Overseas experiences provide educators with exceptional opportunities to incorporate field study, firsthand experiences, and tangible artifacts into the classroom. Despite this potential, teachers must consider curricular standards that direct how such international endeavors can be integrated. Furthermore, geography curriculum development is more…

Within Britain, geography as a discipline has been criticized recently for failing either to add to or teach knowledge about the world at large. Instead it has concentrated first at university and then in schools on spatial social science, with examples drawn overwhelmingly from the white Western world. The recent history of geography is reviewed…

The Americas conventionally are divided into two continents, North and South America, with the place of demarcation at the border between Panama and Colombia. Yet a generation of students is growing up with the broad but imprecise term Latin America, referring to all of those countries south of the United States, while North America has come to…

Activities that an intermediate grade teacher used to make geography relevant to her students are described. The students researched their own family heritage. To learn about another culture, they adopted a country and did library research concerning the country's economy and culture. (RM)

Because of its exciting use of rhythm and its variety, African music is an excellent musical culture for study. Seventh and eighth grade students, with no prior musical training, learned to play African instruments and dance the Adowa, a traditional dance of the Ashanti people of Ghana. (RM)

Describes an activity that introduces students to the geography of the Caribbean. Begins with students creating a map of the region using their own mental representations. The activity uses the Five Fundamental Themes of Geography. Includes a color map of the Caribbean islands. (CMK)

This paper describes Caribbean street festivals as celebrations that reflect the historic, climate, and movement patterns of the region. Celebrations such as Carnival, Hosay, and Jonkonnu are discussed, and it is proposed that study of these and other festivals can be linked to the five thematic generalizations often utilized by geographers. These…

Provides an overview of recent New Zealand immigration policy including information suitable for inclusion in lesson plans and units of study. Discusses accessing and using population, migration, and immigration data and addresses possible problems and deficiencies. Includes statistical and graphic analysis of data. (MJP)

Explores the vital development of the Pacific Rim. Advocates integrating the study of this region into social studies curricula. Criticizes the Eurocentric bias that results in ignoring the Pacific Rim's geography, history, literature, and languages. Reports on social studies programs, primarily in Alaska schools, where study of the Pacific Rim…

Asserts that maps and map study are essential to understand history and develop historical perspective. Presents a learning activity using maps to illustrate the importance of geography in U.S. history. Includes four maps and recommended teaching procedures. (CFR)

Presents the Middle East as a circumterral (rimmed by interpenetrating inland seas) rather than circumthallasic (lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea). Contends that, in a circumterral setting, domination by a single nation is made difficult by the weight of the land masses that project into the seas. (CFR)

Geographic illiteracy is prevalent in schools today. The objectives of this practicum were to increase 85 percent of the target group's geographic knowledge by 40 percent and to increase parental involvement with the academic success of the student by 40 percent. Activity sheets were created covering political boundaries, landforms, neighboring…

A teacher developed multidisciplinary unit for teaching elementary and secondary students about Tanzania (Africa) is described. The unit can involve students and teachers from geography, economics, history, language arts, mathematics, literature, and art courses. (RM)

Asserts that the guiding principles of the United Nations and the issues it faces are a major part of the interdisciplinary program at Morristown-Beard School in New Jersey. Describes the Model UN club and how it reinforces the content and values presented in the regular curriculum. (CFR)

Educators from European countries were presented with up-to-date information about Africa. The seminar was intended to help teachers present the African experience as cogently as possible in their classrooms. The main topics of the seminar are discussed, papers are summarized, discussions of the working groups are presented, participants'…