Suggests ways to improve secondary school students' locational knowledge. Argues for teaching strategies that emphasize the value of locational information. Discusses the importance of memory in the development of locational skills. Suggests that issue-oriented instruction can promote the development of such skills. (SG)

Urges increased geographic and meteorologic training for television weather reporters. Suggests using television weather reports to promote knowledge of place names and physical geography. Discusses a survey of television news departments in 48 states. Reports findings on the lengths of weather reports and the training of weather reporters. (DK)

Investigates the potential use of geographic-information systems (GIS), a computerized spatial-analysis tool, for teaching geography to elementary students. Finds that GIS offers students opportunities to practice geographic skills and is highly motivating, but it can create frustration. Suggests several promising approaches to using GIS at the…

Individuals' mental maps of the world are highly misrepresentative of the actual world. Availability in memory partly explains the reasons for this misrepresentation. When asked to place the 50 states in their correct locations, students have difficulty with states not in close proximity to their own because of availability, such that the…

This teaching resource is aimed at helping students develop the skills necessary to locate places on the earth. Designed as a collection of map skill exercises rather than a sequential program of study, this program expects that students have access to and some knowledge of how to use globes, maps, atlases, and encyclopedias. The volume contains 6…

This is a set consisting of primer and workbook which provides an introduction to basic geographic concepts and principles for the intermediate grade child. Its objectives are to help the student understand the order and logic of his physical environment and its interaction with human society. Opportunities are provided to view objects and their…

Described is a map game for middle elementary grade students. The game has four objectives: (1) teaching geographical locations, (2) using map symbols, (3) applying the concept of scale, and (4) developing map-reading skills. (RM)

This curriculum packet, appropriate for grades 4-8, features a teaching poster which shows different types of maps (different views of Salt Lake City, Utah), as well as three reproducible maps and reproducible activity sheets which complement the maps. The poster provides teacher background, including step-by-step lesson plans for four geography…

Maintains that teacher education courses in geography must be improved before teachers can realistically be expected to help elementary and secondary students understand geographic concepts. Provides three examples of exams given to prospective elementary school teachers in Vermont in 1907 and suggests that the exams can serve as guidelines for…

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)

Presents a world climate simulation game in which students demonstrate knowledge of the Koppen System of Climate Classification, ability to read and interpret a climograph, and ability to locate places by means of longitude and latitude coordinates in an effort to locate a ring of spies who have planted a bomb in an unidentified city. Clues and…

Observations are given upon interviews with children about their perceptions of continents, countries and places within those countries. A picture emerges that suggests there is a clear difference between children's geographies and geography as constituted as an adult academic subject, even when the same language is being used. (Contains 1 table…

Where on Earth are you? Where is your home, your school, or the bookstore on the globe we call Earth? The activities in this book are designed to show children how to orient themselves on this planet. The book is divided into three main sections. Section 1, "Finding North, No Matter What," contains the following subsections: (1) Finding…

The project described in this paper was developed by the Census Bureau to train census enumerators. The approach called "geographic gameboard," consists of three components: (1) an imaginary, graphically depicted community (Abbotsville, Oklahoma); (2) a census map that corresponds to the census geography of Abbotsville; and (3) blank…

Fifth grade students can become familiar with images of earth generated by space sensor Landsat satellites which sense nearly all surfaces of the earth once every 18 days. Two false color composites in which different colors represent various geographic formations were obtained for the northern Ohio region where the students live. The class had no…