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Old 10-30-2009, 12:55 PM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,082 posts, read 38,752,925 times
Reputation: 17006

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Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc View Post
Political geography, i.e., maps, capitals, etc., is not very interesting out of context. History teachers should incorporate it within a larger history lesson.

Social and economic geography, i.e., the way people interact with the landscape, is a fascinating subject that should be taught in high schools. However, it's a more abstract topic about concepts and interpretation rather than facts and data. A lot high school teachers aren't adept at teaching that kind of subject, unfortunately.
This is exactly what the State of Michigan has done and it is a requirement for graduation. Both US History and Geography as well as World History and Geography.
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Old 10-30-2009, 01:06 PM
 
Location: Chicagoland
4,027 posts, read 7,267,257 times
Reputation: 1333
Quote:
Originally Posted by yankinscotland View Post
I've read similar statistics several times but I don't recall by whom. One study showed some disgracefully high percentage of high school students couldn't even find the US on a world map.
You mean this?:


YouTube - Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question
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Old 10-30-2009, 01:16 PM
 
Location: Greater PDX
1,018 posts, read 4,099,654 times
Reputation: 954
Who needs to learn about a bunch of boring maps or where Kuzykziystan or whatever is located when you are the USA, the most powerful country in the world. No other country in the world can hold a candle to any of our 54 states when it comes to pure awesomeness.
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Old 10-30-2009, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Underneath the Pecan Tree
15,982 posts, read 35,094,083 times
Reputation: 7427
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Shaft View Post
Who needs to learn about a bunch of boring maps or where Kuzykziystan or whatever is located when you are the USA, the most powerful country in the world. No other country in the world can hold a candle to any of our 54 states when it comes to pure awesomeness.
Instead of learning Spanish; we should be learning Japanese.
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Old 10-30-2009, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Houston
2,023 posts, read 4,174,114 times
Reputation: 467
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Shaft View Post
Who needs to learn about a bunch of boring maps or where Kuzykziystan or whatever is located when you are the USA, the most powerful country in the world. No other country in the world can hold a candle to any of our 54 states when it comes to pure awesomeness.
When did the US add 4 states? Geography and knowledge of the world is very important BTW, especially for the worlds most powerful country.
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Old 10-30-2009, 02:55 PM
 
Location: New York
11,326 posts, read 20,271,162 times
Reputation: 6231
I've never been to a school that taught geography, I still know where 98.5% of the world's countries are though. Geography always interested me, it would have easily been my favorite subject in school.
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Old 10-30-2009, 03:06 PM
 
Location: In the heights
36,975 posts, read 38,986,608 times
Reputation: 21010
Quote:
Originally Posted by wpmeads View Post
When did the US add 4 states? Geography and knowledge of the world is very important BTW, especially for the worlds most powerful country.
You missed the boat!

Anyhow, geography is useless without it being integrated into other subjects. I do remember learning a bit of geography through world history courses as well as US geography (states and their capitals for an ice cream sundae prize) in elementary school. I'm personally fine with not having a standalone geography course provided a concerted effort by other departments to teach geography through other disciplines (i.e. US and world history, English and foreign language courses, statistics, sociology, macroeconomics, etc.).
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Old 10-30-2009, 03:12 PM
 
2,015 posts, read 3,372,545 times
Reputation: 1827
Quote:
Originally Posted by thePR View Post
Not as stupid as her I hope!!
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Old 10-30-2009, 03:16 PM
 
7,845 posts, read 20,752,223 times
Reputation: 2851
Quote:
Originally Posted by Infamous92 View Post
I've never been to a school that taught geography, I still know where 98.5% of the world's countries are though. Geography always interested me, it would have easily been my favorite subject in school.
Same here...schools barely have time to teach the basics, much less to add on something like Geography. It isn't taught as a separate subject, but it is incorporated into the History and Social Studies curriculums.
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Old 10-30-2009, 03:21 PM
 
Location: New York City
4,035 posts, read 10,268,183 times
Reputation: 3753
Of course, students also have to see geography as important. Schools teach all sorts of things (algebra, history, spelling, grammar, literature) that most people never bother to learn or forget as soon as the test is taken.

The best way to learn political geography is to travel. When a you're in a strange place, geography becomes real, and thus important.
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