 Geography is the study of Planet Earth.
Here are some geography questions you can discuss with your child:
• Where are we? Educate your child your address. Look at maps together to see where you live and where the school is. How far or close are you from the school?
• List some things about where you live.
• What is the climate like?
• What kinds of plants and animals live in your part of the country?
• What impact have people had on where you live?
• How do things – people, goods, information – move from place to place where you live?
• What does it mean to live in a global society?
• Make a chart of the things that are happening in other parts of the world that affect you.
• When you talk with your child, use words that indicate direction: "We are going north to New York to visit Grandma," or "The school is three blocks west of our apartment building."
Geography Activities (for preschoolers)
1. When you speak with your children, use words like "above" and "below" to let them know where things are.
2. When picking up toys, you may say, "Please put your doll in the basket on the right." or, "The frog goes on the left side of the shelf."
3. When speaking about things, describe the color, size, and shape. These words are used in geography, too.
Build a Block (for young children (K – 3rd grade))
By using milk cartons, small boxes, and toilet paper or paper towel rolls for buildings make a three-dimensional map of your home or neighborhood. You can do it the following way:
1. Draw a map of the block on a large piece of paper, a cut open paper bag, or a piece of cardboard.
2. Cut up the milk cartons or other boxes and place them on the block where the buildings are.
3. Use bottle tops, pieces of fabric, paper, or yarn to show other things on your block such as fences, sidewalks, trees, cars, trucks, or mailboxes.
What's the Weather Like? (for older children (4th-6th grade))
1. Watch the weather forecast on television or read the weather map in the newspaper.
2. Write down the forecasts for a week or more or save the maps.
3. Look for the changes in the weather over time.
4. Compare the weather in your town to the weather in other parts of the country.
5. How will the weather in another part of the country affect what is happening in your area?
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