Teaching World
Geography is rewarding in many ways. Teaching geography in middle school and high school allows you to travel through time and space, leading a
room full of eager World Geography
students to new cultures in faraway places. Geography doesn’t have to be
maps and memory drills; instead, interactive geography lessons can merge core content, images, diversity,
technology, and emotional accounts, transporting your students across the world
while remaining safely in their seats in your classroom. Boring geography
studies are sure to go in one ear and out the other, but integrating these 7
great books for teaching world geography into your lesson plans will provide a
new perspective on an otherwise difficult topic.
Geography is rewarding in many ways. Teaching geography in middle school and high school allows you to travel through time and space, leading a
room full of eager World Geography
students to new cultures in faraway places. Geography doesn’t have to be
maps and memory drills; instead, interactive geography lessons can merge core content, images, diversity,
technology, and emotional accounts, transporting your students across the world
while remaining safely in their seats in your classroom. Boring geography
studies are sure to go in one ear and out the other, but integrating these 7
great books for teaching world geography into your lesson plans will provide a
new perspective on an otherwise difficult topic.
Today’s teachers are on the brink of innovation, utilizing
today’s technology with new teaching strategies, classroom community techniques,
and other exciting lesson plans and ideas to integrate into their classroom.
However, World Geography is still often seen as a topic of repetitive
regurgitation. Memory practice and drills frequent the lesson plans of World
Geography teachers, but your students aren’t likely to retain their geography
knowledge once they leave your classroom. Instead, using these 7 great books
for teaching World Geography will transplant your middle school and high
schools students to a different place, allowing them to absorb general social
studies topics while learning, and remembering, world geography.
7 Great Books for Teaching World Geography
1. Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes – Kelsey Timmerman’s
Where Am I Wearing? transports readers alongside journalist Timmerman as he
researches the manufacturers of his clothing, encountering poor working
conditions and the poverty that riddles many of the workers he meets. Check out
the 2012 version for bonus content updating the reader on a fair trade shoe
factory.
BONUS! Have students research the countries of their own
clothing, and design and share Paper Dolls Around the World with their
classmates. You may be teaching teenagers, but they’re sure to engage in a
tactile activity like coloring!
2. Material World: A Global Family Portrait –
Material World, by Peter Menzel, Mann, and Kennedy, follows over a dozen
photographers as they co-mingle with families from other cultures. Illustrating
the cultural similarities and differences with striking photographs, Material
World provides faces and names with whom your students will connect.
Material World, by Peter Menzel, Mann, and Kennedy, follows over a dozen
photographers as they co-mingle with families from other cultures. Illustrating
the cultural similarities and differences with striking photographs, Material
World provides faces and names with whom your students will connect.
3. Women in the Material World
– By Faith D’Aluisio and Menzel, Women in the Material World
accompanies Material World: A Global Family Portrait, interviewing and
intertwining with the lives of women around the world.
– By Faith D’Aluisio and Menzel, Women in the Material World
accompanies Material World: A Global Family Portrait, interviewing and
intertwining with the lives of women around the world.
4. The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Landscape
– By Harm de Blij,The Power of Place examines the importance of the
culture and physical location into which a person in born. He explores
language, technological advances, medical risks, environmental
challenges, and more, while stressing the current political and social
stance on geography.
– By Harm de Blij,The Power of Place examines the importance of the
culture and physical location into which a person in born. He explores
language, technological advances, medical risks, environmental
challenges, and more, while stressing the current political and social
stance on geography.
BONUS! The Power of Place pairs great with any geography lesson, but integrating it early into a complete World Geography course will ensure a solid foundation for your geography students!
SUPER BONUS! Have students research a country and hypothesize about the
differences they would encounter if they had been born in that country.
Share with the class!
5. Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
– Garbage Land presents a nontraditional approach to exploring and
learning geography. Author Elizabeth Royte studies garbage consumption
around the world. Though teaching about trash isn’t commonplace, this
book provides a vital look at an aspect of culture and geography which
is often overlooked.
– Garbage Land presents a nontraditional approach to exploring and
learning geography. Author Elizabeth Royte studies garbage consumption
around the world. Though teaching about trash isn’t commonplace, this
book provides a vital look at an aspect of culture and geography which
is often overlooked.
6. Hungry Planet: What the World Eats
– Like Material World, Menzel’s Hungry Planet follows thirty families
worldwide, taking an intimate look into their shopping carts, their
kitchen cabinets, and on their dinner tables. Menzel studies what kind
of groceries each family buys but also delves into the familial
traditions that occur around the dinner table.
– Like Material World, Menzel’s Hungry Planet follows thirty families
worldwide, taking an intimate look into their shopping carts, their
kitchen cabinets, and on their dinner tables. Menzel studies what kind
of groceries each family buys but also delves into the familial
traditions that occur around the dinner table.
BONUS! Have students read excerpts from all three Menzel works (Material
World, Women in the Material World, and Hungry Planet) and make charts
to compare and contrast the clothing and food from different countries.
7. Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story
– Douglas Preston, scientist and adventurer, uprooted his life in 2012
to set off on an exploratory expedition to find the White City, also
known as the Lost City of the Monkey God, in Honduras. Preston recounts
his experiences on the expedition, intimately discussing Honduran
culture, the history behind the curse of the Lost City, the scientific
findings of the journey, and the life-threatening disease that he and
his fellow scientists contracted.
– Douglas Preston, scientist and adventurer, uprooted his life in 2012
to set off on an exploratory expedition to find the White City, also
known as the Lost City of the Monkey God, in Honduras. Preston recounts
his experiences on the expedition, intimately discussing Honduran
culture, the history behind the curse of the Lost City, the scientific
findings of the journey, and the life-threatening disease that he and
his fellow scientists contracted.
Though most traditional World Geography lesson plans include
memory drills and skills practice, hoping that students will grasp the
knowledge they are repetitively studying, they may not retain this knowledge. An interactive approach to teaching World
Geography is more effective in presenting a point of view that your students
will retain. Using these 7 great books for teaching World Geography alongside
interactive lessons like this Five Themes of Geography Centers Investigation Activity, students will transport across the globe, experiencing and
understanding other cultures, and building a strong foundation in geography
that they may otherwise lack.
Happy Teaching!
