Back to Geography Basics

By Maria Celeste Mahaffey

Maria Mahaffey is an ITA for SIATech, San Diego.

The week before the inauguration offered myriad opportunities for learning, for both my students and for me.  To prepare for the inauguration, I planned a week’s worth of classroom activities, including describing the role of the president, the role of the cabinet, and conducting a mock election. Students used the Internet to search for each president’s home state at the time of his election and then pinned an index card showing the president’s face to a map of the United States.  What surprised me the most during the lesson was that my Californian students could not find most of the states east of Arizona.  This map activity made me realize that my students either did not learn this information or had forgotten the basic lessons of geography.  Once again, I was reminded that my students suffer from staggering cultural illiteracy. 

The inauguration offered various other opportunities to teach geography basics; lessons could have included coloring Electoral College demographic maps, researching voting trends based on industrial versus agricultural communities (students color code regions as either industrial or agricultural and then use symbols to code states as either Republican or Democrat), researching the home states of the candidates.  To solve my dilemma, I set out on a quest to find a way to teach U.S. geography that would engage my entire class and would appeal to students who are not learning in a traditional environment.

Kinesthetic Learning

The result of my brainstorming was to order a foam U.S. map puzzle for my students to put together.  Even though the box suggests that the puzzle is for young children, this activity gave my students the opportunity to work together and get a bodily-kinesthetic lesson on the U.S.  I introduced the lesson by reminding them of the previous lesson about the presidents’ home states and then handed out three or four state pieces per student.  If there were leftovers, I asked which students were feeling adventurous.  It was interesting to watch the students as they slowly became involved and then active participants.  Some students just tossed down their pieces in the general area that they thought they belonged.  Others tried twisting and turning theirs to make them fit where they thought they belonged.  The country started very wide and slowly came together as students realized that the western states are very geometric.

Geography Mini-Lessons

After the puzzle was complete, we discussed various topics related not only to geography but U.S. and world history.  This included some mnemonics for remembering different locations such as: COW-California-Oregon-Washington and HOMES-Huron-Ontario-Michigan-Erie-Superior.  We also discussed why the eastern states were smaller and more irregularly shaped than the western states, which was a segue to the Louisiana Purchase and westward expansion.  Students identified the countries to our north, our south, and west of Alaska.  Many students had never heard of the idea of a land bridge, and so a discussion ensued about the cradle of civilization and human migration.  In one block, students examined how far slaves had to actually travel on the Underground Railroad to escape the Deep South. 

As a tool to teach the Louisiana Purchase, have a map of the United States prior to 1803 and then use an overlay transparency of a political map to show how the United States more than doubled in size.  A topographical or political map of the U.S. with Louis and Clark’s expedition would also show students how significant an addition this land purchase was.  You could expand the lesson to discuss Manifest Destiny.  Once again using political map overlays, students can be shown how westward expansion occurred along with the relocation and reassignment of Native American tribes.

To teach a World Geography or World History lesson early civilizations, a map showing the cradle of civilization in the Middle East can initially teach students where ancient civilization began.  Teachers can then use marking tools to illustrate human migration into Africa, Europe, Asia and then eventually into the Americas.  This can be done on a basic world political map.

During Black History month or any Civil War unit, a lesson on the Underground Railroad can be supported through the use of a map that shows the paths that escaping slaves took.  While a simple Internet search will yield maps that depict the travel routes, having students plot this information themselves has a far more significant impact on their learning.

Each of these mini-lessons can be either teacher- or student- centered.  Having students individually conduct these mapping exercises does take more time but ensures a more personal understanding.  I still utilize transparencies and overheads for numerous mini-lessons.  I find that I can easily incorporate student suggestions and input and ensure a more timely completion of the lesson.  With proper implementation, both options ensure that students actively participate.
 
All of these “teachable moments” came from something as basic as putting together a puzzle.  Realizing that not all students are verbal-linguistic or mathematical learners, especially those who are at-risk/at-promise, requires educators to find alternative means to convey subject content and to tackle the overwhelming depths of cultural illiteracy. 

Maria Celeste Mahaffey holds a BA in International Affairs from the George Washington University and a Masters of Arts in Teaching Secondary Social Science from Western Governors University.  Maria currently has her single subject CA credential and works as an ITA at the San Diego SIATech campus.