The focus in this article is on the usefulness of spatial sequencing as a tactic for interpreting a map and organizing our memory of it. This skill is useful whenever some condition varies in a systematic way with distance. When students are asked whether they see a pattern on a map of a topic like wildfires or terrorist activity, some students…

To know a place, one must observe more than just the "conditions" there. It is also important to know about "connections" with other places, near and far. This article looks at research about geographic connections, with a specific focus on describing the area of influence (the aura) around a geographic feature like a lake,…

An "analogy" is a statement of relationship. A "spatial analogy" is an analogy based on a spatial relationship that is observed in a location. Spatial analogies can be based on any spatial relationship, including distance, direction, elevation, proximity, enclosure, or position in a pattern, region, or sequence - in short,…

This is the fourth in a series of six articles about how research by psychologists, neuroscientists, robot engineers, and other scientists could help geography educators design better lessons. This article will focus on teaching about regions as narrowly defined: a region is a group of places that have something in common and are close to each…

Each location on earth has its own mix of climate, minerals, land cover, politics, religion, and other features. Geographic inquiry starts (but does not end) with careful observation of these conditions, because geographers assume that they can influence what happens in that place. Future articles in this series will look at different modes of…

This is the first in a series of six articles about how spatial reasoning can help children "read" maps, graphs, and geographic texts. Since the late 1900s, neuroscientists and psychologists have used new brain-scanning and eye-tracking technologies to do a "lot" of research about visual perception and spatial thinking. One key…