Revisiting Thematic Strands: People Places And Environments

I heard a college professor use revisiting today and I forgot what a cool word it is. From the socialstudies site: "Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of people, places, and environments. Technological advances connect students at all levels to the world beyond their personal locations. The study of people, places, and human-environment interactions assists learners as they create their spatial views and geographic perspectives of the world. Today's social, cultural, economic, and civic demands on individuals mean that students will need the knowledge, skills, and understanding to ask and answer questions such as: Where are things located? Why are they located where they are? What patterns are reflected in the groupings of things? What do we mean by region? How do landforms change? What implications do these changes have for people? This area of study helps learners make informed and critical decisions about the relationship between human beings and their environment. In schools, this theme typically appears in units and courses dealing with area studies and geography." Some of the 5th graders will be doing a project on westward expansion this year. With the questions above in mind there are many ways to look at the topic and many ways a project may be expressed. Here's a pioneer slide show from the Kids' Discover series.