Geography is more than a standalone subject – it’s the thread that ties together history, science, and even math. By incorporating geography into cross-curricular lessons, teachers can spark students’ curiosity and critical thinking about the world. In this post, we’ll share ideas on how to integrate geography across subjects and bring global awareness into every lesson.
Science
Students read about Grand Canyon National Park in Our Ever-Changing Earth. It is just one of the many national parks throughout the United States. Suggest that students create flyers advertising the parks and their natural features. Organize students into small groups. Have the groups choose a national park, visit the National Park Service’s site at nps.gov, and then study the information provided about the park. They can use their information to prepare their flyers.
Art
When it’s 10:00 a.m. in Paris, what time is it in New York? After reading Latitude, Longitude, and Time Zones, have students compile an illustrated time atlas. Have them first compile a list of world cities with at least two cities on each continent. They can draw or find pictures of each city and identify the time it would be in that city when it is 10:00 a.m. in Paris. Ask several students to draw a world map and locate all of the cities in the list on the map. They can compile their pages into a World Time Atlas.
Language Arts
What Is Geography? lists some entries for a Geography Hall of Fame for the United States. Review the entries with students and encourage them to prepare entries to post in a classroom Geography Hall of Fame. They can include the entries on page 3 as well as many others. Suggest possibilities such as the driest, wettest, hottest, and coldest places in the United States. Also have students include entries for Hall of Fame places in each state.
History
Jamestown was the first successful English settlement in what is now the United States, which they read about in The Important Role of Rivers. Have students research information about the Jamestown settlement and make a model of the settlement. Ask them to include the fencing and the buildings. Provide a variety of art materials, such as plastic foam, papier-mâché, craft sticks, boxes, tubes, and cardboard, for students to use. Students might enhance the settlement by using art materials to produce natural scenery such as the river, trees and other vegetation, and animals.
Music
The United States and its geography are celebrated in many songs and musical pieces. Many of these songs were created for different periods found in Immigration Throughout History. Provide opportunities for students to take a musical tour of the country. Students can listen to recordings of songs such as “This Land Is Your Land,” “America the Beautiful,” “Home on the Range,” and “Oklahoma.”
