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The Golden State Online
Resources for California Educators
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California for educators

Main Links

Resources by Grade Level

The links below have lesson plans and resources by grade level .

Resources by Discipline

The links below have lesson plans and resources by grade level .

Other Links

California for Educators :
History and Geography of California (417)

The links below are for students and faculty involved in Geography/History 417 course.

Related CSUN Links

Below are other links of interest to students in the liberal studies or Integrated Teacher Education Program.

Outside Links

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Contact

Dr. Steven M. Graves
Geography Department
130-B Sierra Hall
CSU Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8249

Phone: (818) 677-3517
Fax: (818) 677-2723
steve.graves@csun.edu

 

 

 

Geography Resources

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Greetings!

This section of the website has a links to resources for teachers and students interested in California Geography and especially the geography of Southern California, plus resources for anyone interested in the powerful discipline of geography. Much of what is offered here are useable maps, but there are also links to other websites hosted by other organizations and entities interested in the geography of California.

Static Maps

The static maps may be best for printing for classroom use, but may not display well on your computer screen. The large format graphics may not print correctly from your browser window. Make sure you click on "print preview" before you attempt to print one of these maps. Your printer may have a setting that allows you to shrink graphics to fit the paper. A better method is to right click on the map or graphic and save it to your local drive. From there you can open it in your graphics viewer and print from there. An excellent and free graphics (map, photo) viewer can be downloaded from irfanview.com . If all that is too complicated, click on the links with the word "small" to the right of the link. They are sized to print directly from the browser to 8.5 x 11 paper.

Some maps have features labeled and other maps are without labels so that students may use them as study aids. These maps are free to use for any non-commercial purpose.

Google Earth Maps

Many of these maps at this site are in the process of being made available in Google Earth. Google Earth is a free software that students enjoy to use. Users can manipulate the globe in a variety of manners. They can zoom in and out, change the angle of their observation, rotate the direction they they wish to view the earth, etc. More important, Google Earth allows students to create layers of observations, which permits them to begin to think about spatial relationships between objects and patterns. For example, students should be able to make the connection between the lack of rainfall on the eastern side edges of California and the location of the various California mountain chains. The links below take you to Google Earth resources.

Click on the link below to open a new window with more information about Google Earth, including downloads.

Google Earth Home (opens new window)

** Several student have reported difficulties using Mozilla's Firefox

 

Grade Three - Maps of Southern California

Table of Hyperlinks
Map Feature Google Earth Static Map (labeled) Static Map (unlabeled)
Physical Features (grayscale)
Physical Features (color)
Color (.pdf)
Color (.pdf)
Poltical Geography
 
Historical Sites
Los Angeles County
(really cool)
California Indians
Language Groups
California Indians
by Language Groups
(overlay map)
Los Angeles County Schools
Orange County Schools
Ventura County Schools
       
 
 

Grade Four - Maps of California

Table of Hyperlinks
Map Feature Google Earth Static Maps with Labels Static Maps without Labels
Physical Features Combined
 
Major Rivers
Important Rivers (labels pop up)
Large --- Small Large --- Small
       
Major Lakes and Bays
Important Lakes and Bays
(labels pop up)
Small Large
Mountains, Points and Passes    
California Relief Map
Included with Google Earth
Small Large
Precipitation Small Small
Average Temperatures
Small X
California Climographs    
Mountains, Passes and Points
   
Geomorphic Regions Grayscale (.pdf) Grayscale (.pdf)
Geomorphic Regions   Large --- Small
(color)

Large ---- Small
(color)

Geomorphic Regions
(with points, passes and mountains )
  Large --- Small
(color)
 
Natural Vegetation Small  
       
POLITICAL FEATURES      
Counties  
Large ---- Small
Significant Cities and Towns
Cities and Towns (pop up labels)
Significant Cities and Towns    
Aqueducts and Canals
Land Use  
   
HISTORY

California Indian Groups
Low Detail
(Black and White)

Large ---- Small
California Indian Groups 2
California Indians (Language)
Overlay Map (Kroeber's Original-very good)
California Missions
Missions
(outside link -a collaborative effort from the Google Earth Community)
Early Explorers
USGS Version
(pdf -Large)
   
   
   
 

Additional Resources

 

Geography Organizations