• Know Your State

    2 comments / Posted by Cindy Wiggers

    Know-Your-State-Feature-Image

    Geography is a fun subject of study and can be done any school year at any age. You can include it as a separate subject but is more naturally learned in the context of history, science, and even art. Geography can easily meld into your daily routine.

    It is vital to establish a foundation of geography and creating a simple state study is an effective way to generate interest. Have you covered your home state? Do your children know where your state is located within the boundaries of the United States? Do they know basic information about your state geography and history? If not, why not consider some of these ideas and begin to implement them into your school routine?

    Even if your school schedule is rolling along, you can always select something that will fit in naturally amidst your daily life. Or better yet, give as filler to students waiting for your attention while you are working with a sibling. This can be a fun way to use their time and certainly more beneficial than screen time on a game or app.

    Two key tools for any homeschool library are outline maps and a good U.S. atlas. Your world atlas will likely have only one map of the United States found in the North America section. A good U.S. Atlas will include a separate more detailed map of each state along with regional and topical maps. Watch that the state map is intact on one page and does not cross the binding as this can be difficult for some students.

    Here is a good way to begin: Give your children an outline map of your state. Have them find the state capital in the atlas and place a star in that location on their outline map. Now they can write the name of the capital next to the star. Label the names of each surrounding state, country or body of water. What other features do you see on the map in the atlas? Mountains? Lakes? Desert area? Rivers? Draw and label them as well.

    Any good U.S. atlas will also have interesting information on each state. You can read this aloud or instruct your student to read it aloud to the family or quietly to himself. Each state is different and fascinating in its own way. Encourage your students to discover something new and write about it or draw a picture of what they’ve learned.

    Here are some simple activities that will serve to connect your students with the geography of your state:

    • Create a travel brochure about the state.
    • Make a crossword puzzle with information about the state.
    • Make a three-dimensional state map with salt dough. (2 parts water, 1 part salt, 1 part water)
    • Create a set of post cards with drawings or pictures of popular places or events
    • Learn about the natural resources found in the state, how they are used, and how they affect the economy.
    • Learn the state bird, flower, tree, and symbols and what they mean.
    • Learn the state motto and date of statehood.
    • Cook a meal with ingredients grown in your state or that is popular in your state.

    Students can share what they have learned with the family over a meal at the kitchen table, during family discussions, through writing a summary, while driving to music lessons, in a poster or other ways. Make it fun and light hearted and it won’t even feel like school.

    Once your students have a grasp of their home state, why not add another? Try learning about where grandma lives, a favorite sports team location, vacation spots, bordering states, or any other connection you can think of.

    I’ve included a couple of printable pages from Trail Guide to U.S. Geography that can be used for a state report or as a foundation for a U.S. geography notebook. Click here to download them.

    However you work geography into your life you will not regret laying a geographic foundation and your students will have life-long benefits from knowing about their country.

     

    Desk Atlas of the United States

    Desk Atlas of the United States

    Are you in need of a good US Atlas? We are so proud to introduce the Desk Atlas of the United States brought to you by Geography Matters. Filled with lots of fun facts, historical references, and important data, the Desk Atlas will become a valuable reference tool in your home for years to come.

     



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  • Teaching World Geography Can be Loads of Fun!

    1 comment / Posted by Geography Matters

    There are many ways to teach geography. You can use a textbook, curriculum guide, combine with history studies or integrate it with your other subjects. Whatever your choice, be sure to include activities. Most kids love creating their own maps from blank outline maps using an atlas. Geography is a good place to develop or refine memorization skills. It is also perfect for teaching basic research and use of reference materials.  Be sure to teach geographical terms and key facts about each place, too. So where do you begin? Many people ask me which should they teach first U.S. or world? There are vigorous advocates on both sides with compelling reasons to support their opinions.  I think it’s best to incorporate geography every year with literature, history, cultural studies, Bible, and science. However when you’re ready to focus on a study of geography it makes more sense to teach world geography the same time you cover world history and U.S. geography during U.S. history.

    Basics

    To understand world geography, start with the basics. Introduce the 7 continents and 5 oceans. [Note: Most people don’t realize that in 2000 the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) demarcated and named the 5th ocean. It starts at 60 degrees south latitude, extends to the coast of Antarctica, and covers over 12 million square miles. ] Teach basic map reading skills with an understanding of latitude and longitude. Go over the legend and meaning of symbols and color. Most atlases provide an overview in the beginning of the book.

     Memorization

    Encourage students to memorize common facts about our world. Facts such as world extremes, countries and capitals, and more can be memorized through use of flashcards, crossword puzzles, and daily drills. You can find facts in an almanac, encyclopedia, Internet, or in some atlases. The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide has a handy set of cards you can print from the disk to use while memorizing world facts. Flashcards - Students can make flash cards for each continent listing the highest point, lowest point, area, numbers of countries, largest and smallest country, major rivers and bodies of water, deserts, and more. Use these flash cards to memorize facts about each continent.  Add another card for facts about the world. Include longest river, highest and lowest point, largest country by area and by population, largest lakes, waterfalls, ocean areas, distance around the equator, distance to the moon and sun, driest and wettest place on earth, and more.  Play games with these facts or create your own geography bee challenge monthly, as students learn about the world. Crossword Puzzles – Instruct students to make their own crosswords using the country as a clue and its capital as the answer. Any of the other data obtained, such as those listed above, can be used in a crossword puzzle as well. When students create their own crossword they’ll remember the facts better. To self-test or for geography drill, students answer their own puzzle or swap with others.

    Continents

    You may want to teach geography by focusing on one continent at a time. A good schedule could be something like this:

    • North America (includes Central America) 4 weeks
    • South America 2 weeks
    • Europe 5 weeks
    • Africa 5 weeks
    • Asia 5-6 weeks
    • Oceania 2 weeks
    • Antarctica 1 week
    • Literature 6-9 weeks (Read and map Around the World in Eighty Days or some other novel that covers the world.)
    Help students learn as much as they can about each continent.  Create a geography notebook with a section for each continent. Topics to include in your continent studies are limitless. Here are a few to get you started:
    • Climate and weather patterns, hottest, driest, coldest, wettest places
    • Countries and capitals
    • Physical features
    • Gems and minerals
    • Popular landmarks
    • Animals
    • Flora and fauna
    • Natural disasters
    • Food specialties
    • Principle crops
    • Major buildings
    • Active volcanoes
    • Population densities
    • Languages
    • Current events

    Schedule some time for review so you never feel like you’re behind. Sometimes your children may want to spend more time in an area because you have piqued their interest. By all means adapt your schedule to indulge those teaching moments.

    Geographical Terms

    While studying each continent students should learn about the physical features. This is a good time to focus on geography terms. If students learn 2 terms a week they will know over 70 terms in a typical school year. Make flash cards with the term on one side and the definition on the reverse. Or have students create an illustrated geography dictionary with the definition and a drawing or photography depicting each physical feature.

    Countries

    Study 3-5 or more countries for each continent. Learn about the culture, language, principle crops, bodies of water, economy, language, currency, form of government, and major religion(s). Identify famous people from science, arts, athletics, exploration and more from each country. Make sure they also know what countries and bodies of water surround each country of focus. Select from any of the following or adapt these suggestions to suit your own ideas:

    • Cook a popular meal or a dish from the country.
    • Use travel videos from the library to see the country, people, clothing, etc. Make a travel brochure highlighting the popular tourist areas of the country.
    • Collect stamps or coins.
    • Get a pen pal.
    • Make a scrapbook of pictures, newspaper clippings and more.

    Mapping

    With a simple set of outline maps, colored pencils, and a student atlas, kids can create their own personal set of maps that accurately depict your history and geography studies. Make a list of what you want on the map. Each continent map should be labeled with the following:

    • Country names
    • Capitals
    • Major landforms – shaded with various colors
    • Use brown triangle for mountain peaks
    • Shades of green, yellow and orange can depict rising elevations
    • Label mountain ranges, plains, deserts and more across the land
    • Rivers, lakes and other bodies of water- draw and label in blue

    Additional mapping ideas

    Use separate outline maps and shade accordingly– take information from the thematic maps provided in the student atlas.

    • Climate
    • Land usage
    • Population density
    • Natural hazards
    • Natural resources

    Literature

    Literature? Sure! It’s fun to integrate geography and literature. If you add a novel set in the region you’ll find the study of geography come alive. Be sure students create a map of the places as the story unfolds. Watch for geography terms, and add new terms you have not yet taught.

    Summary

    These are some ideas and a framework for teaching World Geography. Start a geography co-op or join with another family once a week or monthly for students to share what they’ve learned. Prepare an international potluck meal and dress the part. Keep a geography notebook and show the notebook a lot. Your kids will never forget what a great time they spent learning geography. You’ll forgive me if I exaggerate a bit– we can always hope, huh!   Cindy

    This article uses concepts and ideas from Trail Guide to World Geography and The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. Copyrighted material. It is unlawful to copy the contents of this page and put on your blog, computer or for any other use, without permission and due credit for the work. For permission contact Cindy through Geography Matters by emailing info@geomatters.com.

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