World Regional Geography
Reasons to have your student take the course: Most Americans know very little about the world they live in. Very few are familiar with the location, let alone the cultures of countries outside of North America. This course is designed to get the attention of the students and get them interested in world events in an engaging and academically stimulating way. This is not a boring, fact-memorizing course - each area of the world is introduced and explained in the context of current events as well as pertinent world history. This involves the students researching current events concerning areas all over the globe and learning how to interpret them using Geographic and Demographic terms. I use a lot of multimedia, including video and audio, to instill a baseline of sound geographic knowledge in each student. I feel strongly that this course is far more than a geography course - it's a course designed to teach each student involved how to gather information about their constantly changing world and give them the tools to be able to interpret this information in a meaningful (and hopefully profound) way.
Description: This challenging course will take a full year, divided into two semesters. The course will walk the students around the approximately 200 nations of the world using a regional approach and heavily relying on the Five Themes of Geography (Location, Place, Human Environment & Interaction, Movement and Region). Each class will use current events to tie into the region being studied and the cement the information into the memory of the student. 2-4 weeks will be spent on each continent/region.
Expectations: Each student is expected to prepare
for each class, arrive promptly, and treat the tutor and fellow
students with the utmost of respect. Note taking is expected and
will be rewarded by a far higher score than those who do not take
careful notes. A project will be completed in the spring semester: This
small group project culminate in my Annual Geography Banquet . The work
for the course will involve approximately 3-5 hours a week outside of
class. This does not include research for projects. The homework will
include reading in the main text, coloring in the secondary text, doing
online research, reading current events and writing up short write-ups
on them, preparing for in-class map quizzes and take-home tests (one
“take-home” honor system mid-term will be administered in
the fall semester).
Texts will include: Wyn
Kapit's "The Geography Coloring Book" needs to be new $17 -http://www.amazon.com/
Smithsonian's Earth book - paperback or hard copy -http://www.amazon.com/Earth-
"The Boy who Harnessed the Wind" - $10 - http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-
"Longitude" - $10 - http://www.amazon.com/
Materials: Each student will be required to have the following supplies: a loose leaf notebook with sections, writing tools, and have access to a computer and the Internet. I rely heavily on email communication and expect my students to have access to the internet for research. I will also be asking them to complete at least one assignment that needs a spreadsheet. This can be Microsoft Excel or the Apple equivalent or the free program (PC, MAC and Linux/Ubuntu compatible) called Open Office.
Communication: The best way to contact me is by email. My home phone number is: 301-352-4188, and my email is Chris.Schaeffer@cornerstonetutorial.org. I will be available at study hall if prearrangements are made.
Requirements: Internet access, library access, and an ability to read the assigned texts in time for each class. In addition, an ability to write a basic essay is essential. Please contact the teacher if you have questions about whether the student will be able to keep up.
updated 7/29/11
