Teaching Young Geographers

While reading Chapter 5 of Dynamic Social Sudies for Constructivist Classrooms, I was drawn to geography in a way that I never have been before. At the beginning of this blog, I mentioned that I have always liked social studies with the only exception being geography. I can now say that if I had been taught geography using the techniques that this book suggests, I would have liked it a lot more. It makes sense that geography is best taught to students from their perspective outwards. It is imperative that students have an early foundation in personal geography (basically, a sense of direction and perspective) before branching out to street, city, and country maps. I don't naturally have a really good sense of direction, so I know I will find Maxim's suggestions associated with teaching direction with compasses, classroom maps, etc. especially helpful.

While reading "The First Days of School" for another class, I came across a quote. Of course, trying to find it in the book to quote it exactly was like finding a needle in a haystack, so I'll sum it up. The book suggested that we are at our best when we are learning right along with our students. That statement gave me hope that I will be at my best when teaching geography. It will be my goal to help children understand as I understand. I will need to teach the following national geography standards as follows:

the world in spatial terms- how to use maps, make mental maps, and analyze the spatial organization of world

the places and regions of our world- How are regions and states formed? Who and what decides where the dividing lines are between the states or between the piedmont, mountain, and coastal regions of North Carolina? How much does the soil or the terrain have to do with determining the regions? How much does the types of people who settled the regions have to do with their dividing lines?

physical systems - volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, erosion, etc. This part of geography nicely ties into Earth science.

human systems- who lives where and why. It follows that the culture of people who live in a place influence the landscape and the landscape influes the culture of the people. This aspect of geography can be easily tied to economics and anthropology.

environment and society- again, the interdependence between the environment and humanity. I can imagine a super-interesting study on this topic considering the people of the Gulf Coast. Over the past few years, as these people have been hit with first a natural disaster and then a man-made disaster, I have asked myself, what makes the people stay there?

the uses of geography- Geography is useful. It is the reason that homes in California are built to withstand earthquakes and that homes in Florida don't have basements. Geography is also the impetus behind the need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and the best placement of wind turbines. People are constantly learning how to use geography to adapt their lifestyles.

For once, I am actually looking forward to studying geography. I am starting to develop some good ideas, but first, I need to study for my midterm on locating the 50 states, 7 continents, and major oceans.

Actually,

Aricka