G u i d e t o G e o G r a p h y C h a l l e n G e

toward independence 1© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute

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ATLANTICO CEAN

Lake Er ie

Lake Ontario

Lake Huron

LakeChamplain

Delaware Bay

Chesapeake Bay

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NewYork

Boston

Albany

Philadelphia

CharlestonGeorgia

SouthCarolina

North Carolina

Virginia

Pennsylvania

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NewJersey

RhodeIsland

Maryland

Delaware

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Albers Conic Equal-Area Projection

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USI_LG_U02_01 The Thirteen ColoniesThird ProofTCI19 71

The Thirteen Colonies

toward independence 2© Teachers’ Curriculum Institute

G u i d e t o G e o G r a p h y C h a l l e n G e

Geography Skills

Score 1 point for each correct answer. Use the map on the previous page to check shading and labeling.

1. Each of the four cities is a port and is located on or close to the Atlantic Ocean.

2. The population density in most of this region was between 2 and 15 people per square mile.

3. The most heavily populated colonial region included Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

4. The New England Colonies had the fewest Loyalists.

5. The goal of independence would have been strongest in New England because that is where the fewest Loyalists lived.

6. Possible answer: The first British army could have come south from Canada along the Hudson River, while the second British army in New York City could have come north up the Hudson River, meeting up somewhere in between.

Critical Thinking

Questions may have more than one correct answer. Score 1 to 3 points for each reasonable answer, depending on the strength of students’ geographic reasoning. Possible answers are given here.

7. Areas near the coast were generally more densely settled than areas farther inland. One possible reason is that coastal areas were settled first and the colonies gradually spread inland.

8. This was the most heavily populated area of the colonies, containing three of the colonies’ four largest cities. Controlling this region would have given either side control of a large part of the colonies’ total population.

9. Loyalists were strong in these colonies. The British might have expected that these Loyalists would help them in the war. Also,

these colonies were not heavily settled, so there would be fewer people to conquer.

Using Scores to Inform Instruction

Geography Skills A score of 4 out of 6 or better indicates that students have acquired sufficient geographic information to proceed with the unit.

Critical Thinking A score of 6 out of 9 or better indicates that students are beginning to understand the relationships between physical geography and the different ways in which people live.

Modifying Instruction

ELL or Learners with Special Education Needs Consider focusing on map-reading questions or limiting the number of “Critical Thinking” questions.

Students with Weak Map or Critical Thinking Skills Assign appropriate pages from the Social Studies Skills Toolkit in the back of the Lesson Masters.