the earth's surface, for example, roads that wind around a mountain compared to straight highways in a valley or railways located along watercourses) • Identify coastal plains and mountain ranges as the dominant destinations of tourism.
For the subject of the hydrosphere, students can: • Connect watercourses with the type of surface (water flows from higher positions to lower ones)-create a graph of the flow of a selected river from its source to its mouth (the x-axis will be altitude and the y-axis will be the length of the flow) • Discover that the amount of precipitation depends on climatic conditions overall (different totals for different places in different climatic zones) • Trace the direct correlation between the amount of water in a landscape and its influence on the distribution of flora and fauna (desert oases, diversity of species in the rainforest) • Identify the placement of habitation built near sources of water, but not in flood zones (endangered by flooding)-draw appropriate locations for the placement of habitation on a map • Learn how irrigation (access to water) is a condition of agricultural yield and/or that many branches of industry need water (and that the geographic position of industrial enterprises depends on that)-compare thematic maps of precipitation and agriculture • Investigate/research services tied to a watery environment (e.g., water sports) • Study the incidence and distribution of waterways and the water transport associated with them in the region (suggest a route for a bigger boat according to information from a map) • Compare tourism destinations in relation to sources of water (identify water-related travel destinations) • Map the administrative articulation of catchment basins (draw the localities where each water management authority has jurisdiction) • Create a list of examples of laws related to sources of water (the influence of politics on sources of water) In the thematic section on climate, students can: • Follow how climate is influenced by the articulation of the terrain, by altitude, by the orientation of slopes, etc.comparing the oceanic/seaside climate with the climate further inland (influence of bodies of water on climate stability) • Analyze climate diagrams and determine the position of a locality through them • Follow the direct connection between climatic zones and biomes-categorize selected kinds of flora and fauna according to the relevant climatic zones (locate their incidence on a map) • Map agricultural yields in relation to climatic zones (the more appropriate the climate, the higher will be the yields of agricultural production)-for example, compare agricultural yield in the subtropics with yield in the subpolar regions • For specific data from industry (e.g., the amount of greenhouse gas emissions), follow the influence of industrial activity on climatic change • Follow how political decisions directly impact the state of the climate in different parts of the world according to the geographical context to which they apply (e.g., the common approach to addressing climate issues in the European region)-for example, by comparing emissions in Europe to those in Southeast Asia.
From the perspective of the subject of the biosphere (the distribution of flora/fauna/soils), students can: • Follow the direct relationship between the elevation of the terrain and the quality of the soil-create a map of soil quality in relation to elevation • Compare places from the perspective of vegetation in relation to the occurrence of water (for example, compare vegetation in the desert and in the rainforest) • Justify the occurrence of fertile lowlands (flooding of soil/ nutrients to lower areas)-compare agricultural production in mountainous/lowland areas) • Follow the influence of precipitation and temperature on vegetation and the diversity of species by comparing data from different geographic regions • Follow how the building of habitation essentially transforms the soil and vegetation and whether habitation has been/is located near quality soil-create thematic maps of habitation based on maps of soil • Study the amount of agricultural production in relation to the quality of the soil in a given locality (creation of thematic maps with diagrams) • Document (in photos, videos, or text) the negative influence of industrial activity/transportation in selected regions on the biosphere and draw conclusions from the facts discovered • Identify the kinds of services associated with a biosphere (e.g., flower sales, zoos) • Compare the requirements for building transportation in different biospheres (e.g., the issue of building highways through nature preserves) • Map a preserved biosphere as a significant tourist destination (opportunities and limitations)-create a list of biosphere destinations • Research the geographic repercussions of the creation of protected biosphere reserves as a consequence of political agreement (the influence of nature preserves on the transformation of the landscape, the limits of construction, restrictions on people's mobility, bans on transportation construction, etc.) In the geography of habitation, students can: • Map the influence of altitude and types of terrain on the occurrence of human habitation (compare the amount of habitation in the mountains to the amount in the lowlands) • Learn that the occurrence of habitation depends on sources of water (compare the occurrence of habitation in dry and wet areas, habitation near watercourses vs. habitation distant from watercourses) • Follow the density of settlement in relation to climate (compare the occurrence of habitation in climates that are very hot, very cold, or temperate) • Map the zones for nature within human settlements (e.g., parks, zoos) and compare their areas to other built-up regions (for housing, industry, transport) • Locate agricultural enterprises/cultivated landscapes in relation to the occurrence of human habitation (how close vs. how far)-their importance in providing sustenance to the population • Compare the influence of industry on the economy of habitation/regions (the enrichment of habitation compared to the threat to the environment posed by their populations)-work with data (compare GDP with emissions) • Map the amount and diversity of services in relation to the size of habitation (compare the occurrence of services in villages, small towns, and metropolises) • Compare the economic development of habitation in association with the quality of transport connections and infrastructure (compare habitation linked to highway networks and habitation on their periphery) • Compare the occurrence of nature preservers, cultural heritage monuments, or sports facilities in different kinds of habitation (identify habitation with appropriate conditions for tourism and the development of habitation that involves) • Analyze local zoning plans as politically released regulations (significantly influencing the appearance of habitation that involves) In the thematic area of agriculture, students can: • Identify appropriate locations for establishing agricultural enterprises (in the lowlands and on the plains)-create maps of agricultural enterprises in the region • Follow the tendencies of elevation and its influence on agricultural yield (the orientation and angle of slopes)-designate appropriate places on a map for cultivating fruits and vegetables, for example • Map the occurrence of agricultural land in different regions with regard to humidity (compare dry, damp, and very humid locations and their agricultural yield) • Compare the agricultural yield of selected localities with the quality and sort of soil/temperature/precipitation/sunshine in each locality • Measure the distance between the occurrence of agricultural areas and the occurrence of habitat (the time needed to transport agricultural products) for the landscape and its appearance as well as for people On the subject of transport, students are able to: • Follow the relationship between transportation construction and the terrain (e.g., railway tracks along rivers, boat transport on rivers) and describe them using selected examples from the region • Compare specific sorts of transportation in different climatic zones (camels in the Sahara, icebreakers in the Arctic Ocean) and how they depend on climate • Describe the changes in the landscape when building transportation routes and annexing agricultural land • Analyze data from transport in association with the migration of populations • Compare different kinds of transportation in terms of different distances (the use of transport for the conveyance of people and products)-for example, compare mass transport by bus and by air • Analyze the accessibility of transport services (for example, the need for parking lots near sports centers) • Assess the serviceability of transport as part of developing tourism (sufficient capacity of local public transportation, availability of parking lots) • Follow the influence of administrative and territorial units on organizing transport (regional transport systems, the labeling of means of transport, registration symbols for a particular territory) In the context of services and tourism, students can: • Follow the relationship between specific services and the kind of terrain (e.g., ski services in mountainous terrain) • Identify mountains as significant tourist localities offering many services and give examples of those services • Describe services dependent on the accessibility of water (places to swim in nature, Aquaparks, etc.), identify important localities associated with water tourism (significant waterrelated localities in the regions)

Conclusion
The concept of powerful knowledge in geography education offers an opportunity to systematically build and develop geographic thinking.Teaching in this concept is not based on the mere memorization of partial geographical knowledge, but rather leads to the acquisition of key concepts whose meaning is universal, and these concepts can subsequently be applied in any geographical context.We tried to elaborate more closely on four fundamental geographical concepts: place, space, environment, and interconnection, which have the potential to meaningfully structure educational content and systematically grasp them so that the curriculum is not oversaturated with details.The advantage of key concepts is their universality.Teachers can use real data that correspond to specific geographic conditions in geography teaching.
Students work with particular data in the lesson, which is, however, at the same time a means for understanding key ideas (generalizations).An important aspect of powerful knowledge is seeing things in context, not in isolation.The topics we mentioned in the article can be applied independently of the grade level (the difficulty and scope of the tasks can be changed accordingly), while for younger students the teacher will develop the mentioned concepts in a smaller geographical area (village, city).It is then possible to work with older students in a broader (global) context.
Understanding key geographic concepts will enable students to understand spatial contexts and improve their orientation in today's ever-changing world.That is why the emphasis must be on principles, not partial knowledge of the facts.This ultimately leads to an improvement in the quality of life, when a geographically literate individual is an asset to society, and education then fulfills the four pillars of education: learning to be, living with others, getting to know, and learning to act (Delors 1998).

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Analyze data from tourism in association with the climate of a region (describe how tourism/services depend on the climatic conditions in the region) • Describe specific services with regard to climatic environments (e.g., air conditioning installation services in subtropical regions) • Analyze data about employment in services and follow the growth in the segment of services as part of a country's economy overall (developed countries have a high proportion of employment in services) • Investigate the connection between industry and services (how they are related, e.g., how the agriculture industry and restaurants are related) through specific examples from a selected region • Map the spatial distribution of services associated with recreation (e.g., wellness) • Give examples of how an industrial locality negatively impacts tourism • Research the influence of the travel industry on the landscape (its limitations in nature preserves) and the building of accommodation facilities (designate appropriate places for building hotels) • Analyze or gather data about the demographic characteristics of inhabitants and their influence on travel (the different tourist destinations for families with small children, pensioners, and teenagers)-identify appropriate tourist destinations for different age groups and societal groups of inhabitants in the region • Investigate how a locality conditions prices-the student compares the services (e.g., package tours) in different tourist regions (e.g., Albania vs. France); • Map how local politicians support tourism through decrees, fees/taxes, etc.

Generalization 2: The Distribution of People, Places/ Environments Creates Spatial Patterns (Not Random) and Has Its Own Meaning and Consequences (Environmental, Economic, Social, and Political)
• Task S6: The Transportation Networks: Students infer the spatial model of a highway or railway network in a selected state and record it schematically (working with thematic maps of transportation networks).•Task S7: The Elections: Students analyze electoral results in relation to the location of a region (this task aims for the student to discover the spatial patterns of the political convictions of a population, e.g., poorer regions in border areas tend to vote on the left).

Generalization 1: The Environment Is the Result of Many Different Processes (Geological, Atmospheric, Hydrological, Geomorphic, Soil, Biotic, Processes Caused by Human Activity
caused by human activity and the influences of nature.•TaskE2:Geographic Study of Place: Students select a specific place and create a poster about it describing its natural characteristics(hydrological, pedological, biotic, etc.)and in relation to human activity (how the activity of human beings has influenced the natural character of the place).
)• Task E1: Nature or People?Students can identify in a landscape (or rather, on a video, in a picture, or in a text about a place) the influences

The Environment Provides a Person with Everything Necessary for Life (e.g., Food, Raw Materials), but at the Same Time It Is Fragile, and A Person Must Take Care of It•
Task E3: The Threat of Drought: Students analyze hydrometeorological data and identify areas in a chosen region where there is danger of drought.• Task E4: Precious Water: Students propose measures leading to the collection and retention of water in a particular landscape.• Task E5: Flood Territory: Students map flood/swamp territory and decide on that basis where it is and is not reasonable to build a house.

People Perceive Their Environment Differently Based on Many Factors (e.g., Cultural, Economic, Values) and Approach It Accordingly
Follow the trend of the annexation of agricultural land for the construction of industrial halls/plants or the felling of rainforests (compare data about the annexation of arable land/ lumber over time) in terms of the formulation of (global) consequences of this choice for planet Earth • Document the occurrence of industrial zones (near cities, their need for human resources) and the influence of industry in employment in a region (ascertain what part of the economically active population works in industry in the region)