Many junior and senior high school students think that up and down are related to the directions north and south. Ways to correct this directional misconception of students are discussed. (RM)

In this kindergarten unit, students learn to name and talk about their address. The purpose of the lesson is to meet requirement K.4 of the California History Social Science Standards, to guide young children as they become aware of themselves in relation to the earth upon which they live, to develop a story which focuses the student's learning,…

Discusses ways in which K-12 social studies teachers can teach students to discover three functions that maps can serve: presenting information, recording data, and functioning as a basis for quantitative analysis. (RM)

Vernacular regions are part of the broader field of place awareness. Gives directions for a unit which selects three popular sports and asks students to construct vernacular sports regions. This involves students in collecting, processing, and evaluating work in a more behaviorally oriented geography than is usual. (CS)

Discusses the desirability of teaching latitude and longitude concepts to upper elementary students. Includes a four-lesson unit on the topics. Employs hurricane tracking information available from the National Hurricane Center. Provides a foundation for future lessons on Middle and North American geography. (SG)

Presents ideas for teaching middle school students how to make and use contour maps. Includes a lesson plan in which students make and read such a map. Provides details on the purpose, motivation, development, and conclusion of the lesson as well as the materials required. Identifies points students should recall as they work with the maps. (SG)

Fourth- through sixth-grade students can create drawn-to- scale classroom maps as they prepare for a treasure hunt using mathematics, map, and measurement skills. The activity involves sharing different maps and examining their features; discussing scale and its purpose; describing the in-classroom treasure hunt; making the maps; and allowing…

Designed for students who already have some facility in map reading, but who would like to develop their skills in a game situation. Objectives are for students to develop and practice the skills of using scale, grid location, symbols, and direction. Includes a list of materials, rules, and modifications. (Author/JK)

Lists a short Applesoft program which uses Hi-Res graphics to help students aged eight and up learn the points of a compass. Program features include help on incorrect responses and display of the percentages of correct responses at the end of a session. (JN)

Satisfactory completion of this self-contained map exercise will demonstrate student ability to use symbols, legends, scale, orientation, index, and grid in map reading and map use to give directions for way-finding. The exercise should take one class period to complete. (RM)

A step-by-step strategy for teaching secondary geography students about the concept of elevation using topographic maps is described. Students view slides of everyday examples of variations in elevation, produce a simple contour map using a layered model of a mountain, and analyze topographic maps of their own and other areas. (RM)

Children learn about maps and develop self-confidence in their ability to get where they want to go in a unit of adventurous learning activities. A variety of kinds of maps help children learn about their community, state, country, and the weather. (DF)

Suggests methods to test whether students have acquired a sense of place or spatial understanding. Knowledge of the concepts of map representation, the region, man/land notations, spatial relations, location, and scale are vital to geographic understanding. Concludes that geographic ideas should relate to particular maps. (Author/KC)

Criticizing traditional elementary geography instruction as provincial and overly concerned with description, the author outlines five concepts of human interdependence which can be used to structure a problem-solving curricular approach. He describes how specific map and globe skills can help to develop each concept. (Author/SJL)

Provides a lesson plan designed to increase student map skills. Objectives are to (1) trace a route on a street map; (2) use symbols for locating skills; and (3) employ mileage scales to determine distance. Includes the procedures and an answer key. (RW)