Provides annotated reference materials from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) database designed to help middle and high school social studies teachers incorporate the five major themes of geography into their classrooms. Includes materials on the United Nations, lesson plans on place geography, as well as interdisciplinary themes…

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)

Cites reports pointing to a lack of geographical literacy in the United States. Provides a lesson plan on the identification of countries in the Middle East, utilizing repetitive drill and mnemonic devices. Describes this activity as one way of helping students remember place-name geography facts. (RW)

Addresses the problem of geographic literacy with respect to the Caribbean Basin. Provides a lesson plan, including maps and charts, that encourages and challenges students to learn the geography of the Caribbean Basin, and to think about the problems that develop when large numbers of legal and illegal immigrants enter the United States. (RW)

Outlines the essential elements of a textbook. Analyzes geography textbooks in terms of their commitment to global interdependence, and treatment of a wide range of geographic concepts. Identifies components of a well-integrated textbook program. (RW)

Recommends including geography in history instruction. Suggests that the theme of time is implicit in the five fundamental geographical themes of location, place, relationships within places, movement, and regions. Observes that maps enable students to visualize historic events. Concludes that geography can help students connect past and present.…

Presents group activities for learning geographic terminology. Includes (1) learning basic terminology and definitions; (2) evaluating and selecting by consensus; (3) creating models to illustrate terms; (4) challenging classmates to identify terms; (5) grouping models into categories; and (6) explaining the meaning of terms in writing. Discusses…

Describes a lesson plan for use in physical geography, earth science, and social studies classes. Suggests that students will find the problem solving approach interesting and will use knowledge of earth-sun relationships, absolute location, and place. Includes objectives, two days of learning activities, evaluations, resources, and an activity…

Presents lessons on the geography of the desert designed to teach that different subjects are interrelated and dependant on each other. Explains that the goal was to help students understand that geography is a way of looking at the world not just a study of maps. Includes activities in reading, mathematics, art, and science. (DK)

Describes the content, structure, and instructional characteristics of video programs and print materials prepared by the author with the Agency for Instructional Technology for teaching geography within the context of U.S. history in high school courses. Each of 10 video programs focuses on a major period of U.S. history. Discusses the…

Maintains that the concept of scale is fundamental to geography, yet the definitions for scale and other spatial terms are confusing to researchers in other spatial science disciplines. Provides a terminology of scale that can be used for a multidisciplinary lexicon of accepted scaling terms. (CFR)

This series of lesson plans provides an overview of the Federal Republic of Germany. Transparencies and instructions are provided for each of the four lessons. Lesson 1 looks at "Culture and Perspective Taking on the Federal Republic of Germany" with five activities relating to: (1) "Impressions of Germany and Germans"; (2)…

This student magazine gives maps and a geographic description of Umatilla and Morrow counties in Oregon, paying particular attention to those features that attracted various ethnic groups, and especially Mexican Americans, to this location. Topics presented are: "Ethnic Communities"; "Ethnic Folklife"; "Traditional…

The voyage of Columbus in 1492 is a turning point in world history. After 1492, people and civilizations of long-separated regions began to develop connections that have led to the incipient global community of the 1990s. It is their global significance that justifies a prominent place in today's curriculum for the four voyages of Columbus to the…

This unit, designed for use with students in grades 6-12, concerns the diverse and unifying forces that characterize life in Brazil's urban centers. Comprised of seven lessons and used with a set of slides, lesson 1, "Geography," distinguishes Brazil from other South American countries through an examination of the country's geographic…