Geographic Crossroads

This worksheet is designed for students in Grades 5 and 6 to develop critical thinking, geographic reasoning, and evidence-based writing through a real-world scenario set in the Amazon Basin. Students read about a community debating whether to build a new road and respond to guided questions that require evaluating economic benefits, environmental impacts, cultural considerations, and possible compromises, clearly explaining their reasoning in complete sentences.

Learning Goals

• Human-Environment Interaction (Grades 5-6): Analyze how development decisions affect ecosystems, communities, and cultural traditions.
• Civic Decision Making: Evaluate multiple perspectives and consider tradeoffs involved in community-level choices.
• Environmental & Cultural Impacts: Examine how infrastructure projects influence the Amazon rainforest and Indigenous or local ways of life.
• Evidence-Based Writing: Justify opinions using logical reasoning, examples, and information from the scenario.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource: Designed to align with upper elementary social studies, geography, and ELA standards.
• Real-World Problem Solving: Engages students in authentic decision-making rather than hypothetical recall.
• Structured Critical-Thinking Prompts: Guides learners through analysis of benefits, risks, and compromises.
• Flexible Use: Ideal for geography units, environmental studies, writing assessments, discussions, or small-group work.

This printable worksheet helps students practice thoughtful decision making by balancing environmental stewardship, economic needs, and community values. By analyzing a realistic scenario and defending a position in writing, learners strengthen problem-solving skills, geographic understanding, and analytical writing. It’s a meaningful, no-prep resource that works well in both classroom instruction and homeschool learning, supporting informed and responsible thinking about real-world issues.

This worksheet is part of our South America Worksheets collection.