UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 21, Page 5
February 27, 1992
Global village; Schools stress importance, relevance of geography

     Peter Rees, professor of geography, is part of a nationwide
effort to revitalize geography and to make students and teachers
aware of its importance in their lives.
     Geography has been designated as one of the five core areas of
knowledge that students should master to reach the National 2000
and Delaware 2000 Educational Goals," Rees said.
     The National Geographic Society (NGS) Education Foundation got
the globe rolling in 1986 with $20 million in funding, plus another
$20 million to match funds from other sources. The NGS Geographic
Alliance Network was formed, with six or seven states chosen to
join each year.
     Delaware was selected to participate in 1989 and formed the
Delaware Geographic Alliance. The state alliance, headed by Rees
and Lewis Huffman, social studies coordinator for the Delaware
Department of Public Instruction, received funding through grants
from the NGS and the state of Delaware.
     According to Rees, geography education is based on five
themes- location, place, human/environment interactions, movements
and regions.
     Location is "where it's at" in relation to other landmarks and
pinpointed by latitude and longitude.
     Place is the physical and cultural character of a location-the
topography (coastal, mountainous or desert, for example), climate,
what people do there, their background and customs.
     Human/ environment interactions involve how people respond to
and alter their environment and their use of resources.
     Movement is the dynamics of the world-the flow of goods and
people and the communication systems that link the world.
     Regions are a geographical invention of classification,
according to Rees. They are areas with common characteristics-such
as the South, the West or the Third World, many times with
non-specific borders.
     Although geography is taught as a separate subject in some
schools, it can be incorporated into the curriculum with other
subjects, such as social studies, reading or math. "Everything
takes place somewhere so that geography is involved and can be
taught in different contexts," Rees pointed out.
     Teachers are the front line of the Delaware Geography
Alliance. The alliance exists for and of teachers, Rees said, and
by training teacher-consultants in the summer, innovative methods
of teaching geography can be worked into the curriculum. The
teacher-consultants, in turn, present workshops for their peers, so
there is a pyramid effect.
     In 1991, 21 teachers were trained in the state summer
institute and three attended a NGS training session in Washington,
D.C. A total of 424 teachers attended 37 workshops, which,  in
turn, were influential in the geographic education of approximately
8,500 students, Rees said.
     The first week of each session of the summer institute is held
in Lewes, which is referred to by some as a "geographic boot camp"
because of the many in-depth field trips in Sussex County, Rees
said. Participants visit small towns, learn first-hand about the
poultry industry, the problems of rural versus suburban development
and about the past, using an 1856 atlas as one of their tools.
     Two other weeks are spent on the Newark campus with field
trips to such landmarks as the Port of Wilmington.
     This year, two Delaware teachers will be selected to receive
Columbus Voyage of Discovery Teacher/Scholar Awards. They will
attend a September conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
     The alliance also sponsors special activities and distributes
materials to promote geography. During Geography Awareness Week,
Dec. 1-7, first-round contests were held, leading to the state
finals, to be held March 27 at the University.
     The state winner will receive a $200 prize and the opportunity
to compete at the National Geography Bee in Washington, D. C.,
where the winner will receive a $25,000 college scholarship.
     Mary Anna Taylor, an alliance teaching-consultant, is acting
as administrative assistant to the alliance this year. She has
helped organize a resource room in the geography department in
Newark Hall to assist in teaching geography. In addition to books,
there are such materials as global map book covers, global beach
balls and detailed road maps of Delaware.
     Not all geography is about distant places, Taylor said,
pointing out that books such as one about a crab named Chadwick can
teach younger children about the Chesapeake Bay.
     The Delaware Alliance networks with other states nationwide in
exchanging ideas and programs.
     Locally, a Middle States Consortium of Geographic Alliances
has been formed, which includes Pennsylvania and its bordering
states. "This region has much in common, geographically speaking,
in such areas as environmental issues, economic development,
transportation and use of resources," Rees said.
     "We are becoming a global village, and an understanding of
different peoples, places and cultures is essential for today's
students," Rees said.
                                        - Sue Swyers Moncure