Concept+of+Geography+Reflection


 * Concept of Geography Reflection **

When deciding what type of concept to teach, I think it is important that students should know and understand how to read analyze maps. The whole idea of reading and analyzing maps has important qualities in itself, such as knowing continents, capitals, regions, major landforms, etc. However, students can begin to understand a region if they dig deeper into understanding maps. For example, the main concept I would focus on is // reading and analyzing maps. // Laison and Keiper say in // Instructional Strategies // that it is important to select a big idea and develop concepts from that idea. From my idea of // reading and analyzing maps, // I can develop concepts such as // capitals //, // regions // , // major landforms // , or what maps look like. I can pose the question to the students, "If if cut this globe down the middle, and laid it flat, what it be?" However, I can create even deeper concepts such as // topography //, // climate // , // population density // , and // natural resources. // I could even go further, which may be pushing the boundary, and discuss cultural aspects such as // religion //, // ethnicity // , or even making a hypothesis on the // economic status // of regions based on their location. I think it is important to be able to understand and read a map, but that is almost useless unless you can understand the demographics of certain regions when it comes to their culture, topography, climate, or access to resources.

Having the main idea of reading and analyzing maps can enhance the basic skills of reading a map such as identifying regions and landforms, but it can also develop skills in allowing the students to think critically about certain areas based on its' geographic location. In the Schmidt article regarding Geographic boundaries, he talks about how the locations of different regions have unique characteristics that make them different from other regions and students need to be able to identify that. Of course, not everyone will agree on what defines or makes a region unique, but it is important to know that those characteristics exist in different regions. Students, as well as teachers, need to know that understanding and being able to read a map is more than just knowing capitals and regions. It is an important skill, but there are more important concepts within that idea that can help students understand how different regions possess their own unique characteristics, which can be similar or different to other regions.