National Geography Standard 1 requires that students learn:"How to use maps and other geographic representations, geospatial technologies, and spatial thinking to understand and communicate information" (Heffron and Downs 2012). These concepts have real-world applicability. For example, elevation contour maps are common in many…

Contends that the introduction of the Five Themes of Geography has revitalized geography in the K-12 curriculum. Argues that physical geography is left out of the "Movement" theme. Presents a set of physical geography ideas to help teachers implement the theme. (CFR)

Five approaches--self discovery, reading, writing, oral presentation, and visual literacy--were used to teach high school students about the physiographic landmarks of Latin America. The course is described. (RM)

Summarizes methods from a high school geography class that used examples from local geography to teach basic geographic concepts. Maintains that these illustrative examples can be used even in courses where the content is not local geography. Provides examples of local landscapes illustrating concepts applicable to the Brazilian rain forest. (MJP)

Recent political and economic developments in Slovenia, especially its accession to the European Union in 2004, have led to a significant reappraisal of the geography curriculum in higher education, and particularly those elements dealing with the teaching of soils. Physical geography, and especially soils geography, has long been an important…

Presents the results of an experiment that asked 53 middle school children to identify continent shapes and to arrange them to form a map of the world. Australia, Europe, and Asia were the most recognized. Misidentified and misaligned most consistently were Africa and Antarctica. Discusses possible reasons and teachers' responses. (MJP)

Gives driving directions for a circuitous route while asking the drivers to make observations, measurements, interpretations and to locate features. Includes an example for the LaSalle Quadrangle, Illinois, which takes about one hour to complete. (Author/MVL)

To measure and report on the extent and quality of students' understanding of geography, the National Geographic Society initiated and provided support for a national assessment of students 17 years old and in the 12th grade. Since 1969, the Nation's Report Card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), has been responsible for…

The Latin America Project, which developed print and nonprint materials for use in grades 6-12, is described. The two-year effort was conducted in five phases: survey of existing materials; the development of curriculum units; review of curriculum by teachers attending summer institutes; field testing and evaluation; and dissemination. Titles of…