Here is a simple assignment that will introduce your young geographers to location, one of the five themes of geography, through an activity in which they map the directions and lines of latitude/longitude of where they live. 

First graders complete a unit on map skills and the globe. They label maps, create a styrofoam ball globe, create a map of their community, sing a continent song, and complete a map and globe assessment worksheet.

Young scholars explore how to construct and interpret maps and globes and find information about people, places, regions, and environments.

Students analyze US census data and criteria to compare and measure the quality of life in the country's fifty largest cities. After accessing the 2005 quality of life world report online, students conduct their study to compare three...

Third graders study the difference between the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne and Navajo tribes. They identify the people, resources, lifestyle and beliefs of the Kwakiutl, Cheyenne, and Navajo Indians. Afterward, they present their projects on each...

Students view murals that depict various modes of transportation. They discuss the importance of maps to navigation and create a map. They compare and contrast transportation of the past with modes of transportation used today.

Using the NASA website, class members try to determine if changes could be detected in cloud cover, temperature, and/or radiation measurements due to the lack of contrails that resulted from the halt in air traffic after the attacks...

Third graders explore the landforms and population diversity. They read maps and examine geographic terms. Students create their own map of the United States and answer questions about the location of people. After exploring the map, 3rd...

First graders examine the differences between a map and a globe. They discuss and identify the symbols on maps and globes, then in small groups complete a worksheet. Students then complete a Venn Diagram comparing maps and globes.

Second graders discuss the importance of using maps and how they are used. After they listen to a folktale, they develop their own story line maps and write their own folktale to accompany a map. They also identify and locate the seven...

Students complete Internet research and use their map reading skills to learn about how the United States creates and uses electricity in different states. In this energy sources instructional activity, students study the mini map...

Students research the Halifax Explosion using historical maps.

Use this multidisciplinary activity to delve into these subjects: English language arts, math, science, drama, and character education. After reading, discussing, and making interpretations about Go To Sleep, Gecko!: A Balinese...

Students explore New England, Mid-Atlantic, and southeastern regions of the United States.  For this social studies thematic unit, students research a state and make a regional quilt. Students wrte a book report and read two novels...

Students explore global geography by participating in an atlas activity. In this countries of the world lesson plan, students collaborate in small groups and analyze an atlas while researching continents, countries and demographics....

Students research the Native Americans living in the regions explored by Lewis and Clark. They identify the modern-day names of sites claimed by the Lakota Indians, and create a poster of the original Native American names.

After reading Pat Hutchins’ Rosie’s Walk, have your young cartographers create a map of Rosie’s walk. Then lead them on a walk around the school. When you return class members sequence the walk by making a list of how the class got from...

Kids become global anthropologists as they explore commonalities and differences both in their classroom and expanding across the globe. Throughout several activities, learners conduct partner interviews that culminate in Venn diagrams,...

Fifth graders explore geography by participating in a mapping activity. In this engineering instructional activity, 5th graders identify the differences between latitude and longitude and practice locating precise points on a globe or...

Students examine the lines of latitude and longitude on a map, and explain why these lines might be useful. In this lesson students also explore websites that provide information to improve their understanding of how and why latitude and...

Students compare water access in the United States with that of Africa. For this water access lesson, students located Ghana and Kenya on a globe before reading Peace Corps Volunteer accounts of the difficulty of accessing clean water....

Positive character traits in literature are explored in this character development and literacy lesson. Learners listen to Cinderella by Charles Perrault and Little Gold Star by Robert D. San Souci, followed by a discussion comparing the...

Third graders study and diagram the positions of the Earth and sun during the four seasons. They predict weather for cities in the northern and southern hemispheres.

First graders use literature, maps, and globes to explain how physical environments in various parts of the world are similar to and different from one's own, and that certain areas have common characteristics and can be called regions.