Socia I Stu d ies

nd

th e yau

Le a

rner 2a \2), pp.

3a

32

o2oo7 National Council for the Social Studies

Developmentally

ApproSiriate Gecig ra phy

5. Kay

andy

By Laying the responsibitity for saving the rainforest and protecting endangered
species on seren- and eight-year-oLds, we aLienate rather than connect children

Children begin to learn

at an

earlyage

their "place in the world." Through their

natural curiosity and in using their five
senses to explore nature, children begin
to understand human-environment reiationships: sensing how to get from point
A to point B on their own. experiencing
the movement of products and people,
and observing how places change over
time.' Parents and teachers can lay the
foundations for geographic concepts by
understanding what is developmentally
appropriate for the early years of childhood and then encouraging rich and
playful activities that build skills and

with the naturaLworLd. Children need to Learn the beauty andintricacies of the
naturalworLd before they can save it.

-David Sobel

tioned in the news on maps and discuss

z4 in this iournal). Students can tour the

characteristics of those regior.rs n'ith their

school grounds and attempt to draw

children. Based on the "fir-e themes of

shorving the features of the landscape that

map

they have observed themselves. Teachers

children questions such as:

can demonstrate the use of a compass and

how to orient a street map. Students can

help create a grid with pegs and string on

Where is this city in the nelvs

located?

the lawn, and then place themselves at

)
)

What is it like to live in this place?

How has the environment affected

various positions according to the teachers'

the way humans live in this place?

column E"). There are many classroom

How have humans affected the

geography activities that are made more

environment?

memorable by doing them outdoors.

A Sense of Place

children develop their sense of space and

place at a young age. Informal geography
can be taught to children as eariy as ages
two and three.a Caregivers can begin by
using directional terms (next to, left, right,

geography'is teachers and parents can ask

knowledge.

Geography learning in the early

years begins at home with the family.3
According to psychologist Jean Piaget,

'

statements ("Sam, place yourself in row 4,

What is changing in this place, and

how is it changing?

Games Books, and Globes

What region of the world is this

Teachers can begin by introducing early

city located in?

map concepts to kindergarten students

through games like the Hokey Pokey

Being Outdoors

(moving left and right) and BINGO

above, below, betr,veen, beyond, near, far)

Exploring the outdoors is an essential

method of introducing geography to
children. Author and educator Howard

in everyday language. For instance,

Gardner included

(reading

grid system). Qualiry children's

ing things like, "put your shoes next to the

door," or "at this stop sign we are going to

to his original list of muldple intelligences,

turn left," prepare children for reading

directions on a map. Another relevant
activity would be to talk about weather
and proper clothing to wear for the dif-

world. Educational phiiosopher john

literature should be introduced to early

learners that include basic geographic
concepts. Me on the Map indicates how
a young girl recognizes hel place and
space in a bedroom, home. street. neighborhood. ciry, state, countn. continent,

Dewey also suggested using the natural

and world.6l s the Crow FLies introduces

environment for teaching and learning.

ferent conditions. Dressing paper dolls for

weather permitting, lessons about geogra-

children to map perspectives from the

view of an eagle, rabbit, horse, crow, gull,
and the moon.;

say-

naturalist intelligence

advocating an experience in the natural

Whenever

it

can be arranged and

Young learners can work with globes

the different seasons would reinforce the

phy can be taught outdoors on the school

connections between humans, the environment, and the passage of time.

lawn, playground, or in the neighborhood

as

nearby. For example,

The Michigan Geographic Alliance

developed the Family Geography
Challenge, which encourages parents,

students on a short "field trip" around the

are quite inexpensive and can be used

for a variety of activities. Toss the Globe

block and then, in the classroom, reconstruct what was seen and heard on the

is a standard lesson that has been used

by classroom teachers for many years.

once a week, to find places that are men-

adventure (see the articles on pages r5 and

Have students sit in a circle and catch the

30

Social Studies and the Younq rearner

teacher could lead

well as flat graphics. Inflatable globes

globe with both hands. Ask

if her or

his

Geography Education Standards Pro ject.'u

right thumb is on warer or land. Using

sticky Post-It Notes, let the children
make a pictorial graph of the results. It
will soon become obvious to students that

A summary of the curriculum standards

(described in detail in that book) appear
on page 5 ofthis issue ofSocrar Sruorss
AND THE YouNc Lrar.Nsn, and related

the Earth has more water than land. For

teaching activities are available at www.

a follow up aciviry, children can make

a model of the Earth with balloons and

nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/standards/
matrix.html.

paper mache, or by stuffing large paper

grocery bags with newspaper and taping

G uide line sfo r G e o grap htc

into a rounded shape. Paint the model

entirely with blue rempera paint and let

its "five themes of geography" because of

the detailed discussion and examples in it

it dry. Third graders can cut our paper

shapes (line drawings of the continents)

and glue them onto the model, using

globe for guidance. Younger srudenrs can

use

I often refer as well to the earlier (1987)

Edu c ation w ith

that pertain to the elementary grades (see

note 5 and the Sidebar). This publication
is summarized at wwwnationalgeographic.
com/resources/ngo/ed ucation/themes.htm l.

pre-cut shapes.

NewTechnology
Mastery through Play
Young children learn geographic skills
primarily through play, rather than formal
instruction.s Playing with toy truclcs and

Technology and geography are an integral

part of school curriculums today. Upper
elementarystudents should be taught how
to read a compass, then how to use a GPS

cars on the carpet or in the sandbox, moving furniture around in a dollhouse, and
building designs with blocla develop per-

benefi t from GIS (geographic

ceptions and skills that can apply to more

systems) insrruction to learn how map lay-

abstract concepts in later years. Young

children need to work with models to

With Google Earth,

Topozone, MapQuesr, and/or ESRI websites, they can learn to read and interpret

help develop mental images necessary for

mental mapping skills. There were many

milk cartons in my z7-year career

as an

elementary teacher that became buildings

a community. Today, software programs

in

such as Tom Snyder's Neighborhood Map

Machine provide line drawings that can be

printed out, cut, folded, and glued together

to form 3-D models of buildings with different shapes.

Chlldren

ages

(global positioning system) to find location. Fourth, fifth, and sixth graders can

information

ers are constructed.

satellite images, aerial photographs, and

maps." Computer technologies are not

necessary, however, for students in grades

K-3 to gain competence in basic geography skills and comprehension of basic

cause tsunamis," explained

concepts. These can be had ar low cost

event."

with some guidance from teachers and

This is an especialll' dramatic application of Earth science but, clearly, geography is an essential part of living in
the world todar'. After teaching a newly
developed course called Geography for

parents and time and space for a healthy

dose of creative play.

five to six should play

Tiill-after the

hide and seek to explore the topography of

Knowledge for the Future

the schoolyard, map the route from home

Why

to school, and build models (the bigger

the better). Kinesthetic activities lay the
foundation for spatial learning. By ages

is geography important in the early

years? Cne never knows in what ways

Teachers, I asked my elementary teacher

candidates to tell me why they think geog-

knowledge may be useful in a child's

raphl' matters. Their responses give me

hope that a new generation of teachers
rvill be sure to include geography in their

seven and eight, children should make

and read panoramic view maps, build

life. Tilly Smith, a ten-year-old girl

from Surrey, England, and her familr-

Lego villages, read grid lines, and create

were enioying a day at Maikhao Beach

in southern Thailand in zoo4 rvhen the

imaginan'*'orlds. Nine and ten year-olds

can create relief models, read scale and

recognized these occurrences as warning

topographic maps. and participate in fieid

trips with mapping activities.a

developmenralll appropriate

sequence for learning about "geography

for life" was published in 1994 by the

sea

rushed out and began to bubble.

of

Tilly

elementary curricula:

Seeking to understand geography

can help us to have a higher degree

tsunami, voiced her fears, and

saved her family and everybody else on
that beach. "Last term, my geography
teacher, Mr. fAndrew] Kearney, taught

better environmental, economic.

us about eanhquakes and

and political decisions....

signs

how they can

of awareness of how people, places,

and events are connected. Then,
hopefully, we will be able to make

November/December 2OO7 3 1

Geography matters because it

involves everything. Aspects of
every subject occur in Geography.

It allows

It is important to know where you

are and how you got there and,

explore and understand where they come

more importantly, "why."

from, where they live, and all of the places

Geography is like a link that connects people, countries, and history

surrounding them. As their awareness of

the wodd grows, children use their geo-

maps.

students the chance to

space and place, and under those

graphic skills to feel a connection with

people they have never met and places

two key terms everything else iust

falls into place.

phy brings the world alir,'e to students. Fi

together. Geography is all about

Geography matters to me because it is

integrated into almost everything I teach.
It is definitely more than just studying

Geography looks at people and

culture and the whys and hows of
what is taking place.

Carol Sue Fronrboluri and Carol Seefeldt, Farly

Childhood; Where Leaming Begtns- Geography
(Washington. DC: LlS. Deparrment of Education,
1999).

3. Gaq'

Paul Nabhan and Stephen TrimbIe, The

Geography of Childhood: Why Children NeedWtld
Plares (Boston: Beacon Press, 1994).

4.

Roger Donns,

"Hos

Young is Too Young to Learn

Geography?" The Geography Teacher

z (zoo5),

10-12.

5. Joint

Committee

Guide Lines

for

on

G e o gra p

Geographic Education,
hic Education (Washington.

DC: National Council for Gcographic Education

and the Association of American Geographcrs,
r987): rrr4. The hone page o{ the National Council

they have never been. Essentially, geogra-

for Geographic Education is wwu.,ncqe.orq.

6.

Joan Srrrener:

,l[e on the Map (Nerv York: Croln,

1996).

Notes

r,

David Sobel, Mapmakingwith Child.ren: Sense of

Place Education for the Elementary Early Yeare
(Portsmouth. NH: Heinemann,

r998):66.

Gail Hartmarr. As the Crow FLtes l.\terv York: Aladdin

Paperback, r993).

8.
9.

R. Downs.

ro.

D. Sobel.
Geography Education Standards Proiect, Geography

fur Life: NationaL Geograplzy Standards (Washington.

DC: National Geographic Societl', rg9,1),

rr.

Marsha Alibrandi, "Horv To Do It: Interactir,e

Online Mapping." SociaL Studies and the Young
Learner t7, no. 3 (fanuary/February zoo5); Eui
kvung Shin and Marsha Alibrandi, "Hou, To Do It:
Online Interactive Mapping LIsing Google Earth,'
Socia! Studies and the Young Leamer tg, no
3 (January'/February', zooT). These articles

nay be downloaded free by NCSS nrembers annnvrv.socialstudies.org.

tz.

B. Marsden, "Refections on
The Worst Thught
Subiect?" I n te rna ti ona l Research i n

Geography:
G e a gra p

hica I and Entironm enta I

Education 4 (zoo5)' 11;

"Tiunami Famill' Saled by
Schoolgirl's Geography Lesson,"
ne!vs.nationalqeographic.com.

S. Key GeNo-r is az
assistant professor in the

Departrnmt of Cuniculum and hgtruction at

Wbstem Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

32

Social Studies and theYounq Learner