Still looking for geography...

[brownie]

I have been trying to flesh this out for next year for awhile. The only geography we've done is all the SOTW (1+2) maps BUT ds8 is quite a whiz at geography, having learned to identify ALL the countries and US states via Seterra in his free time. He is also interested in doing some earth science next year. I am posting here because I also have a son who will be an advanced 5th grader, who could possibly be included in this and my will-be 9 year old is an advanced student...many of the elementary geography workbooks seem too easy for kids who can locate the countries and read a map already.

 

So what I want?...I would like it to be easy for me to teach...open and go would be great and a workbook would be ideal though not necessary. I would like them to learn some physical geography...not concerned about cultural information. We get that in history. I've considered Runkle, but with the age of my kids I am betting that would be too much work for me to make it accessible and simple to get done each day? I'm really looking for something that can be done in 15-20minutes a day.

 

Thanks! Brownie

[JennW in SoCal]

Does it need to be done each day and be "open and go"?

 

If you are willing to not think of it as having to be done as a traditional textbook, Runkle would be terrific. I used it with both my boys in middle school, but a geography and earth science obsessed 9 and 11 year old could get lots out of it. You could pick a chapter to read aloud and do all the many hands on activities together. Take your time on it, spread a chapter out over a week or so and don't expect to get through the book in the year, but if you do, how cool!! If it is too much, then you can always shelve it until another year.

 

We also got a lot out of another book, Geology Crafts for Kids. It is more than a simple craft book, there is lots of learning attached to each craft project. We enjoyed it over the years!

[brownie]

Runkle: How do you use it? I haven't been fortunate enough to see it in real life. What kind of prep do you do? and what kind of projects does it include?

Thanks! brownie

[mcconnellboys]

I'd blend the two and look for workbooks that cover the use of topographical maps as well as experiences using GPS for hiking (many, many hikers use this now and they often incorporate into orienteering programs at state and national parks, too)....

 

http://education.usgs.gov/common/secondary.htm

 

http://una.edu/geography/statedepted/lessons/intro_topo/topo.html

 

http://www.pbs.org/edens/denali/maps.htm

 

http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/topoteach.html

 

http://www.goshen.edu/merrylea/school/gps.php

 

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/6thSocSt.htm

 

http://www.ghosttowns.com/topotmaps.html

 

 

 

Go geocaching or letter-boxing if you have a chance!

[JennW in SoCal]

I think the only prep I did with Runkle was just skimming through it the summer before we used it, and choosing which activities to do. It is laid out like a text book, but isn't as thick or as busy as the standard public school issued texts and it is better written.

 

There is a student workbook which for some reason I didn't use (other than the fact that I tend to be workbook averse). It has lots of advanced map work, such as naming the capitals of countries and identifying things in relative location to a particular area, such as the Africa worksheet where you have to name the body of water to the north and east of the continent, the continents north and south of the continent.

 

The text book really would make a nice read aloud for younger kids. The first chapter has 4 separate lessons: earth's place in space, the seven continents, relative location of the continents and the oceans and seas of the world. The activities can be short ones that get you off the couch -- creating an eclipse on a ball or globe, for instance.

 

There's a chapter on reading maps and on the different projections and the distortions caused by each type (the issues that come from having to portray a round earth on a flat map). There's a chapter on latitude and climate, another on longitude, then the physical geography/earth science chapters start. The activities include navigating using a city map, looking at how the position of the earth in its orbit affects the seasons. Again, some activities are active, some are using pencil and paper.

 

There are several activities in each lesson, often extra boxes of "fun facts" and there are review questions and vocabulary words at the end of the chapters. (The chapters are divided into lessons -- some chapters only have 4 lessons, others have 7 or 8.) You can use as many of the activities as you want, you can skip the review questions or use them to discuss what you've read. It wouldn't take much prep time, wouldn't take much time each week to read aloud and do the activities. The most prep I had to do for an activity was to make a photocopy, but otherwise the materials are all on-hand or it is all in the book.

 

Your kids would get a lot out of it this year, then when they are older, you could use it as a more traditional course, having them do the reading and workbooks independently.

 

Have you downloaded Google Earth? We've had fun exploring with that, both our own area and far away places.

 

I often had my kids fill in blank maps of a country (really blank, with no political boundaries) with rivers, mountain chains and other physical features. It is interesting to compare at the physical with the political, to see where cities develop, to see the paths invaders took. Just another idea for adding more geography into your day!

 

Hope that answers your questions!

[brownie]

Thank you so much! This is the first I've heard that it would work well as a read aloud for elementary and that the activities require little prep. You have me convinced that it is worth purchasing. Much of what you mentioned is not new information to my kids...in other words I certainly think they have the foundation to handle it in a more in depth manner next year. We've discussed distortion, latitude and longitude, climates, etc...

 

Thanks for al the time you took to write about it!

BTW ds10 LOVES driving around with google earth!

 

Brownie