Locating the place you wish to learn about is the first step in geography. Latitude and longitude give each place a fixed address on earth. Practice finding each location's coordinates on a map using cities and countries mentioned in news reports or cities that host a major sports team. Identify each location by hemisphere (north or south and east or west) and continent (North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and Asia).
Place geography describes the human and physical characteristics that distinguish one location from another. Online weather tracking data allows students to easily compare weather in disparate locations around the world. Choose five to ten cities on different continents and create a spreadsheet of the temperatures for ten days or more. Use the graphing function in the spreadsheet to convert your data to a graph for visual comparison. Analyze which cities have similar weather and which are drastically different. Discuss the geographic features that explain similarities and differences in weather patterns. Another option is to create a set of "Where Am I?" cards that list a clue about a place's distinctive features on one side and the place
name on the other. Read the clue aloud and challenge students to guess the location. Students can also make their own sets of cards to challenge their friends. Another option is to use cardboard cutouts to create a contour map that shows relative elevation for a real or imaginary place.
Humans impact the environment around them through the natural growth of communities, building, industrial development, recreation and even simple everyday activities. Geographers study this impact to identify problem areas and address the issues to improve life for both humans and nearby wildlife. Research native plants and animals in your area to identify any endangered species. Work with environmental organizations to organize a class project that helps with the conservation efforts. Have students make a chart of everyday and seasonal activities and consider whether these activities have a positive or negative environmental impact, weighing the pros and cons to determine whether any change in human behavior would help. Collect population statistics for your community from founding to present day. Make a picture collage of how the changing population has affected the community environment.
Movement geography concerns the movement of people, product and goods. It tries to explain how goods travel from one place to another and why groups shift their geographic base. Interview longtime residents about how traffic patterns and transportation in the community have changed over time and what motivated the changes. Make a class map that shows from where each person's ancestors came. Identify religious or cultural groups that have moved from one geographic area to another and research why they immigrated or emigrated. Have students check the labels on common household products and create a chart or graph that shows where these everyday products come from and how they get here.
Regional geography describes the physical, human or cultural characteristics of an area that unify the area topologically or by common cultural practices or languages. For example, landforms such as islands, mountains, valleys or coastal plains influence the development of common practices in its vicinity because of the universality of human needs and the resources available to meet those needs in that particular environment. Making a landforms mobile helps students consider, not only the identifying features of each landform but the effect it has on nearby residents. Students can write a geo poem with each line listing a distinguishing characteristic of a chosen place, such as physical features, climate, neighboring regions, landmarks and important events in local history