Examines prescribed and recommended geography courses at the secondary level in Victoria and compares them with similar courses in N.S.W., Queensland and South Australia. Concludes that the courses in Victoria are deficient because they are not integrated into the curriculum in relation to the conceptual level of pupils at the secondary level. For…

Public education in Minnesota must help students gain the knowledge and skills that are necessary to, in Thomas Jefferson's view, protect and maintain freedom. The Social Studies Standards in this document attempt to do just this by specifying the particular knowledge and skills that Minnesota students will be required to learn in the disciplines…

Afghanistan and its people are not well known or understood by the United States, yet many U.S. people now consider the U.S. and Afghanistan to be at war. How is it possible to know the enemy? This book offers a complete, but not exhaustive source of information about Afghanistan, the land and its people. The book is intended as a guide for anyone…

In this activity students (in pairs) become explorers and map readers tracing the best land routes to travel between select U.S. cities. They learn who were the first known explorers who broke the trails and who were the first groups of people to follow the trails. The activity tasks each pair of students with instructions to determine the…

This lesson is based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file, "Manassas National Battlefield Park" and other sources. The lesson could be used in units on the Civil War. Students strengthen their skills of observation and interpretation in the study of history and geography and gain practice in analyzing primary…

This sourcebook contains lessons and materials developed by the Keizai Koho Center (Japan Institute for Social and Economic Affairs). The ideas and activities in the sourcebook focus on the Japanese economy and are useful in social studies classrooms and courses including, economics, geography, and world cultures. Essays in the sourcebook are: (1)…

This CD-ROM contains information about the Republic of Palau, a sovereign state in the Pacific Ocean. The CD-ROM contains full-color photos and video clips of selected sites and events on Palau; interactive maps of Palau, including land forms, places of cultural significance, and public schools; and a glossary of geographic, geological, and…

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has produced a distance learning series of four 60-minute video programs with an accompanying Web site and companion teacher guides. The story lines of each program or episode involve six inquisitive school children who meet in a treehouse. They seek the solution of a particular problem, and…

Based on novels and books about the Mississippi River, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that the Mississippi River has made its mark on America's geography, commerce, and literature; and that booktalks provide a summary, explains what kind of reader the book will appeal to, and may also contain a oral…

This learning module aims to engage students in problem solving, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and cooperative learning. The module is appropriate for use in any introductory or intermediate undergraduate course that focuses on human-environment relationships. The module introduces the complexities in the relationships among environmental…

This paper addresses state and local level issues linked with Goals 2000 in Colorado and seeks to shed light on the development of geography content standards in one Colorado school district. The paper begins with a succinct review of Colorado's standards-based educational reform and the creation of the state's model content standards. After a…

This paper discusses the concept of geolibraries and reviews related literature. Highlights include: the opportunity of geolibraries to elevate the work of both GI (Geographical Information) scientists and librarians; geolibraries' focus on digital information and metadata, as well as the distributed nature of the libraries and collections; the…

This activity-centered approach to teaching geography to elementary students is based on children's literature. Methodologies for teaching the themes of geography involving children's books and stories are given. The book is organized into five chapters: (1) "Geographic Literacy in Curriculum" gives instructions for using the book and provides…

This guide, a response to Massachusetts legislation, makes recommendations on curricular materials and resources related to teaching about genocide and human rights. The guide stresses the importance of students acquiring knowledge about genocide and human rights issues to deepen their understanding of both past and current events. It emphasizes…