Teacher's Guide

The programs are broadcast by, TVOntario, thetelevision service of The Ontario EducationalCommunications Authority. For broadcast datesconsult the appropriate TVOntario schedule. Theprograms are available on videotape. Orderinginformation for videotapes and this publicationappears on page 61.

The SeriesProducer/Director David Chamberlain

Consultants: Doug Banks, Wayne Hopkins

Designed and produced by Northey Productionsfor TVOntario, 1985.

Canadian Cataloguing in

Publication Data

Hopkins, Wayne.Geography skills. Teacher's Guide

To be used with the television program,Geography skills.ISBN 0-88944-494-8

1. Geography drills (Television program) 2.Geography-Study and teaching. I. TVOntario.II. Title.

The GuideProject Leader: David Chamberlain

Writer. Wayne Hopkins, Nipissing Board ofEducation

Editor: Loralee Case

Page Creation: Miscellaneous Productions

Cover Design: Tom Pilsworth

ContentsG73.H66 1986 910'.7 C86-099619-0

Copyright 1986 by The Ontario EducationalCommunications Authority.All rights -reserved.

Printed in Canada

1

Introduction 2Program 1: Map Symbols 3Program 2: Map Grids 8Program 3: Latitude 12

Program 4: Longitude 17

Program 5: Distance 22Program 6: Directions 26Program 7: Contours 31Program 8: Theme Maps 36Program 9: Sampling 42Program 10: Gathering Data 46Program 11: Graphing 50Program 12: Problem Solving 56Ordering Information 61

Geography programs have a responsibility toprepare young people to identify, understand,and work to solve some of the problems facingour increasingly diverse country andinterdependent world. The professionalconsensus has been that such programs shouldinclude goals in the broad areas of knowledge,skills, and democratic values.

Programs that combine the acquisition ofknowledge and skills with the application ofdemocratic values present an ideal balance ingeography. It is essential that these goals beviewed as equally important. The relationshipamong knowledge, values, and skills is one ofmutual support.

Skills, then, when presented in a context, areimportant vehicles in learning concepts,searching for information, gaining insight intovalues and beliefs, and learning other skills.

Skill learning requires sequential development,systematic instruction, and practice. Using andapplying skills is the best form of practice. In anappropriate instructional sequence, simplevariants of the skill are introduced at early levels,with more sophisticated applications in the uppergrades. The sequence in which skills areintroduced, developed, and reinforced should bedetermined by conditions unique to particularschool populations and, therefore, must bedeveloped at the local level.

This 12-part television series focuses not on the"what" but on the "how" of teaching, thus thetitle Geography Skills. Developmental researchsuggests that as children's capabilities develop,particular types of learning activities are mostsuitable.

The series is aimed at the intermediate grade-levelstudent (grades 7-10) who is beginning to be ableto do "What if..., then..." thinking, making thisa good time to give students practice inhypothesizing about cause and effectrelationships, and in considering likelyconsequences of alternatives in problemsituations.

Because the learning of concepts, skills, andvalues is cumulative, ideas in each ten-minuteprogram are initially introduced as concrete andsimple; they are then reinforced and applied,extending and illuminating the concepts in moredepth. This guide enhances the television seriesby describing the content of each program,further exploring the concepts introduced in theseries, and suggesting learning activities for thestudents. At the end of each chapter is a studentactivity sheet that may be photocopied forstudents to use.

Geography SkillsTo have a skill means that one is able to dosomething proficiently in repeated performances.Such things are done automatically, almostwithout thinking. Reading, knowing how to finda book in the library, participating in a groupdiscussion, and finding a place on a map areexamples of a few skills important to geography.

The ProgramsThe writers have searched the literature and haveselected those skills that are a majorresponsibility of the geography teacher. The 12programs in the series are:

1. Map Symbols 7. Contours2. Map Grids 8. Them Maps3. Latitude 9. Sampling

4. Longitude 10. Gathering Data

5. Distance 11. Graphing

6. Direction 12. Problem Solving

This list should be supplemented with thoseskills that are shared with teachers of otherdisciplines, often identified as thinking, inquiry,and communication skills.

Teachers may choose to use one, some, or all ofthe programs within their own geographycurriculum. A program may be used as aspringboard for students to acquire newknowledge/skills that are going to be furtherdeveloped and practised in the classroom setting.Conversely, a teacher may wish to use theactivities to reinforce the instruction within a unitthat is currently being studied in class.

Teachers are encouraged to make effective use ofthe link between the objectives, the strategies,and the student activities. This is vital so thatteachers and students alike recognize the "what,"the "how," and the "why" of a classroomactivity.

2

The ProgramTo make things easier to understand and todescribe, we often use symbols, or signs, torepresent them. These symbols are just simpleversions of the real things; they are an easymethod of showing a lot of information in a smallspace, e.g. railway,

Many symbols today are used internationally andtheir meanings are widely known. For instance:

The location of one symbol in relation toanother is vital, whether travelling or surveyingboundary lines. It is no wonder, then, that thelocation of symbols is the foundation ofmapmaking.

Actual distances to be represented on a map canbe measured on the ground by surveying or bycarefully using air and satellite photographs. Theskill of mapmaking is to transfer thesemeasurements onto paper using symbols thatclearly tell a story.

Often, we draw a key, or legend, on a map todescribe map symbols. Conventional symbols,used by everyone, are particularly useful in ourcrowded world. They also help to create aninternational map language.

When we are working with a great deal ofinformation on a map, we might show a wholeregion of landmarks (i.e., oil wells) with a singlesymbol. Color can also be used to symbolize awide range of information, like a lake (blue) orthe height of land (various colors). We may evenwish to alter the size of the symbols, using largersigns to represent more landmarks.

Before ViewingStudents might study a road map or townshipmap. Have them list five to seven differentfeatures found on the map. Introduce theseconcepts:

• Maps usually have titles. What is the title onthis map? What information about the map doesthe title give you?

• Colors are used on maps. What color is used torepresent a highway? What other colors might beused to represent roadways? What objects are thesame color as the real things that they stand for?

• Many types of symbols are used on maps.They may take the form of lines or shapes suchas circles, triangles, and so on. Diagrams,letters, numbers, and even colors can be used assymbols. How many types of symbols can youfmd on the map?• Symbols used on maps are often groupedtogether somewhere on the map. This section ofa map is called the legend. Like a key, it is usedto help you unlock the meaning of the symbols.

swamp.

3

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Conventional symbols- geographers' language ofsymbols when making maps

• Key or legend - location ona map where symbols aregrouped together and labelled• Representation - methodwhereby a symbol is used on amap rather than a label(s).

Students should be able torecognize conventional signson a road map and/or township

TeacherStrategies

1. Have students examinevarious maps and begin torecord symbols used on them.2. (a) How can you tell whichsymbols are roadways andwhich are rivers?(b) How are boundary linesdifferent from roadways?(c) How many different typesof roadways can you find?How is each type marked?Which symbol is used torepresent most roadways?(d) Do the symbols used forroads show all the details thatyou would see if youexamined a real road? Why orwhy not?

StudentActivities

1. Look at the maps of anythree countries in the world.How are capital cities shown tobe different from other cities?

2. Find the maps of any threecontinents that show the heightof the land. What colors aremost commonly used?3. Locate several cities, towns,and villages on the road map.List all the symbols that youcan find that were used torepresent municipalities. Whichshape is most like the realshape of the actual city or townit stands for? How can you telllarge cities from smaller ones?Name other shapes found onthe map and what theyrepresent.

Students should be able tointerpret the use and meaningof various colors on a map.

Using a world map, askstudents:1. What objects are usually thesame color even though theyappear on different maps?

2. What things on the samemap are the same color?3. What color combinationsshow up best when placed sideby side on a map?4. What colors are usually usedfor the words that are placed onmaps? Can you suggest areason for this?5. Which parts of maps oftenappear in very pale colors?Why? Where are the darker,more solid colors used? Howcan one color be used to showseveral sets of information onthe same map?

Sketch a simple map of theclassroom on graph paper. (Seeexample below.) Plot all thedesks, using boxes. Nowsurvey the class to determineeye color. Plot each student'seye color on your map. Be sureto include a legend to describewhat each color means on yourmap.

4

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Students should be able tocompare a photograph of anarea (i.e., classroom,playground) with a map of thearea, and note the mapsymbols.

Working in pairs, havestudents take a snapshot of theclassroom, the playground, ortheir street. Then ask them todraw a simple sketch map ofthe same area.

Take a photograph of yourkitchen. Now draw a simplesketch map of the kitchen. Notethe map symbols and comparethese with what the snapshotshows.

Students should be able todraw a simple sketch map ofthe classroom/playground,using symbols and color toshow what is there.

Give out a blank map of theclassroom, playground, or partof the local community. Havestudents take a walk in the areaand mark symbols on the mapto show what is there.

Using graph paper, draw asimple sketch map of the blockin which your house is located.Walk through the area,observing various landmarks- road signs, driveways,fences, garages, pools, firehydrants, etc. Use symbols toshow where each object islocated.

Students should be able tocreate an imaginary map andinvent symbo

Use the following situation tomotivate the class: "You havebeen chosen to go to an islandsomewhere in the Pacific Oceanand develop it for theinhabitants. Decide what willbe built, and where it will belocated. Use symbols and colorto describe your plans."

For many objects there are nouniversally recognizedsymbols. Make a map of animaginary island, creating yourown symbols for such thingsas restaurants, theatres, parkinglots, etc.

5

Some common Canadian mapsymbols are shown below.

(Black unless otherwise stated)

Campsite; picnic site

Built-up area Red 1

House; barn;large building

Powertransmission line

Cemetery; historic site;historic battlefield

Tower, chimney, similar objects O

Pipeline: above ground,underground

Dyke; fence Telephone lineCutting;

embankment

County or districtboundary

Section line

Bench mark with elevation

Flooded land, seasonallyinundated land

Marsh or swamp

Railway,single track

Lake intermittent, Blueslough

Contours

Depression contours

Wooded areaGreen

Railway station; stop;turntable

Bridge; footbridge

Bridge: swing, draw, lift

Tunnel

Road, hard surface, allweather, more thantwo lanes

Road, loose or stabilizedsurface, all weather,less than two lanes

Road, loose surface, dryweather orunclassified streets

Cart track or winter road

Red

orange

orange

Sports trackRetaining wall:

large, small

Mine

Gravel or sand pit;quarry

Church; school

Post office; telegraphoffice

Elevator; greenhouse

6

My StreetMaterials

• tally sheet• pencil and paper• clipboard

Procedure1. Record on this sheet the totals for your street. These numbers now give a

complete picture of the whole study area.

TALLY SHEET

No. of homes surveyed

No. of homes that had:

Gardens:

2. Do a simple sketch map of the street. Shade in all homes that had gardens.

3. Use a different color to shade in all buildings that are garages.

4. Use another color to shade homes with porches. Use various letter symbols toindicate where a porch use was evident.

5. Put a dot (•) behind any home that had a swimming pool.

7

Driveways: Single

Garages:

Swimming pools:

Double

Porches: Uses: 1. 2.3. 4.

Play spaces:

Fences:

Road signs: 1. 2.3. 4.

Sidewalks:

Streetlights:

The ProgramAs long as we can identify our surroundings wehave an address. Picture symbols can help usfind our location on a map. Name addresseswork well, too. But as maps cover larger andlarger sections of the landscape, we neednumbers to help us to quickly locate places.

Mapmakers have devised a simple, organized,scientific system of locating; it is created from apattern of equal-sized squares. If we take thispattern and place it over a map area, it forms whatis known as a grid. This is much like achessboard

On a town or city map, a grid system is oftenused to divide the map into squares. We canlocate a street by looking to see where the tworows of squares intersect. For example, if wecheck the index of the p and see that BondStreet is located at C4, we can identify its locationusing this grid address. We find where the rowof " " squares and the row of "4" squaresintersect, and then search for the street within thatsquare.

We have the French philosopher andmathematician Rene Descartes to thank foranother type of grid system. This allows us to beeven more specific and y actually pinpoint alocation with out searching. If we take a row ofhouses along the bottom of a map, each with astreet number, and then take a row of houses on astreet 90° to the first, we can find any address.

For example, to find 131351, we merely countacross to 131 and then up to 351. Where theyintersect is our address -131351.

Before Viewing.It is important for students to realize theimportance of having some kind of locationsystem. Some ways to do this are:

1. Ask students how they would tell the coastguard where they were if the boat they were inhad broken down.

2. Have students make a map of their classroomand ask them how they are going to correctlylocate the positions of desks, chairs, etc. (Theymay use floor or ceiling tiles as guides or mayplace a grid system on the floor using chalk ortape lines.).

Emphasize to students that if they wish to getfrom point A to point B, it is not enough toknow the direction; one has to know where pointA and point B are located. Just as crosswordpuzzles cannot be done without numbers acrossand down, there must be reference points on amap. It is with these kinds of grids that onebegins location skills.

8

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Grid - a series of linesdividing a map into squares;each line has a number

TeacherStrategies

Use the floor tiles to create agiant grid system Determinepoints of reference, then havestudents walk along, and thenup, to the points.

StudentActivities

Using the floor tiles as a gridsystem, find points of referenceassigned by your teacher.

• Reference points- coordinates; addresses ornumbers for a set of lines

Students should be able to plota point on a grid using a letterand a number.

A

B

c

D

E

1 2 3 4 5

Students should be able to reada map index to locate the gridreference for a landmark.

Orally, ask students to find themap index, and then read thegrid reference for variouspoints of interest on a localtownship or city road map.

What is the grid reference for:the local hospital? the postoffice? office? the hockey arena? city

Students should be able to usea four- or six-figure referencesystem to pinpoint a location(i.e., a post office at 130162).

1. Hand out a grid map andhave students use both four-and six- figure references toplot locations.

2. Have students add threelocations of their own andexchange with a friend tocomplete.

2. Give the six-figurereferences for the centredpoints A to F.

1. Give the four-figurereferences for the shaded areason the grid shown above.

9

Objectives

Students should be able toconstruct their own grid systemto observe, gather, and recorddata.

TeacherStrategies

Have students work in smallgroups to record data about theschool grounds. They mustfirst construct a grid frame.

Give each student two datasheets that are divided into thesame number of squares asthere are in the grid frame.Have them number thesquares. They may use onesheet as a rough map in thefield to gather and record thedata. The second grid map istheir good copy which shoulddisplay symbols accurately andneatly and use color.

StudentActivities

Construct a grid frame with:• 4 pieces of wood (60 cm x5cmx2cm)• 6 m of string• 12 common nails, 3 cm long• white glue• hammer• a drill with a 7 mm bit

Choose an area of lawn; placethe frame over it. On paper, usesymbols and color to plot theaccurate location of ant hills,stones, plants, etc., that arefound in each square. Make alegend.

Students should be able todesign a simple game thatdemonstrates the principle of agrid system.

Encourage students toexperiment with graph paper(one centimetre squares) tocreate their own games orpuzzles that apply the principlesof grid. Have them develop aset of rules and teach anothergroup of students how to playtheir game.

Play the game "Battleship" inpairs. The idea of the game isto pinpoint an enemy's ship(i.e., D5) by guessing where itis. If correct, the opposingplayer loses the ship.

10

Materials• cardboard box (approximately 50 cm x 35 cm)• string• knife• plastic garbage bag• soil• artifacts

Procedure1. Line the bottom of the box with the plastic garbage bag.

2. Fill the box (1/2 to 3/4 full) with soil. Be sure the soil isn't too sandy.

3. Carefully measure off reference points along all four sides of the box. Makesmall slits with a knife to indicate the points.

4. Construct a "grid" across the top of your box. Cut the string into appropriatelengths and insert into the slits. (Tie both ends of the string into knots to prevent themfrom falling out.)

5. Attach labels to the top of the box to indicate the reference points.

6. On your own, research a culture of your choice. Create some of the culture'sartifacts out of simple, cheap materials, and bury them in different locations in the box(e.g., for Egyptians you could use small pieces of old paper to represent papyrus).

7. At the same time, on a grid map on paper, plot the burial locations usingsymbols and color. Include a legend. This is your written record of where the items areburied.

8. Add some water daily to the dig site for five to seven days.

9. Bring your project into class. Exchange it with another student. Have a "digday" where you excavate each other's mystery culture.

The ProgramTo get from "here to there" in our world, weneed a kind of super street system - a grid,painted on our earth, to help us locate ourselves.Such a system was developed more than 2500years ago in ancient Greece, where they believedthat the earth was a sphere that could be dividedinto separate regions based on climate. They usedthe sun as a giant pointer to draw imaginary gridlines on the earth's surface.

Ancient navigators in the Northern Hemispherecould sail directly east or west by keeping Polaris(the North Star) at a constant elevation. If the starwas seen higher in the sky, they knew that theywere sailing to a higher, or more northerly,latitude. Conversely, if the star was seen lower inthe sky, they knew that they were sailing south,to lower latitudes. So by using a grid of lines oflatitudes on maps, early explorers could tell howclose or far they were from that hot spot, theequator.

The Greeks calculated that the sun rises due eastand sets due west on only two days of the year.On these days it traces imaginary line that cutsthe sphere into two equal halves, or hemispheres.These equal halves are divided by the imaginaryline known as the equator.

On the longest day of the year in the NorthernHemisphere, the sun traces a line directlyoverhead on another circle, parallel to theequator. This is called the Tropic of Cancer. Onthe same day, another circle, the Arctic Circle,has a zone with sunshine at midnight. TheGreeks also proposed a winter tropic, or Tropicof Capricorn, on the longest day of the year inthe Southern Hemisphere, and an AntarcticCircle.

Lines like these, parallel to the equator, came tobe known as parallels, or lines of latitude. Theselines were meant to divide the world into a gridof climate zones -- frigid, temperate, and tropic.Thus the Greeks began the tradition of measuringnorth or south of the equator to describe thelocation of each line of latitude. On June 21, thesun and the equator form an angle of 23.5°(Tropic of Cancer), a latitude of 23.5° north ofthe equator.

Before ViewingThe conventional method of locating places on amap is to use latitude and longitude. These arecomplex concepts and are usually not introduceduntil the intermediate grades.

Before the concepts of latitude and longitude areintroduced, students must know a few thingsabout the world: first, that the world is spherical;second, that there is a North and South Pole; andthird, that the equator divides the sphere into twohemispheres. It is also important that they havehad the opportunity to work with various gridsystems (see Program 2).

Discuss with students how navigators measuredthe height of a star with an astrolabe. Explainhow the North Star, or Polaris, is the last star inthe "handle" of the Little Dipper. Always visiblein the Canadian sky, it gives us the direction wecall north.

12

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Hemisphere - half the earth• Equator - an imaginary linethat cuts our world into twohemispheres

• Tropic of Cancer, Tropic ofCapricorn - 23.5° circlesrunning east and west of, andparallel to, the equator

TeacherStrategies

Use a globe that comes apart inthe middle or construct a papier-mache model. Give studentsthe opportunity to manipulatethe globe. As a class, label themain parallels of latitude.

StudentActivities

How would you describe theshape of our earth? If we wereto cut it in half, what would wename each half? Whatimaginary line divides the earthin half? Cut out labels and gluethem onto the globelmodel toidentify key latitude lines.

• Arctic Circle, Antarctic Circle- circles running close to theNorth and South Poles,running parallel to the equator;midnight sun on June 21 andDecember 21

• Parallels- imaginary gridlines running in an east andwest direction circling theglobe; called "lines of latitude"

• Climate zones - frigid,temperate, or tropic

• Polaris - North Star; usefulfor navigation.

Students should be able toidentify the main lines oflatitude.

Students should be able todetermine the hemisphere inwhich a continent is located.

North Pole

Equator

South Pole

Ask students to prepare a full-page chart based on the oneshown here. Have them locatethe various continents using awall map.

90°N

0°

90°S

Roughly sketch in thefollowing continents, on yourchart:

(a) North America

(b) South America

(c) Africa

(d) Asia

(e) Australia

1 3

Objectives

Students should be able todemonstrate an understandingof a country's location inrelation to its northerly orsoutherly position (i.e., northof the equator but south of theTropic of Cancer).

TeacherStrategies

Using a chart similar to the onein the previous strategy, askstudents to locate various cities.You may wish to add the twotropics (23.5°N and 23.5°S) tothis second chart.

StudentActivities

Use a political map of theworld found in your atlas tolocate these countries:

(a) Canada (g) Korea

(b) Japan (h) India

(c) France (i) South Africa

(d) Argentina (j) Norway

(e) United States

(f) West Germany

Students should be able toestimate the latitude of variouscities and give the readings indegrees north or south of theequator.

Have students estimate thelatitude of some sample worldcities. Then have themaccurately measure theirlocation in degrees north orsouth of the equator

Estimate and measure thelatitude for the cities on thechart below. Use a ruler on amap or a measuring tape on aglobe.

Students should be able to usea gazetteer to find places wherethe latitude and longitude aregiven.

Any exercise can beconstructed to test the students'ability to use a gazetteer andfind the latitude of a place whenit is given. Make sure thatwhen the students are asked tolocate places using latitude andlongitude that easily recognizedplaces are used.

Using the gazetteer, find thelatitude readings for thefollowing:

(a) London, England

(b) Havanna, Cuba

(c) Lima, Peru

(d) Sydney, Australia

(e) Calgary, Canada

14

Estimate Actual(a) Cairo, Egypt

(b) Toronto, Canada

(c) Miami, U.S.A.

(d) Johannesburg, South Africa

(e) Brisbane, Australia

(f) Paris, France

Objectives

Students should be able togenerate various uses forlatitude lines on a map inrelation to everyday living.

TeacherStrategies

Distribute a blank map like theone shown here and havestudents complete the activities.

StudentActivities

On your blank map indicate:

(a) a town at 10°S

(b) a lake at 0°

(c) a boat at 20°N.

Place:

Now indicate on the map threeother items of your ownchoice. Give your map to apartner and ask him/her to givethe latitudes.

30°N

20°N

10°N

0°

10°S

20°S

Students should be able tojudge the value of Greek andFrench contributions toscience, particularly regardingthe sun's relation to the earth.

Have students research variousGreek and French scientists,mathematicians, philosophers,etc.

Choose a famous Greek orFrench scientist. Research andcompose a one-pagebiography, answering thesequestions:

• When did he live?

• How was he educated?• What questions did he pose?

• Now did he resolve them?

• Why was he important?

15

Principal Lines of Latitude

Fill in the appropriate lines of latitude and their degrees in the spaces indicated.

Principal Climate Zones

Color and label the principal climate zones on the accompanying chart. You may wantto use a legend.

1 6

The ProgramBefore Rend Descartes, a French mathematicianand philosopher, navigators could only locatezones on the earth's surface using lines oflatitude; they were unable to pinpoint an exactlocation. Descartes proposed another set ofgridlines that intersect thelatitude lines at anangle of 90°. Whenbent onto a globe, thelatitude lines remainparallel. The other gridlines, at right angles tothe first set, convergeon each other, meeting at the North and SouthPoles. These converging lines are called lines oflongitude.

If we could look down on the North Pole, wewould see that these longitude lines divide theearth into equal angles. Since they all look alike,it is necessary to fix one as the main or 0° line;this is known as the Prime Meridian, located atGreenwich, England.

Other lines of longitude are identified by theangle they make with the Prime Meridian. Theseare determined in degrees to one side of theMeridian or the other -180° to the east or 180° tothe west, creating an Eastern Hemisphere and aWestern Hemisphere. Together they create a 360°circle.

Since these lines of longitude are imaginary, wemust use the sun to locate ourselves. At any oneinstant, the sun is directly over only one line oflongitude. If the sun is directly over our line oflongitude, it is noon at our location. So if weknow our time and the time on the PrimeMeridian, we can calculate our angle from thePrime Meridian.

Although lines of longitude were helpful tonavigators they only became truly effective in thelate eighteenth century with the development of areliable clock called a chronometer, which is ableto report the time on the Prime Meridian.

17

Before ViewingIt should be emphasized that longitude lines canbe shown as straight or curved, or as circles,de ending on the kind of map. We need to usejudgment to estimate the distance between lines.On maps of small areas, lines appear to be fairlystraight.

To describe the position of a point, latitude isread first, then longitude (46°N, 79°W). Todetermine a position between marked points, it isunwise to casually use a ruler to estimate degreesof latitude and longitude. Even though lines areequidistant on the earth's surface, on maps theyare often distorted. As lines of longitudeconverge, a degree of longitude near the poles(A) appears shorter than a degree of longitude atthe equator (B).

1 8

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

- Sphere -- shape of the earth

- Meridians - lines oflongitude that converge at thepoles; longitude is alwaysmeasured east or west of thePrime Meridian

- Local sun time - when thesun is highest in the sky

- Prime Meridian (0 degrees) - wherethe longitude scale begins(Greenwich, England).

Students should be able toobserve and explain converginglines.

TeacherStrategies

Bring a pumpkin to class.

1. Point out how the lines onthe pumpkin converge on thetop and bottom and are notparallel.

2. Use cut-out labels to numberthe lines on the pumpkin.Allow students to see that thelines are really circles.

3. Compare the pumpkin'slines with the lines on theglobe.

4. Suggest that a "startingpoint" is needed - 0° (PrimeMeridian).

StudentActivities

1. Observe the lines on thepumpkin.

(a) Where do they seem tomeet?

(b) Where are they the farthestapart? Use numbers to label thelines.

2. Examine the lines on theglobe.

(a) Where do they seem tomeet, or converge?

(b) Can you locate where theselines seem to begin?

3. How many degrees are therein a circle?

Students should be able to usea gazetteer to locate thelongitude of a place in theworld.

Have students use the gazetteerto find the longitude of variousplaces. Be sure to use placenames that are easilyrecognizable.

Using the gazetteer, find thelongitude readings for thefollowing:

(a) London, England

(b) Havana, Cuba

(c) Lima, Peru

(d) Sydney, Australia

(e) Calgary, Canada.

Students should be able toprovide examples where thereis evidence that there aredifferent time zones on theearth.

Explain to students thatToronto, Canada, has aIonngitude of79° . It iswest Iongitudebecause localnoon time inToronto is laterthan it is inGreenwich.

What time is it in Toronto,Canada, when it is local noonin Greenwich, England?

GreenwichSun Timewhen it isnoon inToronto

19

Objectives

Students should be able todemonstrate an understandingof a country's location inrelation to its easterly orwesterly position (i.e., east ofthe Prime Meridian).

TeacherStrategies

Prepare a chart of thehemispheres like the oneshown here.

StudentActivities

Using a political map of theworld identify the hemispheresfor the following countries:

(a) Kenya

(b) Bolivia

(c) Mexico

(d) New Zealand

(e) The United States

(f) The Netherlands

(g) Poland

(h) Algeria

(i) Canada

(j) Liberia

90°N

0°

90°S

Students should be able toexplain the existence orabsence of patterns whencomparing cities or to thatlie on the same line of latitudeor longitude.

Have students locate a city inNorth America. Then ask themto trace their finger along thecity's line of latitude to find andidentify places. Have them dothe same for the longitudereading. Encourage them tolook for any patterns.

Locate a variety of places usinglatitude and longitude. If twoplaces are on the same latitude,will their climates be the same?Are there climatic differences ifplaces are on the same line oflongitude? Explain youranswers.

Students should be able todevise a hypothetical situationwhere knowledge of latitudeand longitude may mean life ordeath.

Have a student pretend that hisor her small aircraft has beenforced to crash land in thewilderness. Have the studentcall out the latitude andlongitude, and see whichstudent can locate the landingsite first.

You are on vacation when yourplane is forced to crash land.Choose a spot in the worldwhere your imaginary planehas landed and measure itslatitude and longitude in anatlas. Share this informationwith your classmates to see ifthey can locate your plane.

20

Procedure for Locating a PlaceWhen Given the Latitude and

Longitude

21

The ProgramMeasuring distance is important because distancerequires energy. We need to know,for example, if a motorcyclistcan ride to the next city30 km away on alitre of gas. Whatis the distancebetween thesetwo places?

The easiest way to measure distance is to use amap. On a road map we can often find a table likethe one shown below. If we find our location onone side of the table (Ottawa) and our destinationon the other side (Montreal) and then follow theirrespective columns of distances to where theyintersect, we have the distance between the twoplaces (190 km).

Another method of measurement is to use thescale found on many maps. This is usuallywritten in this form

MAP 1:5 LANDSCAPEThis means that five centimetres on the landscapehave been reduced to one centimetre on the map.However, this is a simplified scale. A more likelyscale would be 1:25 000. We can now determinethe distance between two points by measuringwith a ruler or the edge of a piece of paper.

Before ViewingScale is a difficult concept. Older students canpractise scale by conducting the followingactivities:

• Finding the distances between their ownlocations to places mentioned in current affairs;

• Making maps of these same areas, usingdifferent scales (1 cm represents 1 m) (1 cmrepresents 1 km);

• Comparing maps that use different scales;

• Working out the shortest route between twoplaces.

Road maps may also have numbers that representthe number of kilometres between towns androad junctions. To measure the distance betweentwo locations, we first select a route. Then wenote the distances between the landmarks and addthem up to fmd the total (26 km).

22

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Map - a flat model of thelandscape

• Scale - the relation betweenthe actual size of something andits size on a map, a plan, or adrawing.

Have students make maps ofvarious routes to school.Encourage them to use neat,clear symbols and color.Suggest that they use a scale of1:10 000 where 1 cmrepresents 100 m or 0.1 km.

On graph paper (one centimetresquares) map the route that youusually take to school. How faris it? How do you know? Howlong does it take you to walk?To travel by car or bus? Usesymbols to represent keylandmarks.

Students should be able todraw a sketch map of theirroute to and from school.

Students should be able tocomprehend that differentplaces are different distancesfrom where they live.

Have students name locationswhere they go to shop. Askthem to identify the distances inany terms they can (i.e., 10subway stops, half an hour,seven blocks, 12 km, etc.).Accept responses in terms oftime or distance.

List the places you shop interms of kilometres or minutesaway from home. List wherefamily and friends live. Markall of these locations on a mapand determine which is thefarthest away.

23

Objectives

Students should be able tosketch a simple map of a floorplan, using a scale and alegend.

TeacherStrategies.

Ask students to draw a floorplan of a room. On a largesheet (54 x 84 cm) havestudents plot the main features.Suggest a scale where 1 cmrepresents 25 cm. Include alegend.

StudentActivities

Sketch a simple map of thefloor plan. Use a scale where1 cm represents 25 cm. Includea legend.

Students should be able to readand interpret distance tables ona road map.

Have students workindividually or in pairs with aroad map. Ask them to usetheir fingers to trace thedistance between two locationsas found in the distance table.

On a map, locate your city orthe city closest to where youlive. Find the distances inkilometres between your townand five other major centres onthe map.

Students should be able toselect and support their view ofthe best route to take betweentwo locations.

Have students plan a trip fromtheir own location toVancouver. Ask them to decidewhich route to take based on anumber of alternatives andcriteria. Use a matrix similar tothe one shown here.

You are going to the World'sFair in Vancouver in July1986. Using a map of Canada,plot what you believe to be thebest route to take on yourjourney. Use a matrix to helpyou to make a good decision.

24

Criteria Route A Route B Route C

Distance

Type of Road

I nterest

Time

Cost of Gas

1. How many kilometres is it from:(a) Karentor to the Country Church?(b) Mickenbridge to Rossbury by road?

2. What is the shortest route between Helenwood and Rossbury?

3. Use a ruler or the edge of a piece of paper to measure thedirect, or straight line, distance between Glendan and Northcross.

4. Give the direct distance between Helenwood and Stephenvilleto the nearest kilometre.

25

The ProgramTo travel from one point to another we use amodel of the landscape -- a map. Using a map,we can get anywhere, but we need a distance anda direction.

Modem travellers canlose their direction evenif they follow roads.Because there are somany ways to get fromone point to the next mostpeople carry a road map.

Map reading meansbeing able to answerthe question "How dowe get from here tothere?" For instance, howdo we get from the centre of town to thecountry? The straightest route may not bepossible. To use a map for directions, it isessential to orient the map to the landscape. Howdo we do this? We use landmarks on thelandscape (i.e., road intersections); then we turnthe map to line up with the landscape.

Most maps have a pointer indicating north. Infact, most maps are drawn with north being thetop of the map. The most familiar device used tofind direction on the landscape is the compass.Its needle points to the North Magnetic Pole, notto True North (the North Pole).

The earth's magnetic forces create magneticpoles. Magnetic North is located at approximately15°N, 100°W and it moves slightly from year toyear. All compass needles in the NorthernHemisphere point to it. Magnetic declinationrefers to the angle made between True North andMagnetic North, usually no more than 15 ° .

Some people enjoy the sport of orienteering. Thisinvolves using a compass and a protractor to findexact locations.

Before ViewingBe sure that students understand the differencebetween absolute location and relative location. Ifthe home base is stationary and the location weare heading for is stationary, then we can followdirections accurately.

Students should have the opportunity to practiseorienting themselves using simple directions,such as front, back, left, right, over, under, up,and down

To understand relative location, have studentsobserve a slow-moving object (i.e., an ant) andmap the moves it makes.

26

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Cardinal points -north,south, east, west

• Bearings - directions usingdegrees (0° to 360°)

e Compass rose -- containscardinal points and degrees(360°)

Magnetic North - a pole thatattracts all compass needles(Northern Hemisphere)

e Magnetic declination - anglemade between True North andMagnetic North.

TeacherStrategies

Introduce direction by using a"me" diagram. Have studentsdraw objects that are closest tothem in each direction. Thisactivity can be done at schoolor at home.

StudentActivities

Use a flow diagram titled "me."Draw objects that are closest toyou in each direction.

Projectorstand desk

Blackboard John's

Tina'sdesk Window

Listening Marie's PaintCentre desk easel

Students should be able toidentify and describe directionsusing simple terminology.

Students should be able tocreate a map route by designingwritten questions and sketch asimple map by followingwritten directions.

Working in pairs have studentsplan a route from the school toa nearby location. Have themprepare the instructions on twoseparate file cards. Card #1should contain the writteninstructions; Card #2 shouldcontain a map of the route.Have each group exchangeCard #1 with another group.Ask them to map out theinstructions. They should thencompare their card with theoriginal map of the route.

With a partner and using a filecard, design a route on theplayground. For example:

1. Go three paces north.STOP.

2. Go two paces east. STOP.

3. Go five paces northeast.STOP.

On a second card map the routeyou have described. Exchangeyour first card with anothergroup, then map the mysteryroute.

27

Objectives TeacherStrategies'

StudentActivities

Students should be able to readand follow written directions,using cardinal points.

Give students a map with anumber of locations marked onit to which they have to go.You might use the playgroundas the orientation course. Forexample:

Use the map to complete thesetasks:

1. Starting at A, walk north for80 m. Pick up a stone.

2. Walk west for 70 m. What islocated there?

3. In what direction would youwalk to arrive at the corner ofthe school?

4. Walk south along the side ofthe school for 60 m. What islocated there?

Students should be able to learncardinal directions by exploringthe area in which they live.

Give each student a map oftheir neighborhood showingsignificant landmarks andbusinesses in the community(see example). Reproduce themap on a transparency or wallchart.

On a map of yourneighborhood, locate your ownhouse. Mark it on the map.Locate the houses of friendsand family.

28

Objectives

Students should be able toconvert directions to bearings,using degrees.

360°0°

TeacherStrategies

Give each student a compassrose similar to the one shownhere and ask him or her toanswer the questions in theaccompanying student activity.

90°

StudentActivities

Using a compass rose, answerthe following questions:

1. What is the bearing of thefollowing directions?

(a) south

(b) west

(c) northwest

2. What is the direction of thefollowing bearings?

(a) 360° or 0°

(b) 225°

(c) 135-

I Think of a compass rose as aclock with north at 12:00. Whatwould be the direction andbearing of the hour hand at

(a) 3:00?

(b) 6:00?

(c) 9:00?

Students should be able to usea protractor to calculate thebearing of one location inrelation to another.

Have students use a map oftheir region to calculatebearings. They will need touse a protractor.

Using a protractor, calculate thebearings of five places in yourregion from your owncommunity.

180°

29

How can angles in your schoolyard be measured?A transit is the instrument used by surveyors to measure angles. To make a simpletransit, you will need the following:

Materials

• a piece of plywood (50 cm x 50 cm x 2 cm) for the base• a 360° protractor traced from a pattern (Use two large blackboard protractors

for the pattern.)• a piece of wood (40 cm x 2 cm x 2 cm)• four nails (3 cm long)• a metal washer• white glue• a hammer

Procedure

TOP VIEW

SIDE VIEW

30

The Program Before ViewingThis program introduces the most commonmethod of representing the slope of a landsurface-contours. Often maps show objectsonly in two dimensions. For example, to locate acity on a map we measure two distances; theseusually correspond to over and across. But tomake contour maps, three dimensions-over,across, and up and down-are measured.

Have students discuss their concepts of a mapbefore introducing contours. Emphasize that wegenerally look at maps as if everything were onflat land when this is in fact not the case. Mapsthat show elevation are called topographic maps.

Contour lines are used to represent height on amap. Generally brown in color, these linesconnect points on a map that are at the sameelevation above sea level.

31

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

- Contour lines - lines on amap that join places with thes° elevation

- Contour interval - thethickness in vertical distancebetween contours

- Cross-section - a techniqueto show the steepness of aslope

TeacherStrategies'

1. Introduce the use of differentcolors to show height (forexample, green for lowlands,white for mountain tops).2. Have students use the colorkey in an atlas to locate variouselevations.

3. Have students join spotheights with the same elevationabove sea level. Emphasize theuse of metres as the unit ofmeasurement.

StudentActivities

1. Working in small groups,use an atlas or wall map tolocate areas in the world wherethere are (a) mountains and (b)flat lands.2. On a copy of the diagramshown here, draw in the100 m, 200 m, and 300 mcontours.

- Elevation - the height ofland above sea level (measuredin metres).

Other concepts to be developedinclude horizontal and verticalscale, bench mark, and verticalexaggeration.

Students should be able tointerpret different colors usedto show height.

32

Objectives

Objectives

Students should be able todraw a contour map, joininglines of equal elevation.

TeacherStrategies

Have students complete theaccompanying activity using arock and a pail to show contourlines and intervals, then ask thefollowing questions:

1. What depth of water wasadded each time another linewas drawn?

2. At which height on the rulerdid the longest contour lineoccur? The shortest?

3. Where were the contourlines closest together? Farthestapart?

4. Which side of the rock hadthe gentle slope? The steepslope?

StudentActivities

Conduct this activity in groups.Use a large rock and a plasticpail. Hold a 30 cm ruler againstthe rock in a vertical manner.Add water in the pail until itreaches the three centimetremark on the ruler. Using apiece of chalk, mark X'saround the rock to indicate thethree centimetre mark. Do thesame as more water is added, atsix centimetres, ninecentimetres, 12 centimetres,etc., until the water level coversthe rock. Remove the rock.Allow it to dry. Join the pointsof equal elevation (contours) onthe surface of the rock.

Students should be able to usethe color key to locate variouselevations.

Have students complete theaccompanying activity, thenask the following questions:

1. Where would the cone'shalfway line appear on thepiece of paper?

2. How can we indicate the topof the cone on the piece ofpaper?

Construct a cone out of sturdypaper. Place it on a piece ofpaper and trace its base.Measure halfway up the coneand draw a line around it.Color in the areas between thebase line and the halfway mark;choose a different color and dothe same for the area betweenthe halfway mark and the peak.Make a legend.

Students should be able to labelcontour; and intervals.

Have students slice potatoes todemonstrate the concepts ofcontour lines, intervals, andsteepness of a slope.

Slice a potato in half verticallyand observe the "contourlines." Slice another potatohorizontally and observe adifferent view.

sliced potato

33

unsliced potato

Objectives TeacherStrategies'

StudentActivities

Students should be able to Have students read and identifyrecognize steepness of a slope land features on a topographicalfrom a contour map. map of your area.

Examine a topographical mapof your area and discuss thefollowing questions:

1. Does the map containcontour lines?

2. How is the elevation shown?

3. Where are the highest andlowest points on the map?

4. What is the interval betweenthe contour lines?

5. How can you tell whichparts are mountains? Valleys?6. Where is the steepest slope?

34

Examine the following diagram, which shows three possible routes from A to B.

1. What difficulties would you find in walking from A to B following: Route 1 ?Route 2? Route 3?

2. Which route would you take? Why?

3. Construct a model of one of the hills.

Materials

• cardboard box or styrofoam

• knife

• glue

Procedure

1. Trace one of the hills (contours) onto a piece of paper.

2. Select a large piece of cardboard or styrofoam for your base.

3. Starting with the contour line nearest to the edge of your paper, cut apiece of cardboard in the shape of the contour line. Use glue to fix this shape tothe base.

4. Cut out the shape made by the next contour line and glue this intoposition in your drawing.

35

M;W a \( v P .. .

The ProgramTo help make geographic patterns clear and tounderstand the relationship between thesepatterns, we use theme maps. Theme maps areoften helpful in comp ' g certain types ofinformation. For example, is there a relationshipbetween Canada's current population density andthe glaciers of the ice ages?

Imagine we have to count the number of hockeypucks in an area five kilometres by fivekilometres, or 25/km2. Because some sectionswill have more pucks than others, it is helpful tosuperimpose a grid of one kilometre squares. Inthis way we can express the density of the pucks.

To make these numbers easier to read we can putthem into categories, using a title for each.

Choosing a different pattern to represent eachcategory of numbers we can replace the numberson the map with a shade for that category. To dothis we will need a legend similar to the oneshown above.

Now we have a shaded-area map that shows at aglance the relation between areas and quantities.We have traded accuracy for convenience.

A similar principle can be applied to a map of alarger area. We can choose a single category anduse one large puck to represent it. Suppose wechoose an area with a density of 20 pucks/km2.If we join all the points of similar densities with asmooth line we create an isoline; the word comesfrom the ancient word for equal - a line of equalcharacteristics. Next we repeat the process for anarea of, say, 100 pucks/km2 , and so on, until wehave created an isoline map.

36

We can use a simple example using hockey pucksto demonstrate the concept of theme maps.

We can improve an isoline map by shading eachregion a different color, thus creating a color areamap. Dark colors and patterns suggest a greaterdensity, while lighter shades suggest less.

Before ViewingUsing geography skills, we can take any singlereal-life theme - like hockey pucks - and buildseveral models to represent it. Each different mapof a theme has its strengths and weaknesses.Before viewing the program have studentsexamine the theme maps in their atlases and, ifpossible, compare these with the same thememaps found in other atlases.

37

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Concepts to be developed inthis program are-

- Density -- the number ofitems found in a squarekilometre• Isoline -- a line of equalcharacteristics.

Using an atlas have studentslocate the following thememaps:

1. world population density

2. world climate patterns

3. world life expectancy.

Using your school atlas discussthe following questions:

1. What areas of the world arethe most densely populated?The least densely populated?

2. How would you describe theworld temperature pattern?

Students should be able to listvarious examples of thememaps.

3. What areas of the worldhave the greatest lifeexpectancy? The lowest lifeexpectancy?

Students should be able togather, categorize, rank, andgraph data collected in theirlocality.

Have students count thebuildings on their own block,categorize them by type, andassign each type a rank order.

Have them prepare a class bargraph; each student should plothis or her data on a large sheetof chart paper. They shouldcomplete the project by makinga cored grid of the class data.

Count the number of buildingson your block. Categorize themby type:

• Single dwelling

• Duplex• Apartment

• Commercial (Store)

• Other.

Rank order your data and plotyour findings on a class bargraph.

2 cm2 =1 block

16 14 15 5 27

21 27 7 31 3

34 37 28 21 29

41 44 30 11 24

29 35 17 30 43

Objectives

Students should be able toidentify and describe patternsof distribution on a map.

TeacherStrategies

The following words are oftenused to describe patterns:

• concentration

• clustering

• nucleation

• high density

• linear.

StudentActivities

1. Make a list of all the wordsand phrases that might be usedto describe distributionpatterns.

2. Describe the pattern on themaps shown here.

Put this list on the chalkboardand ask students to think ofother words that might beused. They can refer to theiratlases for clues.

Students should be able to plot 1. Using a chart of schooldata on a map, using dots and populations in your area, havecolor to show density and students categorize eachdistribution patterns. school.

Using a blank map of yourarea, plot the populations of theschools in your district usingthe scale provided by yourteacher. Use a color legend toindicate the type of school(Junior, Senior Elementary,Secondary).

2. Have students use a colorlegend to identify the type ofschool:

Red - Junior (K-6)

Blue - Senior Elementary

Green - Secondary

39

Objectives

Students should be able todraw a simple sketch map of achosen area to show densityand distribution patt

TeacherStrategies

Working in groups, havestudents mark off five metreby five metre sections of theschoolyard, creating a 25 m2area Using pegs and string,have them divide each area into25 individual squares. Askstudents to identify and countthe various items found in eachsquare and plot these on a gridmap of the school, usingsymbols and color. Combinethe data from all groups tolook for a larger pattern.

StudentActivities

In groups, mark off a fivemetre by five metre section ofthe schoolyard. Divide yoursection into 25 equal partsusing pegs and string. Identifyand count the various itemsfound in each square and plotyour findings on a grid map ofthe school, using symbols andcolor. Prepare a legend

40

1. Consider the various reasons some people might move from one place toanother. Record your reasons with a brief explanation for each.

2. Talk to family or friends who have moved. Ask them the following questionsand record the results.

(a) Where have you lived?

(b) Why did you move?

(c) Where would you like to live in the future? Why?

3. Compare the results of your findings with your own responses to question 1.

4. Share your findings in a class discussion.

The ProgramWe can explore the earth without being buried indetail if we are prepared to let one thing stand formany things. If we select one person at randomto represent a larger population, it often producesunpredictable results; thus we often use themiddle as a representative.

If we wanted to find out which player was thebest representative of a football team, we mightrank them by weight. The centre, or median,seems a reasonable way of choosingrepresentative weight. But if the other linesmenwere giants (200 kg) or shrimps (40 kg), themedian would stay the same.

Another way of calculating the middlerepresentative that takes everyone into account isthe mean, or more commonly, the average. Themean is calculated by adding all the individualincomes of, say, tennis players, and thendividing by the number of players. Thus we haveinvented an imaginary middle representative thatreflects all their incomes.

It should be emphasized that neither the mediannor the mean is a foolproof way of finding themiddle. For example, if one tennis player has

earnings of $250 000 this may wildly distort ourcalculation of the mean, in which case it doesn'trepresent any of the players very well.

In many cases, we may want to explore arepresentative quantity rather than an individual.Traditionally we can explore a group by countinghow many of a certain item occur within ageneral group of 100 people; for example, 52females in a group of 100 is 52 percent.

But geographers mustalso use a representativespace. Their favorite isa square, with aconvenient side, suchas one kilometre. Wecan place this squareon any space and explore what is going on insideit. A useful calculation is to simply count items;for example, people in a square kilometre. Thiscalculation is known as density.

To overcome varying densities on a map, we canuse a five kilometre by five kilometre grid andcount the people in all 25 spaces. We can thendivide the total number of people (825) by thetotal number of squares (25) to give us thedensity of a simple representative square (33people/km2).

In the end, no matter which method we use, weusually depend on a random selection of someindividuals, or some hundreds, or some spaces.

Before ViewingIt is essential to determine students' previousexperiences with the skills of calculating median,mean, percent, and density. This program can beused to introduce these skills or to reinforce themthrough the students' participation in theactivities.

42

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:• Median - the centre ormiddle number in a series

• Mean (Average) - thenumber between the smallestand largest values of a set ofnumbers

• Density - quantity ornumber per unit• Percent - out of every 100.

Students should be able tocalculate a median and a meanfor a group of respondents.

TeacherStrategies

Have students select any fiveclassmates at random andinterview them to determine thefollowing:

(a) their weight

(b) their height

(c) the height they can jump

(d) their time to run twometres.Have them calculate the medianand mean for the sample.

StudentActivities

Choose five students from theclass at random. Interviewthem to determine:

(a) their height

(b) their weight

(c) the height they can jump

(d) their time to run twometres.

Now calculate the median andthe mean for the group.

Students should be able to read Obtain sufficient copies of anan airline schedule to identify airline's flight schedule. Askroutes and costs, find the students to choose any 10median, and calculate the mean. routes that the airline flies and

find out the return cost. Thenhave them find the median andcalculate the average.

1. Using a copy of an airlineschedule, choose 10 routes thatthe airline flies.

2. Record the route and findout the cost for each flight.

3. Calculate the median and theaverage cost for a trip on thisairline.

Students should be able tocompute the percentage of maleand female students in a schoolpopulation and produce arepresentative sample.

Obtain a list of the schoolpopulation in your districtgiving the number of males and

males. Have students find thepercentage of females andmales in each school and see ifthey can identify the school thatis the best representativesample.

1. Using statistics provided byyour teacher, determine thepercentage of males andfemales in each school in yourdistrict.

2. Determine the total numberof male and female students inyour district and calculate thepercentage of each.

3. Which school might beselected as a representativesample of your district?

43

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Students should be able tocarry out a random sample tofind the density of an item

Ask students to bring in anewspaper. Have them cut outany story and choose oneparagraph from it.

Select a news story thatinterests you. Choose oneparagraph.

(a) How often does the letter"e" appear in the paragraph?

(b) Find the average density ofthe letter "e" per squarecentimetre.

Students should be able toobserve, record, interpret, andreport the data collected in afield study.

Organize a field study of thearea adjacent to the school.Students should use a tallysheet similar to the one shownhere.

You are to survey any five toten homes selected at random inyour neighborhood. Recordyour observations on the tallysheet provided by your teacher.

ALLY SHEET

No. of homes surveyed

No. of homes that had the following features:

Gardens

Driveways:(a) Single (b) Double

Garages

Total

Total

Play spaces

Fences

Signs: No. of homes with signsCategories:

House for SaleRoom for Rent(write in other signs)

Sidewalks

1. Find the totals for eachcategory.

2. Find the median and theaverage for any threecategories.

3. Choose one category that isthe best representative sample.Be ready to defend yourchoice.

44

Swimming pools:(a) Permanent (b) Mobile

Porch uses:No. of homes with oorchesUses: 2 3 4 5 6 71

SamplingThe following activity is divided into four parts. Work in groups of five to determinewhich current rock group is "Top of the Pops."

Part A

Conduct a survey of 100 students. Ask them the following question: "Whichsinger or group do you think sold the most records last month?" Record the totals andrank order the choices.

Part B

Conduct a survey of 10 record shops. Ask them the following question: "Whichsinger or group sold the most records last month?" Record the totals and rank orderthe choices.

Part C

Prepare a comparison matrix based on the chart shown here.

Part D

Report your group's results graphically and make an oral presentation to theclass. Can you formulate a hypothesis?

45

Characteristics Headings(Criteria)

Opinion Poll Record Sales

1. Totalinterviewed

2. Median

3. Mean

4. Percentage thatselected the topthree

5. Percentagethat selectedthe top two

6. Percentage thatselected the topsinger or group

The ProgramIt is becoming increasingly important to makecareful descriptions of our present landscape andthe events that take place upon it. We need_ thisinformation to answer such questions as where tobuild the next million-dollar road or the new

multimillion-dollar stadium To answer questionslike these, geographers look for patterns-water flow, population change, traffic, and soon. But to determine these patterns, we needdata - detailed information about the worldaround us; and we need as much as we canpossibly gather.

Useful data often comes from problems that nagus. Consider the problem of land use. How dowe use the land in our neighborhood? Why is ourho where it is? Why isn't a service stationthere instead?

There are a number of ways to gather the data weneed if we directly observe an area of the city todetermine the number of cars, people, dogs, oreven elephants, this is called primary research.

ELEPHANTS: NONE

Once we have gathered the data from our primaryresearch it is useful torecord it in a way thathelps us to seepatterns. One effectivemethod is a table.The example hereshows a clear pattern- no elephants anywhere,

helps us to coma tableparethis information. Andonce again, the datashows a clear pattern- no elephants.

Elephants like peanuts;this has been observed in zoos. Could we relateelephants to peanut-growing areas of thecountry? This would require a switch fromprimary research to secondary research.Secondary research is second-hand information- statistics gathered, by others. Geographers relyheavily on secondary research because of theexpense of primary research. Governmentagencies provide us with accurate, up-to-datesecondary research.

But secondary research can involve long hourspouring over figures. So why not examine datathat has already been gathered and summarizedby someone else? Such data is called tertiaryresearch. We might study a book Mammals ofNorth America to locate information aboutelephants. Often tertiary research can help toquickly point us in productive directions forgathering data.

Before ViewingYou might wish to introduce a framework forapproaching a problem A suggested formatmight be:

1. Understand the problem - Formulate aquestion

2. Decide on a method - What kind of datashould be looked for? How should it begathered?

3. Do the work - Gather and record the data.4. Look for patterns - Are there any trends?What are the relationships?

5. Make a statement - State a solution afterevaluating patterns found in the data.

We could make a hypothesis that "fingersnapping" may be scaring the elephants away.We could survey a number of people on the streetto determine how often they snap their fingers.

46

Downtown _0

Suburbs 0Country 0

Elephant Sightings0 Heavy snappers0 Medium snappers0 Light snappers0 No snappers

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Data -- detailed information

• Primary research --information obtained by first-hand observation

• Secondary research --statistics gathered by others;second-hand research

• Tertiary research --datawhich has been gathered andsummarized by someone else.

From books, magazines, andnewspapers, have studentsgather two sets of pictures, oneshowing methods oftransportation in the 1930s andthe other showing the samemethods of transportation asthey are today. Have themdevelop comprehensivestatements comparing the oldand the new.

1. Prepare two posters,"Methods of Transportation inthe 1930s" and "Methods ofTransportation Today." Use avariety of pictures to illustrateyour posters.

2. Write a paragraphsummarizing the changes thathave been made in methods oftransportation since the 1930s.

Students should be able tocreate a display to showsimilarities and differences.

Students should be able toformulate questions andclassify them by category.

1. Show the class twophotographs, one of alandscape, the other of people.

2. Discuss the followingproblem types:

• Descriptive

• Historical

• Relational

• Experimental

• Relevance

• Comparative

• Casual

• Prediction

• Methodological.

Examine the two picturesshown to you by your teacher.Jot down all the questions youcan think of that could be askedabout the pictures. Try toclassify your questionsaccording to the followingproblem types:

• Descriptive

• Historical

• Relational

• Experimental

• Relevance

• Comparative

• Casual

• Prediction

• Methodological.

47

Objectives TeacherStrategies'

StudentActivities

Students should be able togather primary research anddraw meaningful conclusions.

In groups, have students standat an intersection and count thenumber of vehicles that pass byin a given period

You are going to conduct astudy of local traffic. Formulatea question (i.e., "In whichdirection is traffic theheaviest?"). Suggest ahypothesis. Select anintersection and carry out yourstudy. Report your findings ona chart similar to the one shownon this page.

Students should be able to reada table, rank order the items,and identify patterns.

Write to Statistics Canada andask for copies of data onspec items, such as marriageand divorce rates, births, forestfires, etc. Or, if you prefer,take students to the publiclibrary so that they can researchcurrent statistics on specificitems for themselves.

Study the table of WorldDiamond Production on thispage.

1. Rank order the list.

2. Which countries rank in thetop three?

3. Which continent has thegreatest diamond production?

The least diamond production?

WORLD DIAMOND PRODUCTION

48

j

Compare gas prices at local service stations. Follow the steps listed below.1. Understand the problem

Formulate a question:

2.

Decide on a method(a) What kind of data: Primary Secondary Tertiary

(b) How to gather the data:

Interview Observe Company StatisticsNewspaper Stories Other

3. Do the work

(a) Gather the data

(b) Record it

(Sample matrix and key)

4. Look for pattern

What trends do you observe?

5. Make a statement

State a solution or make a generalization about the results of your survey.

49

The ProgramAll scientists - the chemist, the geographer, theeconomist - go everywhere in a cloud ofnumbers. For most of us these clouds can bevery confusing. Enter the geographer, who, withskillful diagrams, keeps us from dragging ourfeet in the numbers.

Consider the numbers below, created by aweather scientist, or meteorologist. Thesenumbers model rainfall from day to day, but it isdifficult to read and understand the information.

But we can remodel the numbers into a picture sothe information catches the eye.

If we line up seven containers, one for each dayof the week, we have a clear picture of a weeklypattern of rainfall. We have created a bar graph.If we remove the containers and create a singlescale to the left, our graph contains as much

information as a table of numbers, but it is muchclearer:

To create our own model to watch the sun, let usdecree that one hour of bright sunshine has anexact height of 10 cm With a ruler, we can nowmark off the number of hours of bright sunlight,thus creating another bar graph that quicklyshows us the bright months and the dull ones.

But as the bars represent separate categories, theysuggest that the sun clicks from one light level toanother, when we know that it changescontinuously. We can suggest the idea ofcontinuous change by connecting the tops of thebars with a line.

In this case the bars themselves are no longernecessary, and we have created a line graph. Aline graph can carry even more accurateinformation if we use more heights, say, one forevery week or every day.We can often use more than one line on the samegraph to help us compare different sets of data.We might want to compare a bar graph, such asprecipitation, with a line graph, such as sunshine

50

Before ViewingStudents should be encouraged to discuss theirinvestigations with one another, using the graphsas a means of communication. Occasionally thegraphs made by one group can be given toanother group without any verbal commentary. Ifthe graph does not communicate effectively byitself, then the two groups could meet to fmd outwhy and to make suggestions for improving it.

Not all geography patterns are so obvious. Animportant geogra by skill is choosing the bestmodel to clearly scribe and compare patterns.There is no right or wrong method when you arebuilding a model, but there is a handy rule ofthumb for choosing the most useful method. Ifthe categories are clearly separate, a bar graph isusually the most appropriate. When there seemsto be a continuous range of categories, a linegraph is a good way of suggesting theinformation; a line graph can even provide roughestimations of unrecorded categories midwaybetween two others.

51

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

- Axis - vertical or horizontalscale on a graph

- Bar graph --a means toshow information with separatecategories

- Line graph - a means toshow information with acontinuous range of categories.

Students should be able toconstruct and interpret a bargraph.

TeacherStrategies

Ask students to construct a bargraph along only one axisusing the population figuresprovided for them.

StudentActivities

Rank order the followinginformation and construct a bargraph.

Population of Metropolitan Areasin Canada, 1981

(to the nearest thousand)

Students should be able toconstruct and interpretpictograms.

Have the class brainstorm a listof things to be surveyed (forexample, favorite televisionshows, most popular ice creamflavor, etc.). Write the list onthe chalkboard and have eachstudent select a topic. Theymust then formulate a questionto answer and gather the databy means of an in-class survey.Have them graph the results.

Choose a topic for a survey.Formulate a question (forexample, "What was yourfavorite television show onFriday night?") and survey themembers of your class. Graphyour results and share themwith the class.

Students should be able to reada table of statistics and showthem on a bar graph.

Encourage students to look forand explain patterns on thegraph. (i.e., I n which seasondoes the most precipitation fall?The least?)

Study the precipitation statisticsfor Darwin, Australia.

Monthly Precipitation forDarwin, Australia

52

St. John's 155 000Montreal 2828000Toronto 2999000Winnipeg 585 000Regina 163 000Edmonton 657 000Vancouver 1 268000

January 386 mm July 0 mmFebruary 312 mm August 2 mmMarch 254 mm September 13 mmApril 97 mm October 51 mmMay 15 mm November 119 mmJune 2 mm December 239 mm

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

On the graph outline providedby your teacher:

(a) Shade the monthly columnsin blue.

(b) Label each axis Months,Precipitation (mm).

(c) Find the annualprecipitation.

J F M A M J J A S O N D

4003753503253002752502252001751501251007550250

Students should be able toconstruct climate graphs (barand line) neatly and accurately,explain the concept of range,and recognize the importance oflabels and color.

Give students a sheet of graphpaper marked off in onecentimetre squares and a copyof the temperature and rainfallvalues for Brisbane, Australia.As students draw the graphs,check to see that they are:

(a) using equal intervalsbetween months (horizontalaxis) and number categories(precipitation)

(b) using proper spacing

(c) labelling each axis

(d) using color

(e) including a title.

On graph paper, plot the valuesof temperature and precipitationfor Brisbane, Australia

(a) Show the temperature linein red. Shade the precipitationbars in blue.

(b) What is the temperaturerange for Brisbane?

(c) Which season is dry? Wet?

(d) Compare the climate inBrisbane with the climate inyour area.

Temperature andPrecipitation for

Brisbane, Australia

J F M A M J J A S O N D

53

°C mmJanuary 25 162February 24 160March 23 145April 21 94May 18 71June 16 66July 14 56August 16 66September 18 48October 21 63November 23 94December 24 127

Objectives F TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Students should be able to Choose a city on anothercompare and contrast the continent, such as Kano,climate of two different Nigeria. Provide students withregions. a table of statistics for the

foreign location and your owntown or city.

1. Have students complete aclimate graph for each.

2. Ask students to use a matrixto compare the two locations.Some possible criteria are listedbelow:

l. Complete a climate graph fora city on another continent andyour own home town.

2. Draw a matrix and suggestvarious criteria by which thetwo sites can be compared.

3. Fill in the information. Lookfor patterns.

4. Give an oral/written report tothe class.

Temperature andPrecipitation for

Kano, Nigeria

54

°C mmJanuary 22 0February 24 0March 23 3April 21 13May 18 64June 16 114July 14 203August 16 313September 18 140October 21. 13November 23 0December 24 0

During the winter many of us like to escape to a warm climate. Nassau in The Bahamasis one popular vacation destination. Complete the, following activities about Nassau.

Part A

Prepare a climate graph for Nassau using the following monthly statistics.

J F M A M J J A S O N DTemperature 22 22 23 24 24 27 28 27 27 27 24 22 °CPrecipitation 61 51 76 101 97 114 173 127 147 155 79 33 mm

Part B

Locate the following places on the map below.

(a) Nassau

(b) the Tropic of Cancer

(c) six other places you would like to visit.

Part C

Identify the three lines of latitude and the four meridians of longitude on themap.

Part D

Show the temperature portion only of the climate of your community on thesame graph as the one you used for Nassau. Shade in the area between the twotemperature curves; use a light-blue color. Which place would you rather be inJanuary? In July?

55

The ProgramThe termproblem solving implies that there is (a)a question that one faces, and (b) a strategy that isrequired to resolve the dilemma.

We are presented with this problem: Who wouldbuild a globe in the shape of a doughnut or acube? The serious, model building activities ofgeography would seem to rule out thesepossibilities. But model building is only one typeof geography skill. Classification and comparisonare also important tools of the trade.

When we are confronted with a long list of itemsor a vast amount of data, it is often a usefultechnique to sort and classify the information -that is, to place it in categories. For example,stamps can be categorized by size, color, value,country, age, etc. These categories can bereferred to as the criteria or characteristics of thesubject being discussed.

To emphasize the importance of these skills,Wegener's theory of continental drift isdeveloped through comparisons betweencontinents. As Wegener demonstrated, when we

gather and classify data we are able to discoverpattems that may not have been visible before.Ultimately, categorization and comparison areused in problem solving, with its need for data,method, and imagination. So who might modelthe earth like a doughnut? A geographer withimagination and a problem to solve.

Before ViewingComparative problem solving is particularlyappropriate for project work. Often students aregiven relatively little direction when asked to do aproject; what direction they are given focuses onthe external form of the final report - title page,table of contents, and so on.

When it comes to improving studentperformances the most important skill isestablishing a framework. When dealing withcomparisons, we are able to observe students asthey become more sophisticated; often, thenumber of categories used in the comparisonincreases. As competence increases, studentsbegin to subdivide the categories and may evenbegin to subdivide the subjects being compared.

56

Country Life city u e• must ride bus to school • high taxes• lots of farms • houses close together• have to have a car to • lots of factoriesgo anywhere

Categories Country Life City Life SummarySchool • must attend school • must attend school • sameWork • farming • factories • differentHouses • far apart • dose together • different

Postal • every day • every day • sameDelivery

Objectives

Concepts to be developed inthis program are:

• Comparison -- an estimationof similarities and differences

• Category -- a class ordivision in a scheme ofclassification

TeacherStrategies

Set up a desk at the front of theclass displaying a variety ofobjects. Ask the students toclassify the objects bycategory. They should state thecriteria for the divisions theychoose.

StudentActivities

Examine the objects on thedesk at the front of theclassroom Group the objectsaccording to category. Givereasons for the divisions youchose.

• Classification - anarrangement of informationaccording to groups

• Continental drift - the theorythat continents slowly shifttheir positions.

Students should be able to sortand classify using variouscriteria.

Students should be able tocompare a photograph of anarea with a map of the samearea.

In pairs, have students take aphotograph of the classroom ora street. Then ask them to drawa sketch map of the same area.

Take a photograph of yourclassroom or street. Now do asimple sketch map of the area;include map symbols. Compareyour sketch map with thephotograph.

Students should be able togather, categorize, rank, andgraph data collected in theirlocality.

Have students count thebuildings on their own block,and then categorize them bytype or use. They should thenrank order the types ofbuildings. Ask them to preparea class bar graph by havingeach student plot his or her dataon a large sheet of paper. Theymight also make a cored gridof the data.

Count the buildings on yourblock and categorize them bytype:

• Single dwelling• Duplex• Apartment• Commercial• Other

Rank order your data and plotyour results on a bar graph.

57

Objectives TeacherStrategies

Students should be able torecognize the need forclassification and classificationsystems to record data andmake conclusions using a tree

and a matrix.dia

Present students with acollection of 20 pieces ofcardboard that differ in color,size, and shape. You may wishto use the following as a guide:

* 3 large red circles

• 4 small red circles

• 2 large black circles

• 1 small black circle

• l large red square

• 4 large black squares

• 2 small red squares

• 3 small black squares

1. Have students draw a treediagram to record their data.Ask them to describe thecriteria they used.

1. Use a tree diagram toclassify the 20 pieces ofcardboard according to theircommon characteristics. Howmany different answers arepossible?

2. Have students record theirdata using a matrix. Ask thefollowing question. "If anothercolor were added to the 20pieces, what changes in thematrix would be needed?"

2. Use a matrix to classify the20 pieces of cardboardaccording to characteristics.

58

StudentActivities

Shape SizeYWW•Y••.W•WW.

RedW.W.Y

Black

Circles Large 3 2

Small 4

_ +

1

Squares Large 1 4

Small 2 3

Objectives TeacherStrategies

StudentActivities

Students should be able toidentify differences betweenolder and newer methods oftransportation and determinehow and why modificationshave been made.

1. From books, magazines,and newspapers, have studentsgather two sets of pictures, oneshowing trains, cars, planes,ships, and trucks as they werein the 1930s, and the othershowing the same methods oftransportation as they aretoday. Divide the students intogroups to study the pictures.Have them use a matrix torecord the data.

1. Examine pictures of methodsof transportation in the 1930sand now. Prepare a matrixsimilar to the one shown hereto record your observations.2. Prepare a comprehensivestatement comparing the oldand new methods oftransportation.

2. Ask students to makecomprehensive statementscomparing the old and thenew.

59

Methods Appearance Comfort Speed Safety

1930 Now 1930 Now 1930 Now 1930 Now

Cars

Planes

Trains

Trucks

Ships

" 1J

Prepare a comparison study of yourself at various ages. Begin with photographs ofyourself at ages five, ten, and today. Examine the pidtures to see how you have changedphysically over the years. Note the changes that you observe.

Next consider various things that you like today and compare these with yourpreferences when you were younger. Make notes of this information. If you areuncertain about some things, check with your family and friends.

Prepare a chart similar to the one shown here comparing yourself at ages five,ten, and today. Add any categories that may be appropriate.

60

At five At ten Today

Height

Weight

Hair Color

• Best friend

Favorite thins:

Food

Game 21

Television show

Book

School subject Y~kXi

•

Sport .•Xii z

Color

Kind of clothes..,,} }SSi

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61

(214) 458-7447Telex: 79-4197

Program BPN1. Map Symbols 2273012. Map Grids 227302

3. Latitude 2273034. Longitude 2273045. Distance 2273056. Directions 2273067. Contours 2273078. Theme Maps . 2273089. Sampling 227309

10. Gathering Data 22731011: Graphmg .. .. .. ... . 22731112. Problem Solving 227312