Geography Curriculum

According to the National Geographic Society, Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. It sounds simple, yet teaching and learning the world around us can be as dynamic as science and interesting as history. 

In this curriculum pack, let’s explore how to effectively teach geography with old tools like maps, the new generation GPS, and Google Earth. 

See the fact file below for more information on the Geography Curriculum, or alternatively, you can download our 15-page Geography Curriculum worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Before we start:

• Watch a short video explainer about Geography. Download the PDF file to access the video link. 

What to consider?

• Bring the experience closer – While Geography may talk about the vastness of the continent you are on, the personal space you occupy, like your house, garden, and community centre, is part of geography. To be more relatable, allow our learners to work and adapt within their personal geographies and local areas. 
• Be their own investigators – Student-centered activities, such as collaborative discussions, hands-on activities, field trips, and treasure hunting, not only boost their curiosity about discovering things but also help them practice independence and critical thinking. 
• Explore cross-curricular connections – Despite being a stand-alone discipline, Geography is more related than we know to history, science, sociology, economics, and even literature!
• Maximize the use of technology – From compasses to GPS, mapping tools have definitely evolved over time. Today, educational field trips can also be done virtually, visiting places across the globe without packing a suitcase or leaving the house.
• If you’re concerned about upsetting your students with dark aspects of history during a time of what is supposed to be informative and interactive learning. In that case, we have a useful blog that will help you navigate teaching and an impartial recount of the facts.   

How to deliver

• Geography can be as tricky as a science experiment, as varied as people’s religious beliefs, and surprisingly interesting as history because geography surrounds us. It is one of the basic life skills we must master in navigating our changing space. 
• From the ancient world maps in Babylon to Google Maps finding the nearest coffee shop, geography is always present anywhere on Earth. So, let’s begin with a cup of coffee. 
• Geography comes from the Greek words geo, meaning Earth, and grapho, to write, making geographia or the study of the Earth (which included everything in it from the people to land and all the phenomena happening). Imagine the curious eyes of the students upon hearing “all the phenomena happening”. Does this mean Geography includes online games like Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Zombies, Run!? The answer is yes!
• When we capture their attention and interest in how catching a rare Pikachu is Geography, we gather their schema or prior knowledge of things related to Geography. Below is a sample diagram of gathering our students’ schema. 

The more related words we can gather, the better. To sum up what Geography means, tickle their minds by utilizing all the words they provided. As much as possible, go beyond memorizing capital cities and dig deeper to locate the nearest pharmacy or movie house they can remember. While it is indeed amazing to have a genius identify the capital of Peru in a flash, an additional marvel is unearthing the mystery behind the architectural landscape of Machu Picchu or discovering the lost culture of the Incas. By gamifying activities, Geography classes can be as competitive and collaborative. Below are simple flashcards. 

Integrate technology in teaching and utilize virtual presentations or Google Earth as an alternative to printable materials. For example, list the Seven Wonders of the Modern World according to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites and let the students (in groups) provide their relative and absolute location using Google Earth. Before proceeding with this activity, ensure that absolute and relative locations are discussed. Below is a sample output.

• For younger learners, we can begin by letting them identify and describe the continents and bodies of water, such as oceans and seas. We always aim for our initial lesson activity to motivate our learners, so we better keep their attention on cloud nine. 
• In a more structured discussion, teaching and learning Geography begins with its five themes – location, place, region, movement, and human-environment interaction, which would sum up its meaning. Again, use the learners’ experience and knowledge to make the lesson more relatable. Explore the themes with them, including the location of their house, its distance from the school, and even their travels during the spring break holiday. Below is an example of places to visit in New York City.

Encourage our students’ creativity in working with maps. They may use icons and real-life images to show the location of places. 

Individually, they can create their personal travel brochures and share them in small groups. Explore place as a theme in geography by answering the questions: How is the climate? Are there landforms or bodies of water? What are the plant and animal life they have encountered? Is it a busy urban city or a calm farm county?

Another theme in Geography is region. While many places are highly urbanized, the world still has natural regions where animal and plant life exists. In this lesson, we can introduce our learners to biomes, climate, equator, and even global warming concepts. Other than walking galleries featuring the ten natural regions of the world, tap our learners’ creativity by challenging them to collaborate on an environmental documentary or presentation. They may explore the features of tropical rainforest regions in Central and South America and Southeast Asia or the tundra regions in Siberia and Greenland. Deepen their understanding of these natural regions and their impact on climate, animals, plants, and even human adaptation. 

• Processing questions may include:
  • How do latitude and climate affect the types of vegetation found in different regions?
  • What are the main characteristics of each biome, and how do they differ?
  • What are some examples of unique adaptations that plants have developed to survive in specific biomes?
  • What are some current conservation efforts to protect and restore threatened biomes, and what challenges do they face?

• Two of the remaining themes of Geography are movement and human-environment interaction, where the learners will explore more beyond the physical aspects of geography and dive deeper into its historical, cultural, and political angles. Travel to the past with museum visits and engage in constructive debates about current events. 
• For example, the issue of immigration in the US has existed since European colonization. From colonialism when the Spanish and British Empires were at their height to the fulfilment of the American Dream as a factor of migration, America became the world’s melting pot. However, despite this, racial prejudice is still an alarming concern.  
• Encourage our learners to be investigators like Indiana Jones or Newton Scamander. There’s no need to risk their lives unearthing some ancient treasures or entering the Fantastic Beast’s magical world, presenting them with the unexpected everyday things they encounter daily, for example, investigating the origins of tea and how it became of British daily life. They may be surprised to know that the British don’t grow their own despite its social dependence and cultural identity of an afternoon tea. With migration, tea had traveled the world from its Chinese origin to the expansion of slavery and even a Tea Party in Boston. 
• Like a true adventurer, present the evidence gathered in the class through a portfolio or a mini museum display. See the example below. 

• As part of culture, Geography also explores the complexities of religion, language, and other cultural choices, from food, sports, and clothing. And like plants and animals, humans have often adapted our way of life depending on our space or local environment. 
• The final activity for this quick lesson on Geography is to bring all closer to and about us. Tackling the environment and the threats we face today due to climate change is one of the inevitable consequences of human-environment interaction. Encourage our students to participate in school or community initiatives on conserving the environment and sustainable practices. Start practicing the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) at home and continue participating in tree planting activities or risk reduction management plans. Instil the sense of volunteerism and preparedness in times of natural disasters and calamities. 

Learning outcomes

• At the end of the lesson, learners should have strengthened their geographical skills, mainly the exploration and interpretation of printed and online maps for daily use. 
• Besides exploring the world with its wonders, learners are expected to develop a sense of history as they explore places, people, and their stories. 
• Furthermore, cultural and environmental awareness, along with its issues, should be an eye opener that we are the stewards of the world we live in and, thus, responsible for protecting and conserving it. 

Geography Curriculum Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the geography curriculum across 15 in-depth pages. These ready-to-use Geography Curriculum worksheets are perfect for teaching students about Geography. Teaching and learning the world around us can be as dynamic as science and as interesting as history. In this curriculum pack, let’s explore how to effectively teach geography with old tools like maps, the new generation GPS, and Google Earth. 

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

• Teaching Geography
  1. Short video explainer
  2. What to consider
  3. How to deliver
  4. Learning outcomes
• Lesson Plan Template
• Suggested Worksheet

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