Elizabeth Breathwaite Mini-Grant Project Winner: The World in Your Hands: Geography for Primary Students.

ELIZABETH BREATHWAITE MINI-GRANT PROJECT

William P. Fitzhugh, a 2nd-grade teacher at Reisterstown Elementary School, Reisterstown, Maryland, recently won ACEI's Elizabeth Breathwaite Mini-Grant for the following geography project, "The World in Your Hands: Geography for Primary Students." Congratulations, William!

Many American children do not receive adequate education in geography because teachers either are not prepared to teach it or do not enjoy teaching it. In many parts of the world, geography is taught as a separate course. In the U.S., geography is taught under the broad heading of social studies.

Geography is the study of places and how people use these places. Children first learn about geography through their perception of the world around them. The local community is an excellent point of reference. A point of reference is very useful to all of us whenever we need to compare and contrast two places. Developing a point of reference means exploring the local neighborhood and describing its characteristics.

Children need to be taught geography content and skills at an early age. When they think of themselves as cartographers, children can take pride in themselves. It is important to teach children how to observe and record their data so that this data can be transferred to another form for display. In the case of geography, data is usually displayed in the form of maps. Many teachers focus on encoding and decoding maps. Children also need to be taught how to construct maps. This makes them better at adding information to maps (encoding). It also makes it easier for them to glean information from maps (decoding).

This project involves a series of lessons that enable students to construct their own maps of the neighborhood and then to interpret these maps orally and in written form. Each of these activities is complete in itself, yet each builds upon earlier lessons or sets the stage for future learning.

There are several potential outcomes of a geography project. All of them are important and each outcome affects a different audience. I have had the opportunity to use many activities with my class to improve geographic knowledge. My children have appreciated the importance of geography and have seen how much geography there is in their own lives. These understandings are important as students begin to study other regions and cultures throughout the world. Many of the activities my children have completed are described below.

Constructing Freehand Maps and Constructing a Triangle Map

Teachers can begin a study of world geography by introducing children to the concept of spatial relationships. Places are located on maps in relation to each other. These relationships help students recognize places. I cut seven triangles in varying sizes. Each triangle represents a continent and is a different color. Africa is the second largest triangle, for example, because it is the second largest continent. Children fold a large piece of chart paper length, wise. The fold becomes the equator. Children then paste the Africa triangle in the middle of the paper, straddling the equator. The other continent triangles are located using the cardinal directions in relation to Africa. This is a logical time to introduce compasses to students. This activity helps students see relationships between places. As we complete this activity, I introduce the elements of maps. This activity also can be completed by having students draw and color triangles in a sequence, which helps them recognize the spatial relationships of the continents.

A Delicious Way To Learn Geography: Foods Around the World

Taking a trip through the supermarket can represent a visit to our world as a whole. There are several interesting methods of combining geography and food:

1. One interesting way to introduce students to food from foreign lands is to take a field trip to the grocery store. Small groups of students can learn about categories of foods as well as countries of origin for specific foods.

2. Go to the library and look up picture books about food from foreign lands, often found in the cooking section. Integrate these books with regional studies, and read them during storytime.

3. Cook with students in the classroom. A hot plate and microwave are all that is necessary to try cooking in the classroom. Cooking introduces students to following specific directions in order to complete a task. Cooking also helps reluctant eaters discover new foods.

4. Have a tasting party with selected foods from around the world. These foods may span the globe or highlight the cuisine of a specific region. Children can sample a product and then locate the origin of the food on a world or regional map.

The "Geography of Me" Continent Mobile

Use continent templates to make a mobile. Photocopy templates onto construction paper. Color, label, and cut out each continent, then attach some yarn. Tie the yarn to a coat hanger. Hang them from the light fixtures in the classroom.

The "Geography of Me" Mobile

You need to photocopy basic shapes for each item in the mobile. A shape with a house and a road will serve to hold the street address. Then create a shape of the city, town, or village. A map of the state, province, or region comes next, followed by the nation map, a map of the continent, the hemisphere, the world, and last, a map of the solar system. This mobile helps children see relationships between themselves and larger locations.

Cylinder Maps

Use templates for each continent. Children color and cut them out. The child places the continents on 12 x 18 inch paper. Check positions before children paste them down. Spatial relationships are difficult for many children. Have a reference map hanging in front of the class for children to refer to. The same continent shapes can be used to paste to a plaster (or papier-mache) covered 8-inch balloon to bake into a globe. This is a good project to use in conjunction with the art teacher. This activity has been completed by 1st-grade students. Staple the 12 x 18 inch paper into a cylinder for children to take home.

A Visit to Carpetville

Use masking tape to lay out a grid system on your carpet. Children can brainstorm names of paved surfaces, such as "avenue," "road," "alley," "boulevard," "street," etc. This is excellent vocabulary development. Each child selects a place to be named after him/herself. Write the child's last name on the masking tape, which will represent paved surfaces. Every child gets a paved surface named for him / her. Talk about blocks for location and the meaning of intersections.

Brainstorm names of buildings found in town. Children can name these after themselves (e.g., Smith Pharmacy). Use red contact paper squares as symbols for buildings. Place these squares on the carpet grid system. Label each square. Ask questions, such as what is the location of Smith Pharmacy, or what building is found at the intersection of Smith Street and Fitzhugh Lane? Brainstorm names of green spaces in cities. Use green contact paper for these areas. Repeat naming and locating procedures as before. Always ask questions.

After a week of building up your Carpetville map, children will become familiar with using a grid system and with the uses of symbols on maps. They will also learn a great deal of vocabulary about cities, goods, and services. This map will last in good condition for two or three weeks.