This article examines the role material culture and making items can serve in establishing a sense of place or informing place-based educational practices. It is arranged around six principles that, if used in a learning context, connect material from a place to an enhanced comprehension of a sense of place. A critical component in making the…

In the real world, helping infants explore the earth is not always practical. The logistics of enjoying nature with a group of infants and toddlers in a city can be daunting; however, with a few smart policies and wise decisions about health and safety, sharing nature with young children brings rewards that more than make up for the…

Explores summer seasonal weather activities for inside and outside the classroom. Offers instructions for hot days, cloudy and wet days, and rainy days, and include lists of supplies, age appropriateness, and instructions. Activities address the following learning areas: (1) intellectual; (2) physical/health/movement; (3) social; and (4) art and…

Designed to present interesting facts about science and to heighten the curiosity of primary age students, this book contains activities about the natural world and numerous black and white illustrations. The activities focus on signs of the four seasons. Materials are included for assembling a season activity booklet and guidelines are given for…

Presents tips for helping young children explore basic aspects of geography. Includes suggested learning activities for 2- to 3-year-olds and 4- to 7-year-olds related to: (1) how people and the environment interact; (2) how people and products move; and (3) how information travels. Includes suggestions for preparing children for a move; a…

Designed to develop creativity in young learners, this book contains interdisciplinary activities which focus on the theme of the weather. Activity pages are provided that can serve as front and back covers of a student booklet and the suggested activities can be duplicated for insertion between the covers resulting in a booklet for each student.…

This teaching unit provides materials and information about the effects of El Nino on people, the economy, and nature around the world. It is important for students to know the impact El Nino has had on the world. The unit presents information that builds student's interest in other environmental phenomena as well. This unit offers information on…

This unit, one in a series of teacher-developed materials for elementary geography, is based on a part of a social studies textbook, "Topics of Life," Book Two. One section proposes a learning center environment to make learning experiences in social studies possible throughout the entire school day. The text's section has been expanded for this…

Ten exercises based on the weather map provided in the national newspaper "U.S.A. Today" are used to teach intermediate grade students about weather. An overview describes the history of "U.S.A. Today," the format of the newspaper's weather map, and the map's suitability for teaching weather concepts. Specific exercises, which are briefly…

"People and Environmental Changes" is one of the "Preparing for Tomorrow's World" (PTW) program modules. PTW is an interdisciplinary, future-oriented program which incorporates information from the sciences and social sciences and addresses societal concerns which interface science/technology/society. The program promotes…

The intent of this module is to engage students (grades 9-11) in an examination of issues that arise as a result of human activities in the physical environment. Activities are organized into two sections: the first focusing on weather modification and construction of dams as examples of planned environmental change and the second focusing on…

Designed to supplement the mathematics-science curriculum, this booklet contains activities which provide students of grades three and four with opportunities for investigating the weather and natural environment. Fourteen mathematics skills and six science processes are listed and indexed for the five activities on weather, four activities on…