In this lesson, students will focus on the five themes of geography by creating books, Web sites, or multimedia presentations showcasing the unique features of their town. In the process, they will learn about the uses of geography.

Geography

Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Three to four hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Drawing materials

Students will

• discuss the meaning of the word "geography";
• view pictures of places in the United States, and compare what they see in them to their own town;
• locate their town on a map and discuss its relation to state landmarks;
• describe their town's people, animals, and landscape;
• describe changes they have noticed in their town;
• identify from where current and past residents originally came;
• identify unique characteristics of the region where the town is located;
• discuss why geography skills are important; and
• create booklets or skits about their town.

Write the word "geography" on the board, and ask students if they know what this word means. Show them the following items: a map, a picture of a place, a food item from another country, a souvenir from a trip to another part of the country or world, and a word in another language. Tell the class that all of these items are things they might learn about when they study geography.

Explain that geography is important right in their hometown. In their town people use maps to get around, businesses produce products that are sold to people in other places, and there are probably people from different countries who speak foreign languages. Can students think of other examples of geography being important in their town?

Have students look at some pictures of places in the United States (they can use books, magazines, or the links at Yahooligans). Ask them to compare these places to the town or region where they live. What are the differences? Have them write words and sentences to describe what they notice, and ask them to share their thoughts with the class.

Ask students to imagine that the mayor of their town has asked them to create a book, Web site, or multimedia presentation to teach kids who have just moved or who are about to move into town about the town's geography. They will first need to gather information about the town and then put that information together into a presentation that kids will enjoy and find useful.

Ask them to do the following activities in preparation for their books, Web sites, or multimedia presentations. They may need to use the library or Internet to find some of this information. If you have extra time, you can also have them talk to their parents and other people who have lived in the town for a number of years. Students can either write their answers or discuss them as a class, depending on their ability level.

[Note: The activities below are related to the five themes of geography.]

Theme 1—Location: Look at a map of the town and a larger map of the town''s location in the country, and discuss its location relative to some of the major landmarks in their state (e.g., "Denver is east of the Rocky Mountains and northeast of Mesa Verde National Park").

Theme 2—Place: Describe the town's people, animals, and landscape.

Theme 3—Human/Environment Interaction: Describe some of the changes they have noticed that are caused by people, such as new buildings being constructed or the opening of a new park, and explain how these changes might affect the area's animals and plants.

Theme 4—Movement: Find out where the town's founders came from and where some current ethnic groups in town came from.

Theme 5—Region: Identify the general region of the country this town is in (e.g., Northeast or Southwest), and explain what makes this region unique and different from other parts of the country (e.g., "Phoenix is known for its desert climate and vegetation, mountains, spicy chilies, and other foods").

Hold a class discussion asking students to explain why they think it is important to know about their town's geography. Why is it good to know about the things they have studied in the five activities for this lesson? Why is it important to know how to read maps or to be able to identify the town's common animals and plants?

Have students create booklets with writing and pictures, or skits using the information they have gathered in this lesson. Then have them share their booklets and/or perform their skits for each other.

Have students look at National Geographic's Power of Inspiration Web site. Explain that artist Donald Featherstone designed pink flamingo lawn decorations after being inspired by a National Geographic magazine article about flamingoes.

Ask students to design lawn decorations for their town, highlighting some of the things about the town that they find particularly unique or interesting.

National Geographic: The Five Themes of Geography
National Geographic: The Power of Inspiration