This article encourages elementary teachers to offer opportunities for their students to critically analyze maps as part of powerful geography instruction in order to help them become well-informed and civic-minded citizens. The article reviews challenges to powerful geography instruction, including traditional geography textbooks and pedagogy and…

Explores the relationship between the Anasazi and their physical environment as a means of helping students understand the impact of geography on the daily lives of people and their culture. Includes suggested learning activities incorporating components from the National Geography Standards. (MJP)

Discusses the unique perspective that the built environment brings to the study of history. Presents questions that can be used to analyze a building to examine identification, form, function, and impact. Suggests that studying a building is like conducting a micro study of the development of a society. (DK)

America is a nation of immigrants, many of whom came as part of families, who left their home countries for different reasons to settle here. In the late nineteenth century, immigrants came from Northern Europe and then from Southern Europe, but recent immigrants tend to come from Eastern Europe (mostly old Soviet Union countries), Hispanic, and…

Lack of courtesy among children is a social trend that, along with the decline of the family, the troubling character of some young people, and the lack of shared ethical values, is of some concern. In this article, the author discusses why it is important to teach pro-social behavior and suggests some ways of doing so in the classroom.

Investigates the effects of an experiential classroom environment on children's learning through the integration of mathematics and social studies. Findings support the contention that children learn better by doing. Concludes that children are more attentive to their learning, achieve a deeper insight or meaning of the concepts, and are able to…

Examines Australia's land, people, past, and the way that the people have perceived and interacted with their environment. Explores Australia's geography and compares the aboriginal perspective of the environment with the European settler's perspective. Presents a student activity concerning Australia's environment, past and present. (DB)

Uses interpretations of educational historians to explain the uniformity that resulted from the New Social Studies (NSS) movement. Describes the origins of the NSS in two streams: the academic disciplines and citizenship education. Suggests that the uniformity and diversity of the profession is based on a central tendency that emphasizes…

Describes an informal discussion between a museum docent and a group of students visiting the museum. Compares the instructional strategies used in museum education and the regular school classroom. Concludes that students would gladly take responsibility for their own learning if textbooks and curriculum guides did not constrain them. (CFR)

Provides a lesson plan on the geographic and civic aspects of municipal wastes. Offers action activities for students. Maintains that students will become familiar with the geographic, moral, and political features of municipal waste disposal. (RW)

Identifies and discusses four keys to improved constitutional rights instruction: (1) systematic emphasis on core ideas and issues; (2) analysis and appraisal of core ideas and issues in primary documents; (3) analysis and appraisal of core ideas and issues in judicial cases; and (4) active learning by inquiring students with the help of…

Provides personal perspectives, both from a teacher and her students, on issues of multiculturalism and diversity. Recounts a number of incidents that illustrate some of the trickier aspects of multicultural education ("How do you feel about arranged marriages?"). Concludes with a call for greater understanding and tolerance. (MJP)

Describes the origins, development, and products of the slow- learner social studies curriculum development project at Carnegie-Mellon University (Pennsylvania) in the late 1960s. Maintains that this project represented the last wave of curriculum projects to emerge from the national reform efforts following Sputnik. (CFR)

Maintains that a survey of beginning social studies teachers would probably show that their major concern is classroom discipline. Discusses discipline-related issues such as why do students obey rules, what actions should be taken, and discipline strategies. (CFR)

Contends that the best way to learn about citizenship is by discussing real societal issues that are connected to student interests. Maintains that a democratic classroom environment also provides an opportunity for practicing civic values. Provides four guidelines for establishing community service projects in the schools. (CFR)