Thematic Units - Geography
You will find various Lesson Plans on the top portion of this page.
Further down, you will find Web Sites.
We have a page full of Books that you can order directly from Amazon.com!
This indicates resources located on The Teacher's Corner.
Atlas Game
Requires all students to have an atlas or may be played in teams of two. Students get to know the atlas and how to use the gazetteer. The teacher walks the kids through how to play the first couple of times.
- All the kids have to have the atlas closed after each round.
- The teacher uses her atlas and picks a place in the gazetteer. (Themes are good, one time pick all bodies of water, next time pick all countries, or geographical features.)
- The teacher spells or repeats the place (no talking is allowed) the student's then look it up in the gazetteer, then they have to turn to the proper map in the atlas and find it on the map (It helps when the students read the little bit of information after the name of the place i.e. Lake Mead, Lake in Nevada...................pp 36).
- Once a students finds it they must put their finger on it and then raise their hands. (I count student out of they yell, "I found it.")
- Then the teacher checks to see if the student found it, and declares them the, "winner" of that round. (I usually pass out stickers)
- Then the kids close their atlases and play starts again.
Submitted by: Yoneko1@email-removed
Latitude & Longitude
To teach latitude and longitude, I did several things.
- One was to use an orange. Each of my special education (middle school) children had one. The lines of latitude (well, the equator and tropics) were drawn on it. Then we opened it to see the lines of longitude.
- I also had them hula hoop. They were hula hooping around their equators. As the hula hoop would slip, I would say, "Oh, you're going toward the Tropic of Capricorn now. You're definitely in the Southern Hemisphere now."
- A timely idea might also be to use pumpkins and have the children draw the continents on them and paint them for Halloween. My kids do at least know that lines of latitude and longitude are like addresses of places on the earth and that lines of latitude run parallel to the equator and lines of longitude are lines which run downward from a central point to another central point at the north and south poles, just like the sections of an orange.
Submitted by: Barb Barbbee44@email-removed
13 Unexpected and Fun Geography Lessons to Enchance Your Curriculum Grades Various
"Students can travel across the globe without leaving the classroom!"
A World of Learning: Geography Activities for Geography Week Grades K-12
"Geography lessons can make a "world" of difference in students' knowledge of the world and in their test scores. That's because geography is multidisciplinary by nature. This week's lessons teach geography -- and math, language, and cultural literacy. Included: Five new lessons plus a link to the Education World geography lesson archive."
Geography Teacher Resources Grades K-12
Lessons, printables and more.
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Using Primary Resources in the Classroom
Mr. Donn's Free Geography Lesson Plans
Resources for various grade levels.
Social Studies Lesson Plans
Scroll down to the "Geography" section and find over 40 lesson plans.
Teaching With Historic Places
"Uses properties listed in the National Park Service's to enliven history, social studies, geography, civics, and other subjects. Includes lesson plans, workshops and publications."
Understanding Geography Grades K-8
"Students will use geography skills to create neighborhood maps, and identify connections between geography, culture, and the economy in their local area."
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Free Printable Maps
You can choose which countries or continents you want to print.
Finding Your Way With Map and Compass
"Learn about using topographic maps and a compass to figure out where things are and how to get to them."
Geo-Globe Interactive Geography!
"Explore the world - interactive puzzles, landmarks, mazes, and more."
Google Maps - My Maps
Create and share custome maps for free with Google Maps.
Greatest Places Online
"Takes you on a journey to seven of the most "geographically dynamic" locations on earth. Includes postcards, desktop pictures, and videos!"
Links to the Best Websites for Learning and Teaching Geography
National Geographic - Mapping
Explore maps, create maps and print maps.
National Geographic - Teaching Resources
Find a great collection of resources to bring National Geographic into your classroom.
Where Is That?
"Fun geography game where you must identify countries, states, and capitals from maps."
United States Map Sites
Nifty Fifty United States
Color Landform Atlas of the United States
Graphic Maps - A GREAT source for clipart.
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The Teacher's Corner has hand selected a bunch of books for our Geography Unit that you can find at great prices on Amazon.com
