When teaching geography to students in the primary grades, teachers should provide firsthand experiences that young children need to make meaningful sense of their world. David Sobel, author of "Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years," suggests that teachers in the early grades adopt a small-world approach to…

The geographic orientation requirement for the Army's lighter aircraft, and for Army aviation as a system, is a system-analysis and system-design problem that appears to have defied solution. The factors considered in this paper indicate that the requirement is not filled by a simple "more sophisticated machine" systems approach. Instead, the man…

This study is an investigation into the place names of West Virginia to see if they reveal a record of the history of the state. It was found that the study of place names is indeed a study of the history of the land, because the people who inhabit the land give names to it that commemorate themselves, their deeds, and their passions. The study of…

This resource paper on geographical spatial diffusion is part of a series designed to supplement undergraduate geography courses. Focusing on the unfolding of man's patterns over geographic space and through time, the paper provides the basic theoretical background of this new, rapidly growing area of geography. Following a short introductory…

Discusses the teaching of geographic concepts through the use of childrens books. Suggests following up the books with a geographically focused activity to increase children's geographic awareness and knowledge. Includes an extensive annotated bibliography. Links specific books to the geographic themes of place, location, movement, regions, and…

Presents an exercise, for use in college-level economic geography courses, which teaches the concept of nodal and network accessibility with an application to manufacturing locations. Intended to guide students to think spatially and to generalize from numeric data, this out-of-class activity teaches students to discover results, to do simple…

This booklet is designed to help teachers in geography instruction, dealing with "where" things are located, "why" they are located there, and "what" difference their location makes. The first three chapters describe a spatial perspective, examine two different kinds of maps, and examine how geography deals with three strands of meaning at the…

Considers those key concepts in geography that contribute to the teaching of history. Outlines strategies that teachers can use to combine and complement the two subjects. Discusses specific examples of these strategies focusing on the Erie Canal and Bunker Hill. Includes maps and illustrations. (MJP)

This digest discusses various ways in which literature can be incorporated with world geography to make better connections across the curriculum. Reasons to use a literature-based approach to teach geography include: (1) there is a natural link between geography and literature; (2) the study of literature improves comprehension of geography; and…

This set of lessons uses the six essential standards of "Geography for Life" as a basis. At least one lesson is provided for each standard and linked to one or more of the five fundamental themes of geography. At the end of each section is also a special active teaching feature to help students further focus on the concepts presented. The lessons…

Relates a project in which elementary students created a model globe that hung in the classroom in order to enable the students to build their geographic understanding. Describes in detail the process of constructing the globe and discusses the finished globe's uses. (CMK)

Examines teaching models of atmospheric circulation and resultant surface pressure patterns, focusing on the three-cell model and the meaning of meridional circulation as related to middle and high latitudes. Addresses the failure of the three-cell model to explain seasonal variations in atmospheric circulation. Suggests alternative models. (CMK)

This paper describes two experiments in which first, 10, then 20 first-grade students were taught the geographic concept of location through organized lessons and then were able to transfer their learning to concentric area questions with understanding. This study applies Vygotsky's and Gagne's theories that children can learn, recall, and apply…

This implementation guide is based upon the themes, geographic concepts, and suggested learning outcomes contained in "Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools." The central themes for geographic education are: (1) location (position on the earth's surface); (2) place (physical and human characteristics); (3)…

This paper describes the development of the hardware-software configuration required for a computerized digitizer-graphics system for encoding locational information at the University of Iowa's Department of Geography and Institute of Urban and Regional Research. Topics covered include system requirements, data structure, hardware configurations,…