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Geography For Life: National Geography Standards, 1994 Linked are lists of the principal components of the national geography standards. Specifically, the Six Essential Elements, the Eighteen Geography Standards, and the Knowledge Statements for each of the grade groupings K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 are provided. They are arranged to show the relationship between each of the components. For example, the Knowledge Statements in each grade group are explications of one of the Eighteen Geography Standards, and each of the standards is ensconced within an Essential Element. The Knowledge Statements identify the geography content considered most worth knowing and doing. As such they provide guidance for the development of curriculum, unit and lesson objectives, and assessment items that measure student knowledge of geography. Since state standards closely correspond to the standards in Geography for Life, development of curriculum, instruction, and assessment based on the national standards will increase the liklihood that students will perform better on state and local assessments in geography.