Examines the concept of geographic regions by examining how the forces of culture, economics, and history carved Canada into distinct entities. States that a regional study of Canada could be carried out from either an environmental viewpoint or a human-land relationships perspective. (KO)

These geography standards are subtitled "What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able To Do In Geography", and constitute a set of voluntary benchmarks that every school and school district may use as guidelines for developing their own curricula. The standards for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 specify the essential subject matter,…

This pamphlet suggests ways in which families and caregivers can work with children to help them learn more about the world in which we live. The pamphlet is intended to help children expand their awareness of the world around them. The article explains why it is important to learn geography, relates how a parent or caregiver can help in the…

Geography was virtually absent from the secondary school curriculum from the mid-1950s well into the 1980s--despite America's rediscovery of the earth in the 1970s. The 1984 instructional "Guidelines for Geographic Education" stress five interrelated themes (location, place, relationships within places, movement, and regions), forming a sound…

This paper presents a view of the acknowledged lack of geographic knowledge exhibited by U.S. students. This view is grounded in the definition of geography that is developed through five themes: location, place, relationship within places, movement, and regions. According to this view, only a very small, usually trivial, part of geography…

The object of study in geography is the earth, and more precisely, the earth as the home of man. Literacy, as applied to geography, involves a fresh new layer on the educational itinerary. It presumes that a person already has the ability to read and write and to communicate verbally. This dictionary of geographic literacy enhances this learning…

This statement, prapared by the Council of the Australian Geography Teachers Association to assist geography teachers, curriculum planners, and educational administrators, describes geography as a field of study focusing on the environment through the use of spatial concepts and establishes the usefulness and importance of geography in school…

Paper presented to the Commission on Geography in Education, Quebec, Canada, August 1972. (DS)

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)

Two lesson plans designed to teach the geographic theme of movement to third grade students are presented in this document. The first lesson involves the study of a can of fruit cocktail, and explores the ways in which the production of the fruit cocktail and its transportation connects the students' town to other towns. The second lesson involves…

Every map depicts both objective realities and subjective elements and is a rich resource for studying the geographic knowledge and values of mapmakers and their societies. This paper considers cognitive mapping research and describes how world maps reflect world images. Cognitive mapping is defined as a process that allows people to acquire,…

Presents five day teaching unit on Michigan's experience with Principal Meridian and Base Line, attempting to focus on reality instead of ideal situations. Especially applicable in areas where rectangular land survey is employed, the unit focuses on the evolution of prime lines and the reading of surveyors' field notes. Provides for a field…