Augmented reality (AR) as a mobile educational technology enables self-directed and interactive learning by anchoring multimedia-enhanced three-dimensional (3D) content at selected locations. Numerous systematic and meta-reviews for education, specifically for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), have demonstrated a wide range…

Movable or moving maps, made so that children can manipulate and assemble parts, promote active learning. Activities which can be used with elementary and secondary students are described. (RM)

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)

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)

Points out the importance of a geographic perspective for those making complex public policy decisions. Identifies issues which might be affected by this perspective. Suggests that the geographic themes of location, place, human-environment interactions, movement, and regions would be useful in analyzing such issues. (KO)

Suggests that small-scale mapping activities can be used in geography courses to help students understand geographic concepts such as latitude, longitude, situation, relative location, and national boundaries. (Author/DB)

Describes an activity that provides students with opportunities to integrate learning locational skills with semantic and syntactic development. (FL)

Provides a sample fact lesson for teaching Japanese Geography. After participating in the lesson, students should be able to locate Japan on a world map, match printed names of Japan's four main islands to the correct islands, and understand the inconsistency between the tiny size of Japan and the position of Japan as a world power. (DB)

Presents a lesson in which history, science, and mathematics combine to contribute to an understanding of one of the five fundamental themes of geography: location. Discusses the maps and navigational equipment available at the time of Christopher Columbus. Describes timekeeping, recording speed, and determining latitude and longitude during a…

Described is a game which provides a method for teaching students to locate cities and towns on a map. Students are provided with a list of descriptive phrases which stand for the name of a city, e.g., hot weather town (Summerville, Georgia); a chocolate candy bar (Hershey, Pennsylvania). Using a map, students must then try to find the name of a…

Methods for using fiction and nonfiction to teach mapping and geographical skills are discussed. Three activities for use at the elementary, middle, and high school levels are presented. Additional books that can be used are described. (RM)

Provides educational resources from ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) to help teachers find the material to teach the five themes of geography. An annotated bibliography of seven ERIC documents on geographic location is provided. (LS)

Geographic information systems (GIS) consist of robust hardware, software, data, and a thinking operator. Together, they provide powerful tools for automated cartography and extensive analysis of information about places. Recent improvements in computer hardware and software allow the powers of GIS to move effectively and affordably into the…

"True" maps of the world, as seen from the perspective of the time in which they were produced, remain an ethnocentric visual language in modern times. Students can gain insight into such "true" maps by studying maps produced in the great traditions of the West and East. Teachers can determine a map's appropriateness by…