World Geography

Kyrgyzstans Transition From A Centrally-Planned Economy to a Market-Driven Economy

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/kyrgyzstan/econ.html

Students will analyze economic issues in Kyrgyzstan from a spatial point of view. The shift to a market-driven economy has been difficult for Kyrgyzstan, as it has for other former Soviet republics. Soon after independence, the Kyrgyz government launched an economic reform program. The goal was to move away from a centrally planned economy to one in which economic decisions are determined primarily by market forces and consumer preferences.

Daily Activities Schedules

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/lessons/women/index.html

This lesson is meant to identify the routine labor demands of girls and boys in their daily lives. The lesson will also allow students to compare their own lives to the lives of teenage girls living in less developed countries. This information demonstrates the gender-based perceptions of the activities of each group. In this sense, the lesson helps to raise awareness with regard to the contribution that different groups make to overall household welfare in the U.S. and in less developed countries.

"Destination Kyrgyzstan"

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/kyrgyzstan/video.html

Students will plan a trip from their hometown to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan is a nation rich in culture and filled with natural beauty. As the country moves toward a market economy, it has made efforts to increase tourism. students work in small groups to plan a trip to the Kyrgyzstan. Some students may want to prepare a travel poster promoting travel to Kyrgyzstan.

A History of Kyrgyzstan

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/guides/kyrgyzstan/hist.html

Students will learn about key points in Kyrgyzstan's history and will relate them to major events in world history. Though Kyrgyzstan is an isolated country surrounded in many places with mountains that are as high as 20,000 feet, it has still been affected by the currents of history. Its location and mountain passes placed Kyrgyzstan on the overland trade routes between the East and the West. Since earliest times, Kyrgyzstan has been influenced by events in the rest of the world particularly China, the Middle East and Europe.

What Do Maps Show

http://www.mcrel.org/resources/plus/maps.asp

This teaching poster with four accompanying lessons is appropriate for upper elementary and junior high school classes. The purpose of this online teaching package is to help students understand and use maps. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has provided the package as a service to educators so that more Americans will learn to understand the world of information on maps. Everything in the package teaches and reinforces geographic skills that are required in your curriculum.

Regions

http://www.mcrel.org/resources/plus/regions.asp

This lesson is designed to help students understand what regions are and how to define regional boundaries." The concept of region is a useful tool in organizing geographic knowledge. A region is an area with common characteristics or features that give it cohesiveness and that set it apart from surrounding areas.

Geographic Tools- Working with Maps

http://www.mcrel.org/resources/plus/tools.asp

The lessons are organized around themes: location, navigation, information and exploration. A lesson has an introductory text and two main activities; the format is designed for easy photocopying so that every student will have a copy. Most activities can be completed within 2 hours, but some could become major projects. With each activity is a list of needed materials, the estimated time for completion, step-by-step instructions, and recommended readings and additional activities. Lists of important terms are included in most activities, but definitions are to be collected by students to make a glossary."

U.S. Demographics

http://www.mcrel.org/resources/plus/demograp.asp

These are multimedia tutorial programs from Project GeoSim and are available for download for Macs and PCs. HumPop introduces and illustrates population concepts and issues. IntlPop is a population change simulation program. Factors such as Birth Rate, Life Expectancy, and Migration Rate affect population growth. IntlPop allows you to manipulate these variables and simulate population growth based on your values. Allows students to make a cartogram using census information.

How Can Any Point On The Earth Be Easily Located?

http://nesen.unl.edu/activities/mapping/anypoint.html

To identify landforms and locations, plot points and develop and use a scale on the map of an imaginary country. A map is a model of the earth's surface. Symbols on a map show the features of the earth's surface as well as towns and cities. You can find the meanings of these symbols in the part of the map called the legend. You can use lines of latitude and longitude to find many of these map features. Lines of latitude measure distance in degrees north and south of the equator. Lines of longitude measure distance in degrees east and west of the prime meridian.

Using Grids

http://www.eduplace.com/ss/act/usegrid.html

Students make a map of their favorite room. They create a map, a map key, and a map index. Students use a grid to find and describe the location of specific places. Students use a map key and index to interpret symbols and locate places and objects on a map.

Plotting a Hurricane Using Latitude and Longitude

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sst/sst119.txt

This map skills lesson is to be used in the early part of the school year. It is designed to help students learn how to use the grid system to locate areas on a map   and to help students understand that geography puts emphasis on "place."

The Chunnel

http://multimedia2.freac.fsu.edu/fga/academy/eurchun.htm

This unit will illustrate the physical, economic, and cultural effects of the Chunnel (channel tunnel) on Western Europe. Students will be able to explain how the English Channel affects cultural, economic, and political activities of the United Kingdom and other European nations. This lesson will explain how people of the world are linked by transportation and technology, in addition to seeing the Chunnel as an example of human activity which affects the environment. Students will use maps, globes, charts, graphs, and other tools of geography to gather and interpret data and to draw conclusions about physical and human patterns.

Searching for China: a Series of Web activities

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/

Building on his original WebQuest, Searching for China, Tom March has fully revised this popular site to provide more scaffolding for student cognition and more effective use of the Internet (just for fun, take a look at the first rendition of Searching for China from 1995). Tom also created "Six Paths" to China which incorporates five more Web-based activities on the topic and stands as a living example of the strategies he explored in the article Working the Web for Education. See how you can target student learning using a Topic Hotlist, Subject Sampler, Multimedia Scrapbook, Treasure Hunt, or WebQuest.

Searching for China: a Full Webquest

http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/China/ChinaQuest.html

This simulation activity helps learners grasp the complexities of China. Learners join a team and take on a role (foreign investor, human rights worker, museum curator, California state senator, or religious leader ). Learners work together to create a special report that makes sense of the complex country that is China. Includes a teachers guide.