In teaching about Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing a human dimension to the study of the region is essential. Texts on the region can be dull and lifeless or even biased and skewed. Introducing students to the region by exploring prose, poetry, and picture books helps to illustrate the rich diversity found throughout Latin America and the…

Activities that employ the five themes of geography--location, place, relationships within places, movement, and regions--to teach about Venezuela and Mexico are described in this document. Each theme has objectives, a list of materials, and three types of activities--exploration, invention, and expansion. Background information on Venezuela and…

Presents a middle school lesson on the geographic theme of human-environmental interaction. Explains that the natural environments of the Dominican Republic and the gulf region of Alabama are compared and contrasted in the production of sugar cane. Includes maps, graphs, a historic speech, and suggested texts. (DK)

Describes a video series that offers information on the impact of current world problems on family life. Explains that the programs illustrate the five geographic themes by comparing the experiences of young people in North America and Western Europe. Suggests that the series helps teenagers see how the same problems affect families in different…

This collection of Fulbright seminar projects focuses on Morocco and Tunisia. The first project (Ruth Brent) gives a descriptive analysis of images from the perspective of an interior design educator. The second project (Eileen Burchell) explores the theme of continuity and change as it is reflected in the contemporary French literature of the…

Presents a geography lesson on China to be used to help students understand contemporary and historical China. Suggests that China's population may be the most important factor shaping Chinese culture today. Includes teaching strategies and a student handout to provide an understanding of culture through the geographical concepts of place and…

Eight units which depict the people and geography of Canada are featured in this document. Learning is facilitated through the use of maps, case studies, charts, graphs, sketches, photographs, and drawings which appear throughout the units. To help organize the information four symbols are used to indicate the concepts being explained. The symbol…

Presents a secondary education geography lesson plan for teaching the theme of place and relative location. Provides samples of student materials. Using Japan as an example, shows how place and relative location can be used to study a country. (KO)

Identifies themes necessary for geographical literacy: location, place, relationships within places, movement and interaction, and regions. Discusses three traditional social studies approaches to organizing geographic instruction: topical, social science, and reflective. Illustrates the richness and depth created by combining all three approaches…

This paper is part of a larger study, conducted as part of a Christa McAuliffe Fellowship research project, "A Comparative Geography of Three Ecologically Similar Regions." The study compared the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland with the Murray River region of South Australia and the Rio de la Plata region of Uruguay. The project was…

This paper shows comparisons among the Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland, the Murray River region of South Australia, and the Rio de la Plata region of Uruguay. Through comparative geography, students are to draw their own conclusions about the similarities and differences of the three regions. Teachers are encouraged to use other resources to aid…

This lesson focuses on student use of magazine pictures of a region in Australia to understand the region and discover more about it. The students begin by mental mapping of the area to discover what they already know, then proceed to explore the pictures for verification or for new ideas which they had not considered previously. This is an…

Describes a doctoral student's experiences on a trip to Turkey. Discusses the Southeast Anatolia Project involving dam building on the headwaters of the Euphrates to provide electricity and irrigation. Suggests the experience as an example demonstration of complexities of human and environmental interaction and other themes of geography. (DK)

This lesson plan is intended to be a model for teaching the geography of any area of the world. The unit attempts to teach the five themes of geography (location, place, region, human-environment interaction, and movement) while also teaching the geography of Asia and India. The volume also recommends that teachers canvas magazines, travel…

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)