Geography Birth -2 years Outside Play – Direction (Livestrong, n.d.) This inquiry and exploratory artefact encourages and supports children to explore their surroundings with enthusiasm and supports directional concepts. Educators engage in meaningful conversations about position, size and direction; up, down, big, small, behind and in front of. Conversing using explicitly directional and positioning words provides this age group with meaning for words and their corresponding actions that relate to geographical vocabulary (Marsh and Hart 2003). Extending infants’ awareness of their surroundings by providing them with a natural playground filled with natures gifts will assist in beginning their journey into the subject of geography (Bliss, 2011). Geography fosters spatial awareness by exploring distances and connects children to nature providing them with an appreciation and understanding of their natural environment (Bliss, 2011; DEEWR, LO 2.4, 2009). Geography provides children of this age with a sense of self identification and sense of place as it provides them with the concepts of belonging and identity (Bliss, 2011; DEEWR, LO 1, 2009). Educators facilitate and support children’s understanding and concepts of geography as these experiences form the foundations in supporting curiosity, exploration and appreciation for their natural environment and how we are all connected. Children in this age group use their senses to explore and whilst not fully comprehending
These learning activities help students make connections between what happens in and out of the classroom. They also help children begin to informally develop their concept of spatial sense through such observations as "close" and "far away." Giving students opportunities to practice developing their spatial sense will increase their awareness and application of geometric concepts in different areas of mathematics and other disciplines, including art, science, and social studies.
The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate
Geography will never mean the same to me, the more I read the more I’ve learned it’ so much more than land and boundaries. What I’ve learned from this literature it seems to be the study of issues that affect people and the environment, and ways to solve the world’s problems. Geography is important because it affects all aspects of life. No matter what you are talking or thinking about geography is somehow involved. Everything in the world has a direct connection to place, location, interaction, movement, and region.
It is important to be a geographically informed person because we need to be prepared to meet the challenge of understand what is happening in the world. People travel a lot more than in years past. People travel for work, explore, enjoyment, and quality time with family. People need to understand when they are going into certain communities what places/neighborhoods are safe to attend and what part of area you should avoid to be safe. One of my favorite places to visit is Chicago. We hear all over the news about the violence in Chicago and how it is one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. While that is true and Chicago does have a lot of violence being a geographically informed person helps you understand that most of the
As time passes by, with everything seeming in place, we push aside real life. Activities we like to pretend are not occurring are put on the bottom of the list. War, deadly tsunamis, earthquakes, terrorism, economic crisis, all real life changes which have occurred and are occurring now. People are becoming less knowledgeable than ever when it comes to geography. “Given the accelerating pace of change on our increasingly crowded planet, this may not be surprising- even if it is disturbing,” states Harm de Blij in his book “Why Geography Matters: More Than Ever.” While De Blij tells us how illiterate we have become to geography, he also explains to readers how American people could benefit from the knowledge of Geography in specific situations.
Over the course of the centuries maps have been used to find locations all over the world. They have evolved and to become more advanced, thanks to technology. Of course, there are specific ways to use a map such as basic components. Basic components include a compass rose which indicates the cardinal directions. Legends is the key where symbols are used to help find a point on the map, or in other words, lead the way. A scale can range from as far as a continent to as close as a house. All these components are important while using a map.
Geography is an important factor to consider when you look at this worlds past, present, or future. So whether it be the earths physical geographic features, the geopolitics stirring up trouble across the globe, or the economics of growing or shrinking countries; geography plays a major role. In todays society, geographic knowledge is one of the most important and valuable tools to possess. Without it, we are victims of ignorance and endanger ourselves, others, and the world. This ignorance, possessed by many, is posing a great risk of self-destruction. The author of “Why Geography Matters More Than Ever”, Harm de Blij, makes many strong points on this matter, but occasionally makes unsupported and unclear statements which tend to stray off topic.
“Why Geography Matters More Than Ever,” was written by Harm De Blij. It was published August 17th 2012 by Oxford University Press, USA with 354 pages in it.
The article by MacQuarrie et al (2015) is a research paper exploring children’s experiences with nature-based learning. MacQuarrie et al. (2015) conducted their research through to methods; a discussion group made up of 7 participants from international settings that could converse in English and case studies from nature-based learning programs in Scotland, Denmark and Finland (MacQuarrie et al., 2015). The data collected was broken into four broad themes, including local practice, global curiosity, Adult and child relationships in early childhood education, seeking clarity about practice and good practice
From an early age, I acquired a keen interest in geography. AN example of my love of the subject is when I visit Wales many times a year, every time becoming overwhelmed with the pure beauty of the landscape along with the physical and human processes that have interacted to make it the place it is presently. During my school years I studied geography, building up a foundation of knowledge. Along with this, my personal experiences with the natural world like hiking up dolgoch falls and visiting the centre of alternative technology (CAT) in Wales has given me a more insightful understanding of geography, engaging me with the desire and determination to learn more.
Conflict between nations over territories raises red flags in maps, as maps can “tell a lie”. Maps are sometimes made in a way to make the viewer believe in something else, a side of a story rather than the accurate exhibition of the true state of territories. There are many disputed grounds between nations. China had claimed some of India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Taiwan’s territories in its 2012 passports which displayed a map of the country. But, maps like those are usually made with intention of showing what a country wants or what it believes it rightfully possesses. In doing this, there is a way to secure the physical implications that a country’s government governs farther out, therefore fabricating its reach of power farther outwards. Although, when the intention is to show possible future implications of near conflict, things change.
Geography, in general, is studying where and why locations are placed on a map. To answer these questions, you must have not only memory but skill as well. In unison, you must use geophagic themes, concept and skill, that not many people have or are willing to have. Location, Place, Relationship within Places, Movement, and Regions are the five guidelines for geographic education, a branch of social studies. These were put into place by professional educator to make sure that children would know and value the world around
Our world, in the 21st century is more interconnected than ever before. The world is pacing faster than ever before. Take a look at biggest events of the 21st century: extreme climate change escorted by important weather ends; death-causing tsunamis caused by huge earthquakes; unique terrorist attacks across the globe; costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;a terrible and unnoticed crisis in Center Africa costing millions of lives; an economic crisis threatening the stability of the international system. And many, many more. The answer lies in Why Geography Matters More than Ever; geography. Harm De Blij, author of the book explains that Americans statistically are the number one geographically illiterate country and De Blij also demonstrates
The Council for Learning Outside the Classroom (2017) believes that outdoor learning is a powerful tool that is proven to raise achievement, improve social, emotional and personal development and contributes to the health and well-being of children and young people. There is no doubt that children will learn better if they are given space to discover and explore for themselves. The Northern Ireland Curriculum: Primary (2007, p.44) states that outdoor learning has an important role in the emotional development of children where they are “free to run, shout and play exuberantly.” Children can learn about important
Maybe some people will think human geography has no relation between physical geography. But I think human geography has a great effect on physical geography, and physical geography has a great effect on human geography too.