Curated OER
Geography Lesson 1
Middle schoolers examine relationship between population centers and sports teams, explore influence of weather on attendance, and research influence of geography, traffic flow and disposable income on site selection for sports stadiums.
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Mapping Plate Boundaries
Students discover plate boundaries based on the uneven geographic occurrence of geologic hazards. After discussing geologic hazards, students plot different sets of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on maps.
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Building an Empire Mapping China
Learners create travel brochures of China's nine regions and make a bulletin board display with them.
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Mapping India
Students participate in an activity in which they place placards listing geographic features, landmarks, etc. in the correct place on a large fabric map of a given country. They also examine artifacts, photos, sounds/music, etc. from...
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What Makes a Tropical Rainforest Special?
Learners examine the characteristics of the tropical rainforest. Using a map, they locate the rainforests found around the world, continents and the equator. Using the internet, they research the various layers of the rainforest and...
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Let's Make a Map
Second graders draw maps of their playground, noting objects such as trees and play equipment. Working in groups, they make maps of different parts of the school and assemble them into a schoolwide map. They make maps on a field trip to...
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Mapping My World
Pupils are introduced to simple maps and view a map of a classroom and compare distances of items shown.
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Map It!
Fourth graders collect and explore different maps and their uses before using the program Pixie to create maps of geographic features, political features, and economic information for the state in which they live.
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Geography: Mapping Newspaper Coverage
Students examine the locations of stories appearing in newspapers and determine where to assign reporters. Using various maps, they connect the stories to the correct maps and create charts of the story locations. Students explain their...
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Mapping the Border
Students create maps of the borderland region. They decorate their maps with colors, pictures, icons, scenes, words that reflect their understanding of the character and history of the borderland.
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Mental Mapping Hangman
Students participate in mental mapping hangman activity. They choose the name of a country from a hat, draw that country on the board including at least one physical feature produced by nature or humans while not using any speech while...
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Edible Resource Maps
Third graders work in groups to create an edible resource map showing locations of at least five resources in the United States. Students research on the internet different regions and the resources that are found in those areas. They...
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Geography: Continents
First graders identify basic geographical facts about the world they live in and distinguish between land and water on a globe. They research the continents and information associated with each one focusing on building their map skills.
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Maps and Local History
Students study old and current maps of their town. They make connections between the geography of a town and the activities of its inhabitants.
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Latin American Relief Map
Students, in groups, research, design and construct a relief map of a section of Latin America using papier-mache. They show major landforms, elevations and notable bodies of water. They present their maps to the class.
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Creating a Map
Third graders examine the process of creating an accurate map, and create a map of their playground. They identify what objects are on their playground, and discuss what is found on a map. Students then draw a map of their playground...
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Waldseemuller's Map: World 1507
Seventh graders analyze various maps. For this Geography lesson, 7th graders create a large map as a whole class. Students write a letter to Mr. Waldseemuller.
Orange County Water Atlas
Location, Location, Location…
Young geographers discover not only how to read and recognize coordinates on a map, but also gain a deeper understanding of latitude and longitude and how climate changes can vary significantly across latitudes.
National Geographic
Ocean Exploration
Dora, Dora, Dora, Dora, Dora! This may be your little ones' best guess as to what it's like to be an explorer! Give them a deeper understanding with this compact examination. A four-minute video introduces them to Robert Ballard,...
US Mint
Rename That State!
As Shakespeare famously wrote, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," but can the same be said for a state? In this elementary geography lesson, students are assigned specific states to research using the information...
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E-mailing the Chamber of Commerce
Encourage effective internet research and e-mail correspondence as scholars investigate a US capital city they've never visited to find pertinent and relevant information. They begin by picking a city, then visit that city's chamber of...
Journey Through the Universe
A Scale Model Solar System
Between the time scientists discovered Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, it did not even make one full revolution around the sun. In two activities, scholars investigate scale models and their properties. Pupils find that it...
The New York Times
Kiev in Chaos: Teaching About the Crisis in Ukraine
Provide a historical context for the political unrest between Russia and Ukraine that began in late 2013. Learners review their prior knowledge and chronicle new understandings with a KWL chart, watch a video explaining the Ukrainian...
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Making Globes
Fifth graders construct and design paper mache globes. They paint and draw the continents and oceans, and label each continent and ocean.