This curriculum unit, intended to be used with elementary school students, provides information about a North African, Moslem, Arab, country: Morocco. The unit presents objectives, strategies, materials needed, background notes, evaluation methods, and assignments that fulfill National Social Studies Standards and National Geography standards. It…

This literature review focuses on geography instruction and summarizes the most important information teachers should know. The review suggests that there are four main areas of concern in geographic education: defining geography; developing systematic, sequential curriculum; training geographically literate teachers; and developing tests that…

The paper suggests that the five fundamental themes of geography can serve as a good starting point for understanding how geography affects lives everyday in every way. Geography serves to remind people how interwoven geographic concepts are in individuals' lives. Ten activities are suggested to incorporate the five fundamental themes into a…

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…

This paper presents the results of a survey that examined elementary school teachers' attitudes about social studies (particularly geography) instruction. The responses of newly-hired elementary teachers were compared to those of experienced elementary teachers. The survey included questions such as: Have you ever taken a social studies methods…

This document discusses the advantages of integrating social studies--geography in particular--and reading skills. Time is saved because literature based reading is a high interest means of introducing social studies concepts and vocabulary to children. Skills can be taught using the vocabulary from the social studies unit. This paper presents…

It is impossible to divorce oneself from geography. Students at an early age need to see how much a part of their lives geography is. This document offers teachers, students, and parents an exciting opportunity to discover the geography in themselves. The program explores the many ways geography affects people starting right from birth.…

Literature based reading can be used as a means of introducing and reinforcing geographic concepts. Every story has a setting. The setting is the time and place. Setting is representative of the five fundamental themes of geography. Teachers can integrate geographic skills in order to enhance the student understanding of the text. Geographic…