Objectives- to enable students:
   1. to recall geographic concepts while associating them with enjoyable fiction.
   2. to demonstrate an understanding of  the theme of "place" and begin to explain how
       every location is a "place".
   3. To be able to locate several places in eth U.S.A.
   4. to become familiar using textbooks, atlases, and other reference materials.
   5. to understand inter-curriculum connections between art, reading, writing and
      geography.

Materials required:
1. Book: Stringbeans trip to the shining sea, by Vera Williams.
2. Oaktag and colored pencils, markers, paint, etc.
3. Pencils, colored pencils, markers, paint, etc.
4. Colored tagboard cut in the shape of a small T-shirt.
5, Map of the U.S. and colored yarn.

Student Activity:
  1. Design postcards depicting a place in the U.S. or the world.
  2. Imagine that they are actually at the location pictured, and write a message from there.
  3. Locate their place by stretching yarn from their postcard to the U.S. map.
  4. Design a T-shirt depicting their location.

Teacher Activity:
1)  Read the book Stringbean's trip to the sea
2) Discuss the importance of drawing places from the perspective of "uniqueness".
3) Circulate around the room to assist students.
4) Hold up picture postcards  and have other students guess as to where in the U.S.A. they
    might be.

Evaluation:
 1. Students will receive a map of the U.S. with ten pictures or postcards of places discussed in class. They will put the corresponding numbers on a map of the U.S. and explain in writing why they chose it.
2. Write responses to critical thinking questions such as: What physical and human
characteristics of place led to their conclusions?