This paper outlines an approach used in a course designed to teach reflexivity as a research skill and explores what kind of gender intervention such teaching might constitute. Although inspired by feminist debates about the complex power dynamics of research relationships, the course in question does not focus specifically on gender issues.…

Imagine recreating a tsunami's force in a bathtub or exploring the potential of geothermal energy by using steam from a kettle to illuminate a light bulb. These types of activities and more are offered in Matthew Levy and Mario Salvadori's collection of experiments and demonstrations in Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tsunamis. More than 30 easy and…

This curriculum unit introduces students to the travelers and traders from the early part of the Han-Roman times up to the 14th century who took great risks in pursuit of silk. A variety of activities explore the development of the Silk Road trade routes, including journal writing, small group reading and writing activities, role play and…

This issue of Update contains four separate geography lesson plans on the topics of: (1) the mobility and interactions of people, goods, and ideas; (2) creating thematic maps and comparing the relative wealth of South American countries; (3) identifying and applying key geographic concepts; and (4) human-environment interactions. Each lesson plan…

Four lessons for secondary school geography instruction focus on creative thinking through generating alternatives, imagining consequences, generating analogies, and creating products. In lesson 1 students lay out alternatives to solving a problem and decide the best course of action. Suggested activities include consideration of alternatives in…

This resource paper on the subject of citizen participation, decentralization, and advocacy planning is part of a series designed to supplement undergraduate geography courses. The approach of the paper de-emphasizes inventory or case study reviews of specific participation or advocacy planning projects for a more general conceptual discussion of…

This instructional package, consisting of a text and 13 transparencies, is designed for high school classrooms. The five lessons in the instructional package relate to the "Five Themes of Geography" (Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, and Region) as promoted by the National Geographic Society. The lessons are…

Describes a simulation game whose objective is to help students understand the part played by water in the environment from both the physical and the social viewpoint. Journal availability: see SO 507 285. (Author/CK)

Advocates that geography teachers undertake field studies of human systems with their students. Describes a learning process in which teachers take students to a human system (supermarket, hotel) and guide them through exploration and analysis of the system with the goal of building skills that can transfer to other geographic tasks. (MJP)

Identifies cultural universals as general categories of traits that all cultures possess, the delineation of which can distinguish one culture from another. These include, material culture, social organization, and economic organization. Discusses teaching strategies for exploring these phenomena. Includes a sample lesson and related World Wide…

Focuses on the Nile, the Rhine, and the Mississippi, the greatest rivers of Africa, Europe, and North America, respectively. Highlights the rich diversity of subjects associated with rivers including geography, history, literature, and art. Includes 12 learning activities for each river. (MJP)

Outlines a number of activities to be conducted with a stream table (large wooden box filled with sediment and designed for water to pass through) in class. Activities illustrate such fluvial processes as stream meandering, erosion, transportation, and deposition. Includes a diagram for constructing a stream table. (MJP)

Asserts that college students often do not understand or appreciate the way that the mass media construct images of place. Describes a day-long simulation exercise in which students work on journalistic teams sent to an unfamiliar location to report on its landscape and environment. (CFR)

This paper reports a case study of how junior secondary geography teachers in Changchun, China, planned and delivered their lessons. From the observation and interview data, it was found that teachers in the China mainland were strongly influenced by a compliance culture and uncertainty avoidance stance. It is argued that these cultural traits…

This paper describes how two related e-learning initiatives have led to school-level virtual learning environment (VLE) adoption and commencement of several new teaching developments at the University of Southampton. These have engaged additional academic staff with online learning and increased the role of blended learning within the curriculum,…