This study adopts text analysis to compare how geographical-environmental holism and spatial diff erentiation are represented in Chinese and German senior secondary geography curriculum standards. The fi ndings show that the Chinese curriculum standards tend to establish the knowledge foundation through the explanation of principles and rules and to promote systems analysis through case-based inquiry. In contrast, the German curriculum standards emphasize competencyoriented integrated inquiry and use situated tasks and model tools to support the simultaneous development of knowledge, disciplinary perspectives, and higher-order thinking. The comparison indicates that the two countries have formed two representative curriculum paths, namely a“diff erentiated”path and an“integrated”path. This study provides inspiration for deepening the teaching of related topics in our country, including guiding students to construct thinking models, applying the analytical framework of holism and spatial diff erentiation in regional contexts, and strengthening multi-perspective evaluation and value judgment in case-based inquiry.