Ensuring that students understand the basis behind their geography/science courses is an essential part of their education. This article looks at an inexpensive and rigorous way of teaching students how to develop the needed data for remote sensing work. The procedure shows instructors how to build a system to teach students the process of…

A new survey has found that most young adults in the United States have difficulty identifying Iraq on an unlabeled map of the Middle East, or are unaware that the population of China is more than four times that of the United States. This lack of geographic literacy goes beyond simple gaps in knowledge and skills for most of these people do not…

Within this huge national park (over two million acres spread across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho) are steaming geysers, hot springs, bubbling mudpots, and fumaroles, or steam vents. Drives on the main roads of Yellowstone take tourists through the major hot attractions, which also include Norris Geyser Basin, Upper and Lower Geyser Basin, West…

"Back to the Basics: Birmingham, Alabama" is the fourth in a series of workshops that focus on teaching foundational map reading and spatial differentiation skills. It is the second published exercise from the Back to the Basics series developed by the Wetland Education through Maps and Aerial Photography (WETMAAP) Program (see…

This 21st Century Skills Map is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued this map for the core subject of Geography.

Building on 18 months of fieldwork in the Bolivian highlands, this dissertation examines how traversing landscapes, through the mediation of spatial practices and spoken words, are embedded in systems of belief. By focusing on "wak'as" (i.e. sacred objects) and on how the inhabitants of the Altiplano relate to the Andean deities known as…

Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are becoming increasingly popular in online education environments and have multiple pedagogical advantages over more traditional approaches to education. VLEs include 3D worlds where students can engage in simulated learning activities such as Second Life. According to Claudia L'Amoreaux at Linden Lab, "at…

The project presented here provides a role-playing game simulation that points out the complexities of locational decision and indicates ways in which those decisions might be influences by various public and private citizens groups. It focuses on the bargaining, citizen reaction, and possible side payments. Designed as a heuristic devise, the…

This interdisciplinary packet of materials on mapping is intended for grades 7-12. The lessons are organized around themes: location, navigation, information, and exploration. Each lesson has an introductory text and two main activities. Students learn basic mapmaking and map-reading skills and see how maps help answer fundamental geographic…

This study sought to determine whether mnemonics or lecture was a more effective teaching technique in the instruction of world geography facts within a pull-out gifted education program for eight elementary-level minority students from a Hispanic dominant school within a rural, Hispanic dominant district. Graphic results supported the hypothesis…

This study explores students' conceptual thinking by examining the extent and complexity of their concept identification and organization in geography. The study investigated students' conceptual thinking through identification of salient geography concepts and construction of individual concept maps at three academic achievement and grade levels.…

This booklet draws on the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) geography survey of 1988 and shapes recommendations for practices that will make teachers more effective in stimulating student excitement about this increasingly important subject. The assessment surveyed more than 3,000 high school seniors in…

A packet of resources for helping students develop map skills is presented. The packet includes: 18 stencil masters of mapping exercises for elementary students; an aerial photograph; the course guide, entitled "A Course to Understand Maps," designed to help secondary students understand maps through problem solving; and a teacher's…

Intended for geography professors, students, and researchers, this publication explores some topics in the area of alcohol use and abuse that are potentially suited for geographical research. There are four chapters. Chapter 1 introduces some of the more familiar arguments for and against alcohol consumption. The second chapter deals with the…

Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy that promotes the positive interaction of children in small, heterogeneous groups. Each group contain three or four students of varying achievement levels, backgrounds, socio-economic status, and sex. Cooperative learning processes promote student motivation, build group skills, foster social and…