The Trade and Industries of Western South America

Abstract

This research was based on an instructional module developed and used to investigate whether GIS can be used to enhance fourth grade students' geographic knowledge and map skills. Another goal was to identify challenges the teachers and the students face using GIS.

Findings from the study suggest that using GIS in the classroom helps students improve their geographic knowledge and maps skills. In addition, this study found that the students' geographic content knowledge tended to improve gradually and the knowledge transferred to the subsequent lessons, while certain map skills tended to develop in a more specific manner.     

Map Skills Instruction and the Child's Developing Cognitive Abilities

Abstract

Research in education, psychology, and geography is utilized to relate the child's pattern of gradually developing cognitive abilities to his increasing ability to master skills. Although the child's symbolization abilities develop quite early, his ability to orient himself spatially and to use the important concepts of scale and an external frame of reference develop more gradually, as does his manipulative ability to make accurate, detailed maps. Based on this research, a hierarchical sequence for map skills instruction is proposed and related to existing map skills programs. This sequential structure differs from most existing materials in its emphasis on the very gradual development of the ability to use grid reference systems and orient himself satisfactorily on maps, as well as the gradual acquisition of certain measurement abilities.     

MAPS,METAPHORS AND MUDDLES

The idea of a cognitive or mental map has been a source of confusion in the geographical literature for some time. Downs suggests that the confusion can be removed if we give consideration to the role of maps in metaphors and analogies. This raises important questions, but treating the map as a double metaphor does nothing to clarify these issues. Cartographic skills are not the result of introspection and hypothesizing such maps-in-the-head can only impede our understanding of spatial behavior.     

How the States Got Their Shapes

Abstract

A baseline geography test was administered to over 3,000 Indiana college students enrolled in introductory geography courses. The National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test, Secondary Level, Form II, was used to measure the 1987 level of geographic ability in the areas of map skills, place-name location, physical geography, and human geography. Personal information gathered from each respondent included age, sex, travel experience, and level of geographic education. Older students scored better while geographically immobile groups scored lower. A strong correlation was found between travel and geographic knowledge. Findings show low overall geographic ability and that factors of age, travel experience and gender are correlated with certain aspects of geographic knowledge and skills.     

Newsprint Manufacturing in the Southeast

Abstract

This paper is a response to the two-fold thesis of Bartz; namely, that (1) maps are not really important in our society today, and (2) educators say that they value maps and mapping, but the evidence of children's performance in using maps is contradictory. In exploring problems related to Bartz's contention, the author arrives at four tentative conclusions :

1. A child can and does learn many but not all of the map concepts and skills at an earlier age when taught them developmentally, systematically, functionally, and effectively.

2. Mere manipulation of materials does not constitute a concrete experience for a child.

3. Map-related concepts must be taught prior to, and continued concurrently with, map skills.

4. The commercially prepared map tends to appear near the highest level of abstract mapping and is therefore not necessarily the most effective means of map instruction for the elementary teacher.

A most significant implication from the conclusions is the need to re-examine the preparation of the elementary teacher. If the focus of the education of a teacher moves in the direction outlined in this paper, Bartz's premise could be reversed.     

Back to the Basics: Birmingham,Alabama, Measurement and Scale

Abstract

Back to the Basics: Birmingham, Alabama is the fourth in a series of workshops that focus on teaching foundational map reading and spatial differentiation skills. It is the second published exercise from the Back to the Basics series developed by the Wetland Education through Maps and Aerial Photography (WETMAAP) Program (see Journal of Geography 103, 5: 226-230). Like its predecessor, the current exercise is modified from the Birmingham Back to the Basics workshop offered during the annual National Council for Geographic Education meeting. The focus of this exercise is on scale and measurement, foundational skills for spatial thinking and analysis.     

Paper versus Pixel: Effectiveness of Paper versus Electronic Maps To Teach Map Reading Skills in an Introductory Physical Geography Course

Abstract

This article addresses the lack of outcome-based research on the integration of technology into pedagogy at the undergraduate college level. It describes a study performed at a Midwestern university, testing the relative effectiveness of paper and electronic topographic maps for teaching map-reading skills, and considers the relationship between learning styles and paper or digital map preference. Results indicate that, although student map skill performance did not differ significantly with the use of paper or electronic maps, students preferred paper maps. Neither their performance nor their preferences were related to learning style. The article discusses the significance of these findings.     

Using Road Maps in the Junior High School

Abstract

The activities described in this paper were developed to familiarize junior high school students with the variety of information available on road maps and to provide a means for practice of map skills. At Legg Junior High School in Coldwater, Michigan, students were presented with an introduction to road maps, followed by a series of worksheets to use in conjunction with Michigan and Ontario highway maps. After completing the worksheets, students participated in road rally games which required them to use maps and follow instructions and clues to find a specific location. The activities can be adapted for elementary school classes or for students with different levels of ability. Teachers might also want to increase the number of worksheets or road rallies to give students additional practice in skills in which they particularly need improvement.     

Fifteen Year Follow-Up Geography Skills Test Administered in Indiana, 1987 and 2002

Abstract

After fifteen years of geographic education efforts, a baseline geography skills test was repeated in Indiana. In 2002, 2,278 students in college freshman geography courses were tested with a revision of the National Council for Geographic Education Competency-Based Geography Test, Secondary Level Form II. The test measured geographic ability in map skills, place name location, physical geography, and human geography. As in 1987, the 2002 test gathered personal information from each student on age, gender, travel experience, and prior geographic education. Test scores were lower by two percent in 2002. Travel and lifetime experience are again the best teachers of geography as opposed to high school geography course work. Significant performance differences persist between gender and ethnic groups. Arts and science students perform significantly higher than students from education, business, and other schools. Test results underscore the need to emphasize more intentional classroom focus on state standards and preparation of classroom teachers.     

How Textbooks Influence the Curriculum in Geography

Abstract

In this study, pairs of students in fifth and seventh grade generated and answered questions based on maps. More than 90 percent of the questions they generated made sense with reference to the map on which they were based. Each of these questions was coded in terms of both its informational content (symbols, latitude and longitude, and scale) and the process by which a map user obtains the information from the map (map reading, map interpreting, map inferring). Results indicated that students most often generated three types of questions, which together accounted for more than 80 percent of all the questions: 1) read symbol, 2) infer latitude and longitude, and 3) interpret scale. Qualitatively, the questions were analyzed for what they revealed about student confusion about map content. Problems with all three aspects of map content were common among both fifth- and seventh-grade students. The problem-posing technique proved useful for evaluating student's knowledge.     

A Proposal for Assessment in Geography Education

Abstract

The geographic skills, as outlined in Geography for Life, provide an avenue for assessing students' work in geography. If used across the scope and sequence of the curriculum, a common scoring guide based on these skills offers opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to use inquiry approaches to study geography and to improve those abilities over time and over different geographic questions. If used consistently, a geographic skills scoring guide can also help to communicate to a broader audience of parents, administration, and the public as to what the discipline of geography encompasses.     

Volume 111 Index

Abstract

Concepts related to alternative map projections can be difficult to explain to students given the diversity and complexity of available projections. Students frequently have trouble understanding how distortions caused by the choice of a projection can affect map readability and comprehension. Programs available for personal computers now provide geography and cartography instructors with a method for interactively educating students concerning the distortions associated with alternative map projections. Such software can be incorporated into laboratory assignments in introductory geography courses or in more advanced courses that deal with map design or thematic cartography.     

The Elementary Social Studies: Sense and Nonsense in Integration

Abstract

The ultimate goal of all geographic education is to have our students think geographically for life. To this end, the five geographic skills sets allow teachers to use the inquiry approach to more accurately observe whether or not geographic thinking is actually taking place. As essential components of these geographic skills, fieldwork, journaling, and stories based on the field experience have proven to be effective tools of inquiry. This article demonstrates how a journal, kept by the author while on an advanced alliance summer institute to Russia in 1996, was used to write an original short story based on the author's fieldwork there. The author's experiences model the five geographic skills sets in developing lesson plans for the original short story, The Dragon and the Anchor. These activities allow the students to sharpen their geographic skills and develop a sense of place by studying the changes that have occurred in Russia since the fall of communism in 1991.     

The Significance of Geography in American Education

Abstract

Orienteering is a rapidly growing sport, developed in Sweden, which has great possibilities for education in geography. It can be conceived as an organizing device for outdoor work and as a basis for the development of meaningful practical exercises, particularly in the area of map work, including map construction. Various examples and possibilities, for a wide range of grade levels, are outlined.     

Determination of rasterizing error a case study with the soil map of The Netherlands

Abstract

The digital soil map of The Netherlands (scale 1: 50 000) in vector form was rasterized using three sizes of raster cell and two different rasterizing methods. The rasterizing errors were estimated for several map sheets of different complexity using the double-conversion method, the Switzer method and the Goodchild method. The relationship between the complexity of the maps, indicated by the boundary index, and the rasterizing error is presented as a regression equation. The double-conversion method provided a better estimation of the rasterizing error than the other two methods. Differences of less than 1 per cent were found between the rasterizing methods used.     

Delmarva Coastal Bays Map Contest for Fourth Graders

Abstract

This map contest is an exercise in geographic education for fourth grade students. It is sponsored by a grassroots, nonprofit environmental organization to raise the awareness and appreciation of students to the special features of their home region. The maps illustrate some aspect of the living resources or history of the region. As a case study of the map contest, this paper describes its design, publicity, appeal to teachers, judging of entries, and role of volunteers. It considers the research on map skills among young students and ways in which the contest supports geographic education.     

基于GIS的山洪灾害风险区划

1 Introduction Torrent is sudden surface runoff with sharp rises or falls (Tang, 1994; Zhao, 1996), resulting from rainfall in small basins of mountainous areas. It has features of violent coming force, rapid formation and strong destructivity which rende…     

Creating a County Agricultural Atlas

Abstract

Compiling an agricultural atlas of the home county is a means of learning about a significant aspect of the local environment. Each student selects a product of the county for which he prepares a distribution map and an agricultural calendar of the month-by-month routine of the producer. Cartographic concepts can be taught during the design phase of map construction. Examples are given from An Agricultural Atlas of Lane County (Oregon).     

INCORPORATING INHERENT MAP ERROR INTO FLOOD-HAZARD ANALYSIS

Maps are an important source of data for planning and land use analysis of flood-prone areas. Map users with inadequate training are not aware that map errors can lead to ineffective decisions. Although inherent errors introduced by transformation, map construction, and symbolization are never identified on maps, they limit the effectiveness of maps as sources of data. Additional vertical and horizontal errors can be introduced during map use. Knowledge of the sources and amounts of such errors should result in more effective decisions regarding flood hazards.