To foster students' meaningful learning of science, we designed and implemented a unit for five third-grade students that allowed them to understand Carbon Footprint (CF) in a public school in North Texas. The unit lasted seven weeks, where students identified the effects of distance traveled and packaging on the CF of certain consumable products.…

Map skills are included in the curriculum of different courses in basic education and secondary education, although they are more involved in the Social Sciences Curriculum (SSC) and Geography Curriculum (GC). Based on this situation, the research aimed at a comparative examination of the mapping skills included in the SSC and GC, which were…

People often think that ideas about mapping and culture are too difficult and abstract for kindergarten students, let alone English Language Learners (ELLs). This article however describes how a preservice teacher taught a three day unit in geography to her students based upon places they or their family members had visited. Many of the students…

Presents a unit on map and compass activities which introduces compass direction, magnetic declination and conversion of map measurement to familiar units. Requires four, one-hour class meetings and may be followed by a half-day orienteering activity. (Author/JDH)

This unit, based on the 1982 North Dakota Official Highway Map, is designed to familiarize junior high school students with the information provided by road maps and to help them develop essential map skills. Topics covered in the unit include using mileage logs, map legends, and map coordinates; understanding travel information; and identifying…

A teaching unit illustrates how the application of certain common classification systems, using the same data set, can produce different spatial configurations on choropleth maps. It is hoped that students, after completing the unit, will not only take greater care in deciding upon a classification system to use on their own choropleth maps, but…

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)

This special supplement provides a five-day unit of instruction on the Northwest Ordinance. Each lesson plan consists of specific objectives, content outline, maps, student reading material, and instructional suggestions. A unit test and bibliography are included. (JDH)

Describes four learning stations for developing map reading skills in fourth graders. (GB)

A seven-lesson unit was developed to improve school map knowledge and practical map skills in primary children. The unit activities can also be modified for kindergarten children. (Author/AM)

To assist the youthful learner of English as a second language in dealing with finding his way around, a series of dialogs, comprehension questions, readings, and points of discussion are presented. The text is illustrated with maps. (JB)

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)

Home, school, neighborhood, and community studies offer unique opportunities for teachers to initiate youngsters into observing and recording phenomena. Because fuel costs make trips increasingly expensive, an alternative method is suggested for observing and recording data about the local community. (Author/IS)

Numerous ideas for school social studies units focus on providing a framework for the teaching of topographic map skills, initiating an interest in history, and understanding population concerns. (CM)