Describes activities for elementary social studies designed to stimulate student interest in maps and globes. For example, students study geographic regions where friends and relatives live. They locate food production, manufacturing areas, and places they have visited on maps. (AM)

This learning exercise was designed for a seventh grade geography class in Western Pennsylvania using highway maps from a local service station. It is designed to provide practice in skills in using the key, the grid system, the mileage scale for finding distances, and to develop an appreciation for the variety of information a student can obtain…

Secondary teachers should find these guidelines useful in helping students to become more map conscious and critical of maps. Various ways in which map elements can be manipulated to make maps persuasive and how such maps have been used are examined. Tips for identifying these maps are provided. (RM)

Indicates in-class and at-home math projects for sixth graders. Activities focus on map-making and exploration of maps. (RH)

Provides information on Landsat maps of Canada made from pictures taken by satelitte. Suggests guidelines for their use in the elementary classroom. (Author/CM)

Students need to be able to classify mapping devices, map purposes, and code forms so that skills learned on one map setting can be readily transferred to any map using the same techniques. (MB)

This booklet is both an executive summary of "Geography for Life: National Geography Standards 1994" and an introduction to geography as an essential part of every child's education, and as an integral part of the lives of all U.S. citizens. The publication is illustrated on every page with photographs, paintings, graphs, and maps. It…

Describes a secondary, U.S. history simulation of the settlement of the Jamestown colony. Students are provided with a map and asked to decide where the fort and colony should be set up. They must state reasons for selecting a particular site and reasons for rejecting others. (AM)

In this classroom activity secondary students determine conditions present at the onset of the Civil War to understand some of the basic reasons why the Union and Confederacy employed certain strategies designed to win the war. Students are assigned the role of a general and they work in groups to analyze graphs and maps and develop military…

Suggests four basic and 10 more sophisticated map evaluation criteria for use by social studies classroom teachers. The basic criteria are proportion and outline, labeling accuracy, spelling and lettering, and overall neatness. Among the more difficult criteria are proper title, all items labeled, proper areas labeled, key, coloring done neatly,…

Outlines specific lesson plans for teaching map reading readiness concepts in the primary grades. (CM)

This orienteering manual is used to teach map and compass skills to elementary school students on an overnight outdoor experience administered by volunteers. Although the experience is aimed at elementary students, student teachers have the opportunity to participate as instructors. After a few words to the volunteers on maximizing learning among…

These geography standards are subtitled "What Every Young American Should Know and Be Able To Do In Geography", and constitute a set of voluntary benchmarks that every school and school district may use as guidelines for developing their own curricula. The standards for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12 specify the essential subject matter,…

After learning about two promising techniques for generating electricity--photovoltaic cells and wind energy conversion systems--secondary students analyze two maps of the United States showing solar radiation and available wind power to determine which U.S. regions have potential for these solar electric systems. (RM)