week+3+wiki+posting

[|**TIME for Kids – Around the World – Sightseeing Guide**] __Suitable Age Range__ ****: ** K - 6
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 * __Curriculum Links:__ ** ELA 23 The student understands world issues and events
 * __Description__ ****: ** This resource allows students to explore countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, North America, South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand. First select a country to look at, for example Egypt. Then you click on [|Sightseeing Guide – Egypt] which will take you to a map of the country. Not only are the maps fantastic, but they also offer pre determined significant locations to look at. Students can then select a location, which then brings up a photograph and a caption describing the location.

This resource allows students to explore countries in Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, North America, South America, as well as Australia and New Zealand. First select a country to look at, for example Egypt. Then you click on [|Sightseeing Guide – Egypt] which will take you to a map of the country. Not only are the maps fantastic, but they also offer pre determined significant locations to look at. Students can then select a location, which then brings up a photograph and a caption describing the location.

This resource was selected based on my précis posting last week about “[|Active Learning Strategies Using Images in Geography] ” by Graham Yates. I have also combined points from this article with another article “[|Everyday Geography] ”, after reading the précis postings which were created by [|Joanne Streatfeild] and [|Sally Gore-Johnson].

I feel that this resource is quite open ended, yet it achieves the strategy of using images to teach geography. Students need to be exposed to real life photographs so that they have an understanding of what a location looks like, in order to enhance their geographical skills. The photographs that appear in this resource can be used for any of the 6 strategies mentioned in Yates’s article. I found that some of the images are limited, but I feel that they are still a platform for teachers to find more photographs that can be used to visually represent a location and follow on with the active learning strategies.

The points I found to be of most value in the Everyday Geography article in relation to my précis article, is “Geography is important because we are inextricably linked to the world we live in. Everyday geography enables pupils and teachers to recognise that they are already acting and thinking geographically in their everyday lives (Martin, 2006, p 3)”. For students, visualizing real images and exploring where these locations are on maps is engaging them in everyday geography.

Geography should educate students about places, connectedness, scale, process and skills (Martin, 2006). This resource offers opportunities to discover these aspects through the photographs and the captions. This resource can also work as a platform to encourage students to do further inquiry based learning about a location that may have captured their interest.

I also think this resource is relevant because it can be expanded with my maps on google maps, like last weeks tutorial activity. Students can perhaps focus on where they live and create a my maps document with photos and captions linked to the location or locations. This will also tie in their local geography and mapping skills.

References Martin, F. (2006). Everyday Geography: Re-Visioning Primary Geography for the 21st Century. //Geographical Education // , 19, 31-36. Yates, G. (2000). Active Learning strategies using images in geography [online]. Geographical Education v.13, 2000: 68-76. Time Inc. (2010). Time for Kids: Around the World. Accessed on the 28th June 2010 from

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