Massachusetts Geographic Alliance

Newsletter

Part 1 - Thinking GEOGRAPHICALLY
 > The movie has just ended, the house lights have gone up, and  yet you're still staying around waiting to read where the movie was actually shot.
 > You are at a party, and someone mentions the she is from Lubbock,Texas; your response is:, "how far is that from Dallas?"
 > You watch the Olympic Games and you are intrigued by those flags; why is the Libyan flag all green?
 > Someone mentions that a particular place receives about 24 inches of precipitation; you immediately make the mental calculation that that is about half of what Boston gets.

  What you've been doing is thinking in a mode that is distinctly geographic. Your curiosity about PLACE and SPACE brings out the geographer in you. To think geographically is to approach the world from a distinctive perspective, it is to think just a little differently about our world.

  Like many other many subjects, geography is concerned with the environment, but geography's approach to the environment is decidedly different. When we think geographically, we consider the environment to be both the physical as well as the cultural
world. The study of wine is an example where cultural and physical factors intersect. The question, "Why is the best wine grown in particular areas?" compels us to search for answers in the cultural context and in the climatic and soil resources.
Geography reminds us that human existence is a blend of cultural and physical factors at work in a particular place. It is this refusal to see ourselves only as social scientists or only as
physical scientists that sets us apart as geographers. We are interested in El Nino not only for its physical causes, but also for how it can set back economic development in Peru or in
California.

  By exploring these geographical issues we declare who we are. Structured questions about Place - What is the soil like? Why was industry started there? Why do we get fewer tornadoes than Florida does?; and about Space - How close is New York city to us? What is our latitude? - form the basis for our geographic curiosity, a curiosity that enlivens our worldly perspectives.

  To think geographically is to deliberately ask questions about our world; it is to have a deep interest in the world, exploring our local environments and also what lies beyond the horizon. The geographer in us is fascinated by the great variety of human groups that exist in all of those different settings, from Morocco to Vienna. By using geographic perspectives we can best learn about these places and enjoy the world in all its fascinating diversity. To think geographically about places, is sure to increase our interest in the world, in all its complexity
and with all of its problems and challenges.

  As teachers, we are fortunate to be able to introduce this geographical perspective into our more formal educational settings. Combining this geographic avocation with our job gives
us the high level of satisfaction which I observe as I speak to many geography teachers. The joy of geography comes from that "habit of mind" which is constantly asking interesting questions about our world.

  So next time you view a movie, spare some thought for its setting - the locales chosen for "Thelma and Louise" or for "The Apostle" are not merely accidental; they have been chosen to be a part of the story; indeed the physical setting may tell a story all of its own. So enjoy the movie! But think geographically, and you may enjoy it even more!!

Part II- On Teaching Geographically

  Geography teaches the Earth! What a concept, but that is literally what the word GEOGRAPHY (geo and graphos) means. As teachers of this fascinating subject, we are in many ways a privileged group (maybe not always recognized as such). We have been given a wonderful task - to teach students about the world. While this may be a satisfying thought, it is can also be somewhat overwhelming in its scope; the world can be a pretty big place.

  One way to make our task a more manageable one, is to define what it is we teach and how we can most effectively go about teaching it. At the outset, we should remember that while geography is sometimes not listed as a separate subject, geography is always in the school curriculum. It is there when in our teaching, we ask questions like:
 1) what are different places and people like?     -  PLACE
 2) why are certain things located where they are? -  SPACE
 3) how do people and their environment interact?  -  ENVIRONMENT
As we teach, these (PSE) questions become a template that can guide us in teaching good geography and improving our students' "Geographic Intelligence".

  Geographically-focused questions help in sharpening the types of inferences that can be used to enhance the basic information that we impart. In our daily geography lessons, knowing features like capitals is as important as a chemist knowing the table of elements, but what makes the information educationally sound is putting this data to work. Why was Boston and not Plymouth chosen as the Bay State's capital?  Using Boston's geographic coordinates to locate the city would be more valuable than just finding it on a map.

  And then there are those maps - they appear everywhere, and with good reason. It is in the use of maps, the primary tool of the geography teacher, that we impart the most important geographic knowledge and skills. The type of thinking involved in using maps is unique to our subject and as teachers we should use every opportunity to introduce maps in ways that are creative, fun, and educationally sound. At their most effective, map-use in the classroom requires developing a skills-sequence which involves: CREATING MAPS(students take some information and put these on a map in a meaningful way, using symbols, scale, etc.) and then READING MAPS (students interpret features on a map and    then see the connections between the map symbols and real          world landscapes). It is the joy that students display when making and interpreting maps that should be our lodestar, guiding us in our quest for more and better geographic learning.

  To teach geographically is to help students see the world from a new perspective; it is to see the interconnectedness between all of those intriguing places. So go on - Teach geography, Teach the World.

  What is a good geography question? What makes the geography question different from questions in other subjects?  In this column, we explore the nature of the classroom test questions that we use to evaluate geographic learning.
  Drawing up a set of geography questions is one of the most important aspects of our work as geographic educators  because it gives a focus and a framework for what we do in the classroom (alternative forms of evaluation will be discussed later). The questions we ask could very well be the starting point for the lesson as the lesson becomes an exploration of the topic – why are the harbors of Ireland ice-free while those of Newfoundland are not? (same latitude, different ocean currents; same hemisphere, different location relative to large landmasses, etc). If we are ultimately concerned with helping our students become geographically literate, then our questions must reflect this goal.
While the memorization and recall of state capitals is important in building up a body of facts, they should always be placed at the service of the larger issue – understanding the spatial context in which all of these issues are found. Why was Boston and not Worcester selected as the capital of the Bay State? How many states have their capitals in smaller towns rather than in the largest city? How many capitals are in the center part of their states rather than on the edge? The placement of facts in their spatial context is what makes the study geographic. If we want our students to think and reason spatially, then lets give them spatially oriented questions that make them use their GKS - their Geographic Knowledge and Skills.
   An example from the National Council of Geographic Education illustrates the intensely geographic approach:

	1) Scott lives in City E. In what direction would he walk to get to Point X? (a) Northwest (b) Up (c) Northeast 2) About how many miles is it from City D to City A by railroad? (a) 20 miles (b) 40 miles (c) 50 miles
3) John throws a stick into the river at Point X. It floats along with the river current. Which way will the stick float? (a) Towards City A (b) Towards City E (c) Towards Miller Swamp	4) Which city would probably not have a Holiday Inn? (a) City A (b) City E (c) City C

  Knowing individual facts is necessary but not sufficient to move us along in the goal of good education. Asking what these facts mean helps instill a curiosity and an understanding of the world around us.
  When we say that “Geography is a powerful tool for helping us understand the world around us” we are implicitly recognizing that we are not only concerned with describing, but are trying to bring some understanding to the facts. Why is this over there? In that particular place, how does the presence of mountains affect population distribution?
  Questions are in many ways the most important link in the educational endevour which we embarked on. Making our questions as geographic as possible is an exciting challenge. So, let us never hesitate to ask:    Where is it?
                                    And why is it there?

Make it geography through our questions.