Reviews various definitions of the concept of distance and suggests that basic notions regarding distance require directed learning. Identifies challenges regarding relative distance for geography researchers and teachers. (Author/DB)

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 bibliography is intended to offer research paths for geography educators interested in geography learning. It includes research on all three general modes of geographic learning: spatial learning, map learning, and formal geography learning. Chapter 1, "Introduction," contains the following: (1) "What is geography and what is geography…

By plotting economic and population data on maps and coordinating the data on a scattergram, introductory world geography students work with the concept of spatial association, learn to identify geographic problems, and become familiar with world political units. (JR)

An integration of human geography concepts and physical geography concepts into one course is proposed; and the conceptual framework, teaching strategies and materials, and difficulties of introducing an innovative course are discussed. (ND)

A primary goal of a teacher of regional geography should be to present the course as a study of the changing functions of world regions because the events of each day cause regions, whether political, economic, cultural, or physical, to be in constant flux. The nation-state has become in many ways out-moded as a source of analyzing the events of…

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,…

The author uses a student-directed game-creation exercise to evaluate student learning in a freshman level university geography course. Students are instructed to develop a game demonstrating knowledge of basic population-resource interactions which have been discussed in classes during the course. (Author/AV)

Discusses how instructors can design a local field trip for undergraduate students enrolled in an economic geography class. The purpose of the field trip is to help students observe and interpret familiar scenes in terms of geographical concepts such as central place theory, changing land use, and spatial competition. (RM)

Afghanistan and its people are not well known or understood by the United States, yet many U.S. people now consider the U.S. and Afghanistan to be at war. How is it possible to know the enemy? This book offers a complete, but not exhaustive source of information about Afghanistan, the land and its people. The book is intended as a guide for anyone…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is the most recent reauthorization of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and was signed into law in January 2002 by President George W. Bush. This educator's guide was commissioned by the Geography Education National Implementation Project (GENIP) to help geography educators…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is the most recent authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and was signed into law in January 2002 by President George W. Bush. Of key interest is the progress of the last two decades, which lead to the law's inclusion of geography as a "core academic subject" and the…

Intended as a teacher handbook, this volume takes a comparative look at the development of geography, both as a science in its own right and as an educational area of study, in Europe and the United States. The book is a description of the development of educational systems in very different political arenas. Reaching from early Greek educational…

An analysis of 14 introductory physical geography textbooks yielded 121 core concepts (basic concepts appearing in 7-10 books). The authors suggest that the trend toward overspecialization in introductory geography classes can be reversed if teachers agree to stress core concepts and their relationships to geography as a whole. (AM)

Describes a cartographic exercise to help students in an introductory geography course on the college level understand the geography of world affairs. The activity involved students in creating a diagrammatic map commensurate with amount of news magazine coverage of various foreign countries. (Author/DB)