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Educational Articles

The following newspaper articles were written by Cheryl Feuer Gedzelman,
Director of Tutoring For Success, Inc. Check back often to read newly published articles.

Where in the World? Improving Your Child's Geography & Mapping Skills

February 2002, by Cheryl Feuer Gedzelman

How quickly can your child locate Afghanistan on a map or globe? How adept is your child at locating the seven continents, four oceans, and three of the world’s longest rivers? Can your son point out the areas of the world with deserts and those with mountains? Can your daughter name the capitals and leaders of several countries or states? How easily can your child map out a trip to Chicago or the White House?

Several decades ago, geography was a subject taught and drilled at school, year after year. However, since the 1960’s, geography has been buried inside “social studies” or “history” and surfaces primarily to locate the specific area being studied at the time. Yet geography and mapping skills are hugely important for general knowledge, understanding politics, and practical knowledge. By incorporating geography and mapping into your family’s everyday life, these skills can come to your children naturally.

Directions

The most basic part of mapping is knowing your directions (north, south, east, west, northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest) and internalizing their relationships.
Here are some fun activities to help:

Study and use maps of a shopping mall, bus route, highway or city. Find the direction key. Play a game where you use directional terms to tell how to get from one place to another. “To get from the Capital Children’s Museum to the bus station, I will go 2 blocks (direction) and 3 blocks (direction).”
Use your house as a focal point and locate the position of the sun soon after rising (in the east) or setting (in the west) to determine which direction each side of your house faces.
Walk around your neighborhood and draw a neighborhood map using the direction key. You can include friends’ houses, stores, parks, etc.
Draw a map of your bedroom to scale.
Play a game requiring that someone hides delectable objects and advises the seeker to “walk 2 steps north and 3 steps east” to find it.
Become familiar with a book map of your county. Find destinations and map out which roads you will take to get there. For example, how do we get from our house to the library? (While mapquest.com can be useful, I find that mapping out directions myself is sometimes more accurate and can save time.)
Ride the metro and track the stops and transfer on the metro map.
When going on road trips with your family, map out your trip on a highway map. On an airplane, check out the map of airplane routes which can be found in the seat’s front pocket. When you arrive at your destination, use a local map to get around. This can be a family activity. Once your child is adept at using a map, he can track a trip while you are driving, which can keep him entertained and involved.
The internet offers many helpful mapping programs. The most well known is mapquest.com, which enables the user to zoom in and zoom out, thus viewing the map in various scales. Ask.com can connect you to numerous online almanacs which give almost any factual information desired. For example, if you plug in the question, “What is the literacy rate in Yemen?” you will be provided with a map and lots of factual information about Yemen, including the literacy rate, which is 38%.

World Geography

Reading a map of a town or county is not so different from reading a world map. Both contain scales and legends. However, the relationship between countries in a world map can be deceiving. A globe can more easily show the close proximity of the U.S. to Russia and the proximity of Greenland to the North Pole. Your globe should become a family friend, used as often as your phone book.

Locate every new country or state that comes up in conversation or on TV on a map or globe.
Keep a globe next to your TV so you can locate countries discussed in the news.
While globes are more accurate, world maps are useful in many places around your house. (Our National Geographic shower curtain map has improved our family’s geography over the years.) Maps can present a clear view and provide a specialty, such as topography or natural resources. Every household should have an atlas for easy reference to a readable map of anywhere in the world. Pre-teens can use a children’s atlas.
Have fun with latitude and longitude by locating specific countries of parts of the ocean numerically, which is the global address.
Use a map or globe to explore time zones for places in the news or places of interest. (What time is it in Israel right now?) Also note time zones when you travel to new ones.

Geography and Culture

The most interesting part of geography is its relationship to cultures and people. Natural resources play a significant role in lifestyles and professions of various cultures. What resources can inspire children to learn about other cultures?

Almanac - Whenever a country is mentioned in the news, you not only have the opportunity to discuss current events, and to locate the country on the globe, but you can also find more information in an almanac, such as population, capitals, literacy rate, natural resources, and popular professions. Information from the almanac can stimulate discussion. (Did you know that the life expectancy in Afghanistan is 46? Why do you think it’s so low?)
Almanac on line - Ask.com can connect you to numerous online almanacs which give almost any factual information desired. For example, if you plug in the question, “What is the literacy rate in Yemen?” you will be provided with a map and lots of factual information about Yemen, including the literacy rate, which is 38%.
Further reading – While an almanac can give your basic information, you can learn much more about a culture by reading about it in nonfiction books filled with photographs or in fiction books, which can bring to life characters from other cultures. For our three year old, we have two wonderful Montessori photography books about transportation and housing throughout the world. To Kill a Mockingbird, for older readers, takes place in the south and demonstrates the accents and culture of a distinctive part of America in the 1930’s.
TV programs – PBS and some cable stations, such as the Discovery Channel and the History Channel, bring us fascinating information about wildlife in various parts of the world, as well as natural history and science.
* Films – Many films, such as Gorillas in the Mist, depict life in other countries or other parts of our country.
Pen pal – I learned a lot about life in Australia (from a child’s point of view, similar to the U.S. but with opposite seasons) from my Australian pen pal. We corresponded for years.
* Friends and acquaintances – The Washington metro area is culturally diverse, encompassing hundreds of ethnic cultures. We can learn about many countries simply by talking with friends, asking to see photographs, and sharing family stories.
Foreign exchange students – What a wonderful opportunity for cultural exchange! I learned so much about Japan from my Japanese exchange student, Mariko, who stayed with me over ten years ago. She explained that Japanese women wear three different kimonos throughout their weddings and receptions. We now correspond by e-mail, and I just received her wedding picture. What a surprise – a western long white dress!

In conclusion, the opportunities to improve your family’s geography and mapping skills at home are numerous. Use your “teachable moments”, play some games, and keep your children active in planning your trips. Soon they will be proudly spouting off information about new places. “Did you realize how close Argentina is to the South Pole?”

Here are some resources to help you get started on your mapping adventure:

Free or Inexpensive Materials

1) Many states provide free maps and information kits through their departments of tourism. (They often have toll-free numbers.)
2)Several foreign countries, also at toll-free numbers, will furnish free maps and other materials upon request.
3) Maps from the U.S. Geological Survey, the federal government’s civilian mapmaking agency, are also free. Call 1-800-USA-MAPS for more information.
4) The National Park Service contains maps of more than 300 parks, scenic trails, battlefields, and historic sites. You may either contact a particular site or, if you want a single map, write to the U.S. Department of the Interior, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-1102.

Pen Pal Organizations

National Geographic Society
Dept. GeoMail Pen Pal Network
20 Academy Street
Norwalk, CT 06852-7100

Worldwide Friendship International
3749 Brice Run Road, Suite A
Randallstown, MD 21133

Computer Software and CD-ROMS

1) Carmen Sandiego Junior Detective Edition (grades preK-3) and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (grades 4-12) Available from Broderbund Software, Novato, CA. Call 1-800-521-6263.
2) Geomedia (grades 4-9) A multimedia tour of the earth via CD-ROM, developed in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey. Write: InterNetwork Media, Inc., 411 Seventh St., Del Mar, CA 92014. Or call: 619-481-8181.
3) GeoSafari (ages 8 and up) A CD-ROM with questions on geography, history, and science. Call Rand McNally, Chicago, IL., on 1-800-234-0679 or 312-321-1751.
4) Picture Puzzle (for all ages) Ten National Geographic photographs that can be broken into pieces and put back together, and ZipZapMap! (grades 4-adult), which challenges players to place on a map different geographical pieces as they fall from the top of the computer screen. Both are available from the National Geographic Society, 1145 Seventh St., NW, Washington, DC 20036-4688; 1-800-368-2728.
5) Children’s World Atlas (ages 6 and up) Includes video clips, photographs, and still pictures and descriptions of the world’s cities, industries, and landmarks. Call Rand McNally, Chicago, IL., 1-800-234-0679 or 312-321-1751.