In the face of widespread geographic ignorance, the article applauds the improved status of geography in the schools, describing it as the science best able to meet the challenge of ensuring that students' mental maps of the world are filled in with great and accurate detail. The field is defined through a multiple definition as both a physical and social science employing spatial and temporal methodologies to explain the varied phenomena of the earth's surface. It is also described as a unifying, holistic field that integrates and draws from many other fields of study. Citing the guidelines for geographic education formulated in 1984 by the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers, the article addresses the task of properly revising or designing a geography curriculum by highlighting the five central themes of geography education (location, place, relationships within places, movement, and regions) and recommending a scope of instruction that lists 12 courses of study for grades 7 through 12. An implementation project to improve the status and quality of geography instruction based on the guidelines is described as it exists in four schools. (TRS)