Geography and Spatial Understanding

1
Geography and Spatial Understanding
Implications and Strategies for Teaching
Geography K-12
2
How Well Do We Do?2001 NAEP Assessment 74 of
students scored in the below proficient category
in geography in grade four.
Only 13 of young adults aged 18 through 24 in
the United States were able to correctly identify
Iraq on a map of Asia and the Middle East.
Recent National GeographicRoper country survey
of ages 18 through 24, Americans ranked second to
last.
3
Why are American Kids so far behind in geography?

• Elementary education starts too late in working
  with objects to develop spatial understanding at
  an early age.
• Teachers in the latter grade levels do not
  follow an articulated curriculum and
  instructional strategies that require students to
  visualize and learn maps and geography skills.
  Geography is left to the individual teacher in
  the classroom. The development of Spatial
  Understanding in children helps them to

• Answer The Question, Where?
• Visualize Viewpoints Convex/Concave On A Flat
  Map
• Locate Places
• Find Their Way
• Represent Directions (Horizontal And Vertical)
  And Spaces

The Development of Spatial Understanding Helps
Students to
4
What Can We Do? Map reading and mapmaking
constitute one of the broadest skill applications
in the elementary school curriculum and should be
developed as much as possible in the K-12 skill
set.
SPATIAL UNDERSTANDING Mapping skills derive from
the ability to imagine relationships between and
among places. It is an important part of learning
mathematics as well.
What is Spatial Ability? spatial visualization
which is the ability mentally to manipulate a
pictorially presented stimulus or object.
Leeson, N. Improving Childrens Sense of Three
Dimensional Shapes. Teaching Children Mathematics
Sept. 1994 8-11 an intuitive feel for ones
surrounding and the objects in them. Liedtke,
W. Developing Spatial Abilities in the Early
Grades. Teaching Children Mathematics Sept. 1995
12-18
5
A Childs View is Egocentric

• Children first see objects egocentrically
  (view-based) they do not know how an object
  looks from a viewpoint other than their own.

Reality is at it looks from ones own position!
Parallel Play
6
Visualizing Viewpoints

• To help us in our understanding we create
• Maps
• Physical Models
• Mental Maps And Mental Models

• Putting What We See Into CONTEXT
• How Big Is It?
• Where Is It Located?
• How Is It Related To Other Things?

7
Expanding a Childs Viewpoint
Draw What the Doll Sees
Draw a Map of Your Room Birdseye View
8
Eight skills needed for geography competence in
students
Adapted from Assessing Spatial Development
Implications for Map Skill Instruction Social
EducationVolume 55 Number 5

• 1. Interpreting Symbols
• This is the only skill that is not spatial but
  visual or graphic. Students must recognize the
  meaning of symbols and graphic representations.
• 2. Perspective
• Perspective is the ability to imagine or
  recognize an object from the aerial, or
  "bird's-eye" view. Most children lack
  opportunities to view geographic areas from
  above. Formal instruction in the skill's
  relationship to maps is absent in many social
  studies programs.

9

• 3. Finding Location
• Two Grid Systems Alpha Numeric and Latitude
  Longitude
• 4. Determining Direction
• Three categories of directional concepts emerge
  in children
• 1. Environmental In - Under - Behind
• 2. Personal Front - Forward - Left - Clockwise
• 3. Global North - South - East - West
• 5. Calculating Distance
• Often used in combination with determining
  direction. Locate place X miles north of Y.

10

• Computing Elevation
• Vertical Distance is represented in
• Intervals rather than exact measurements.
• Feet and meters rather than miles or kilometers.
• Color rather than by shapes or symbols.
• 7. Imagining Relief
• Topography or Contour in Convex or Concave Areas
• 8. Understanding Scale
• Scale refers to the size of the maps
  reproduction and challenges the childs ability
  to recognize the difference between and areas
  actual size in space and its reduced size on a
  map.

11
Topographic Maps
12
(No Transcript)
13
Teaching Geography
Use maps when discussing places, people and
events. Desk maps are an integral part of the
formula for success.

• Start with the world.
• Move in to the location that is being studied
  by pointing out major features, including
  continents and oceans.
• Focus on the particular area that is being
  discussed.
• Back out of the map to the big picture of the
  world, constantly reinforcing the major
  continents and features of the map.

Have children draw maps from memory.
14
(No Transcript)
15
Suggested Tasks When Teaching Geography

• (1) Students work with maps individually (2)
  Students have to do something with the map (3)
  Whenever possible make it a game (4) Get
  students to respond to your questions that are
  framed around the skills
• (5) Try to talk students out of their response.

16
ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES IN GEOGRAPHY INSTRUCTION
Use a variety of maps and globes to locate places
emphasized in reading.

• Children should note the relative location of
  a place
• Where is it in relation to . . . ?
• How far is it from . . . ?
• How long would it take to get there from here?

Children should be asked additional questions
about latitude, longitude, elevation, and
climate. This information should then be related
to the local setting so that the they have a
concrete referent for comparison.
17
Further Points

• Restore emphasis on topography, place names, map
  reading
• Keep geography close to history. Two dimensions
  of the same phenomenonthe story of Human
  Experience on Earth
• The events people places and history all have a
  where
• Lewis and Clark
• Revolutionary War
• Transcontinental RR
• Mound Builders and River Valleys
• Great Migration
• Why do we have deserts and rainforest here and
  not there?

Myths Geography is boring Rote learning is a
waste of time Teacher who teaches facts is
incompetent
18
The Five Themes of Geography

• Location People and places are positioned
  variously on the Earth's surface. Where in the
  world are places located?
• Place Physical and human characteristics
  distinguish one place from other places. What
  makes a place special?
• Relationships Within Places The interactions of
  humans with their environments shape the
  characteristics of both people and the
  environment. How do people change the natural
  environment and how does the environment
  influence the activities of people?
• Movement Human interactions on the
  Earth--people, products, and information--affect
  the characteristics of places. What are the
  global patterns of movement of people, products,
  and information?
• Regions The Earth can be divided into regions to
  help us understand similarities and differences
  of peoples and places. How do regions form and
  change?

19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
How do we know where a glacier stops?
23
Ice sheet on Ellsmere Island, Canada
24
From Tundra Semi-frozen Sub
Arctic Plain
To Deciduous Forests
25
Dr. Lenore P. Tedesco, Director Center for
Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
26
Dr. Lenore P. Tedesco, Director Center for
Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
27
10,000 Years Ago
Dr. Lenore P. Tedesco, Director Center for
Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
28
Dr. Lenore P. Tedesco, Director Center for
Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
29
Dr. Lenore P. Tedesco, Director Center for
Earth and Environmental Science, Indiana
University Purdue University Indianapolis
30
(No Transcript)
31
Hypothetical American Indian Local Sequence in
Archaeology
Woodland Period
2000 BP
Archaic Period
8000 BP
Paleo Indian Period
12000 BP
32
Hypothetical Archaeological Local Sequence
Woodland Period
Circa 1000 BP
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
Circa 2000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 3000 BP
Pottery
Semi Nomadic
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians Nomadic Herd Hunters
Circa 12000 BP
33
PALEO INDIAN TOOL KIT
34
Hypothetical Archaeological Local Sequence
Woodland Period
Circa 1000 BP
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
Circa 2000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 3000 BP
Pottery
Semi Nomadic
Seasonal Campgrounds
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians
Nomadic Herd Hunters
Circa 12000 BP
35
ARCHAIC PERIOD POINTS
36
(No Transcript)
37
The Style and Diversity of Projectile Points and
Tool Kits Expands With Each Period
Tools became varied and include more ground,
polished and bone tools. They developed grooved
axes, pestles, etc. Fishing becomes more
important and net sinkers and fish hooks appear.
38
Hypothetical Archaeological Local Sequence
Woodland Period
Circa 1000 BP
Raising Corn, Beans and Squash
Circa 2000 BP
Cultivating Grasses, Bow and Arrow
Archaic Hunters and Gatherers
Circa 3000 BP
Pottery
Semi Nomadic
Circa 8000 BP
Paleo Indians
Nomadic Herd Hunters
Circa 12000 BP
39
The Three Sisters of the Garden
40
WOODLAND POINTS
41
Burial and Ceremonial Mounds
Great Serpent Mound Ohio
42
Locations of Mound in the Mississippi Ohio Valleys
43
Geographic Features and the Spread of Ideas,
Agriculture and Livestock