Curated OER
Geography and Culture of China
Take out a map, a paper, a ruler, and those coveted colored pencils for a lesson plan on Chinese culture and geography. This is a multifaceted approach to basic geography skills that incorporate story telling, class discussion, primary...
Curated OER
Natural Disasters and the Five Themes of Geography
Have your class do research on natural disasters and create a presentation using this resource. In completing this activity, learners apply the five geography themes to their research. They write a paper describing their results. It's a...
Curated OER
Geo-Magazine
Divide your geography class into groups and have each research an assigned region. The result of this project is a regional magazine that addresses the five themes of geography. Many valuable resource links are embedded into the page...
Curated OER
Geography: Puerto Rico
Take a trip to Puerto Rico! Learners engage in a web quest, identify Puerto Rico on the map, and gather information related to physical features and cultural factors. Their efforts culminate when they design a brochure comparing the...
Education Development Center
Geography of the Coordinate Plane
Put the graph into graphing and allow learners to understand the concept of point plotting and how it relates to data. The worksheet provides a nice way to connect data analysis to a graph and make predictions. The worksheets within the...
Institute for Geophysics
Understanding Maps of Earth
Here is your go-to student resource on primary geography concepts, including facts about the surface of the earth and its hemispheres, latitude and longitude, globes, types of maps, and identifying continents and oceans.
Curated OER
Investigating the Countries of the World
Explore world geography by creating presentations for different countries around the world. Researchers identify many different countries on a globe and select one for which they will create a presentation. They share their research and...
Population Connection
A Demographically Divided World
Did you know that birth and life rates vary across the world? The resource, the second in a six-part series, discusses just how demographics differ across countries and why it might be the case. Scholars complete worksheets, watch...
Curated OER
Using Social Studies in Five Shared Reading Lessons: Geography
After several short 15-minute mini-lessons, your learners will gain an understanding of the characteristics of a non-fiction text. Using the book Map It by Elspeth Leacock, your class will become acquainted with non-fiction terms such as...
Foreign Policy Research Institute
A Geography Lesson
Fewer and fewer people have a strong grasp of world geography, but this activity helps students understand geopolitics by creating their own original historical map. The activity requires selecting a country from the list provided,...
Curated OER
How did Geography Affect the Economy of the Colonies
Eighth graders examine the impact of geography on a region. In this geography instructional activity, 8th graders study the themes of geography. Students write an open response to a question.
Curated OER
Geography Concepts
Sixth graders use the five themes of geography and geographic tools to answer geographic questions and analyze geographic concepts. This unit focuses on an introduction to South America. The history, people and cultures is included.
EngageNY
Relationships Between Key Scientific Concepts: Planning What Causes Earthquakes
That is ground shaking news! Scholars read Earthquake in multiple reads to determine the gist, identify cause and effect relationships, and understand vocabulary. Learners complete graphic organizers to describe what happens before and...
Space Awareness
Britannia Rule the Waves
Could you determine longitude based on measuring time? Early explorers used a longitude clock to do just that. Scholars learn about early exploration and the importance of the invention of the clock. Then pupils build their own longitude...
Curated OER
What Are the Social Studies?
Identify core social studies subjects with adult learners. They will discuss key issues from twentieth century American history and identify key social studies concepts taught at elementary grade levels. They then modify this activity to...
Curated OER
This Is Tanzania
Learners explore Tanzania. In this geography skills lesson, students read This is Tanzania by Richard Lupinsky, Jr. and discuss the impact that volcanoes have had on the nation. Learners analyze the imagery in Lupinsky's piece and create...
Curated OER
European Explorer IMovie
Film is a wonderful way to communicate any concept or idea. Fifth graders will use IMovie and GarageBand software to create a IMovie about one of eight European explorers. They will chose an explorer, research his travels and life, then...
Curated OER
World War II Geography
Students explore the geography of Europe. In this World War II lesson plan, students study and represent countries involved in the war as they participate in a simulation that requires them to discuss war events and how their countries...
Curated OER
Geography of Spain
Students explore the geography of Spain. In this geography skills lesson, students create a map on their school gym floor in the shape of Spain. Students identify the locations of the Spanish states and capitals.
Curated OER
Geography of Spain
Students explore Spain. In this geography skills lesson, students investigate a political map of Spain and record the names of states, capitals, and landforms. Students then practice tagging the states, capitals, and landforms on blank...
Curated OER
Two Very Different Concepts of Time
Students explore the concept of cultural anthropology. In this culture studies lesson, students consider the culture of Guinea as they read "The Meaning of Time" by Katherine Ross. Students also discuss the traits of monochronic and...
Curated OER
Mapping the News
Students explore cartography. For this map skills and map making lesson, Students work in groups to create wall size world maps including legends, compass roses, latitude and longitude, and physical features. Students collect current...
Curated OER
Money Matters: The Importance of Global Cooperation
Students prepare for a visit to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this lesson students create a concept map of money. They discuss the goals of the IMF. Students research countries currently changing into market economies. After...
Curated OER
The 50 States and its Holidays
Though the format of this ELL lesson is confusing (the standards listed are for plate tectonics, yet the objectives are for American geography and holidays), a teacher could glean some ideas from the main idea. Here, pupils complete a...