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APS 3 11
JUN15 195?/
THE TEACHING OF
GEOGRAPHY
EMPHASIZING THE PROJECT, OR
ACTIVE, METHOD
BY
MENDEL E. BRANOM
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, HARRIS TEACHERS COLLEGE, ST. LOUIS
AUTHOR OF "THE PROJECT METHOD IN EDUCATION," ETC.
AND
FRED K. BRANOM
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, CHICAGO NORMAL COLLEGE, CHICAGO
GINN AND COMPANY
BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON
ATLANTA • DALLAS • COLUMBUS • SAN FRANCISCO
COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY MENDEL E. BRANOM
AND FRED K. BRANOM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
8232
Cbc satbtnaeum firtss
<,!NN' AM) COMPANY- PRO-
PRIETORS • liOSTO.N" • U.S.A.
TO
DOUGLAS C. RIDGLEY
PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY. ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY
WHO INSPIRED BOTH AUTHORS TO TAKE UP
THE STUDY OF GEOGRAPHY
PREFACE
This book is the product of several years' experience by the
authors in the directing of method courses in normal schools
and universities. The "new geography," emphasizing inter-
„ pretations as well as facts, has been heartily received. The
" modern spirit, however, has been imparted primarily by the
. geography departments of the universities, where the emphasis
is placed on academic geography and the organization of
geographic materials into a coherent body of knowledge. Both
the content and method books of geography reflect the in-
fluence of the higher schools. The educator is not primarily
interested in geography as an academic subject, but as a means
of giving the child desirable experiences. He does not hesi-
tate to overstep the boundary lines between subjects if he
can give the child more befitting experiences. A practical
man does not meet one situation that he calls geography and
another situation that he calls history, but in the meeting of
a situation he draws on any subject needed, in the proportion
needed, to make an adequate interpretation. In his enthusiasm
to organize educational content in accordance with the way
that the world uses it, the educator has suggested the possi-
bility of blending content subjects in unit situations under the
name of social studies.
The authors hold that it is possible to organize the geogra-
phy course of study in such a way that the dominant viewpoint
will be geographic and at the same time will permit of the
interpretation of materials about life centers.
Geography is primarily a study of the interacting relations
of life forms and nature. It is essentially a study of place
vi THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
relations and of the adjustments which man makes to the
geographic regions with their varied resources. Since much of
the geographic content involves regions far away, consider-
able care is necessary in providing the child with local experi-
ences and with visualization materials, as pictures and maps,
that will enable him to form accurate concepts. The geog-
raphers have been rapidly at work socializing the content by
analyzing the influence of the geographic environment upon
human affairs. The teacher is socializing the content by show-
ing the pupils the significance of their studies in relation to
the present, and she is socializing the method by throwing
much of the responsibility of class organization in relation to
geographic topics upon the class. An attempt is made to relate
the work to the child's interests and experiences and to give
the child a worth-while motive, so that he will attack the
problems whole-heartedly.
Much remains to be done in the devising of adequate tests
and scales, but an attempt has been made to indicate the lines
of study that seem most promising.
MENDEL E. BRANOM
FRED K. BRANOM
CONTENTS
PART ONE. THE VIEWPOINT
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Practical Nature of Geography .... 3
II. The Evolution of Geographic Knowledge empha-
sizing the Development of Civilizations . . 22
III. The Relation of Geography to Other Subjects 39
IV. The Evolution of Geography Method .... 51
V. Aims or Purposes in the Teaching of Geography 62
PART TWO. THE COURSE OF STUDY
VI. The Organization of a Course of Study ... 75
PART THREE. THE MATERIALS OF GEOGRAPHY
VII. Observational Geography 93
VIII. Representative, or Symbolic, Geography . . . 109
PART FOUR. THE CLASS
IX. Class Organization 133
X. Socialization axd Free Activity 145
XI. The Relation of the Study Period to the Reci-
tation" Period 155
PART FIVE. THE PROJECT, OR ACTIVE, METHOD
XII. The Motivation of Geography 165
XIII. The Problem Method of Teaching Geography . 173
XIV. The Argumentative Lesson , 193
vii
viii THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER PAGE
XV. The Topical Outline 201
XVI. Journey Geography 211
XVII. Type Studies 224
XVIII. The Story 231
XIX. Dramatization 238
XX. The Project 246
PART SIX. TESTS AND SCALES
XXI. Measuring Results 265
INDEX 289
THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
PART ONE. THE VIEWPOINT
CHAPTER I
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY
The importance of geography. The World War was
helpful in arousing a keen interest in the study of geog-
raphy. The correct interpretation of many problems
affecting the general welfare required a thorough knowl-
edge of geographic relations. The ordinary economic ac-
tivities and redistribution of surplus commodities were
seriously disturbed. In common with the other Allies the
people of the United States feverishly engaged in a search
for new sources of needed raw materials. Careful surveys
to determine the available supplies were made. The trans-
porting system was reorganized in an attempt to secure
maximum efficiency. The fundamental dependence of the
social structure upon earth resources, as coal, iron, wheat,
and cotton, was clearly seen.
The relations of mankind to nature's resources are just
as significant in times of peace. Geography is, therefore,
as significant in helping to solve the reconstruction prob-
lems and the ordinary problems of life as it has been in
helping to solve the problems of war.
The activities of man. In the evolution of the social
group increasing specialization has occurred. Man no
longer depends primarily on the immediate environment
for products that he needs and wants. Practically the
whole earth contributes to his welfare. He clothes him-
self with garments made of cotton from the southern
4 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
United States, of wool from Australia or Argentina, or of
silk from Japan. His home may contain beautiful furni-
ture made from the hardwood lumber of Kentucky and
Tennessee or from the beautiful rosewood and mahogany
of tropical forests. In the preparation of his meal he may
draw upon the coffee of Brazil or the cocoa of Ecuador or
the tea of Japan. The dessert may contain bananas from
Central America and pineapples from Cuba. He may
sweeten his coffee with sugar from the Hawaiian Islands.
In the competitive world-wide economic struggle there is
a tendency for each community to specialize in the produc-
tion of the commodity or commodities which it best can
produce. Even in the local community there is a tendency
for each person to learn how to do one thing in a superior
fashion. In the complex social organization that has
resulted no man liveth unto himself alone ; each person
serves others and in turn depends upon others for service.
Irrespective of the type of activity in which an individual
engages the geographic viewpoint is vital.
The major activities of man are (i) vocational, (2) rec-
reational, and (3) political.
VOCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
The leading vocational activities may be classified as
follows :
1. Agricultural activities.
2. Pastoral activities.
3. Lumbering activities.
4. Hunting and trapping activities.
5. Fishing activities.
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 5
6. Mining activities.
7. Manufacturing activities.
8. Transporting activities.
9. Professional activities.
10. Investment activities.
11. Middleman activities.
1. Agricultural Activities
The farmer lives very close to nature. The important
factors of crop production, rainfall, temperature, soils, and
drainage are not under his absolute control. The amount,
kind, and distribution of precipitation are independent of
his personal desires. The farmer needs to work with
nature. He breaks up the ground, loosening the soil and
making the surface more irregular in order to increase
the amount of moisture that may be stored in the ground.
He keeps the top crust broken so as to break up the
capillary movement of water to the surface. He tiles the
wet places, digs large ditches for the removal of surplus
water, and stores the surplus waters so that they can be
diverted over the parched fields when the rain fails.
The farmer is helpless, except in a minor way, in af-
fecting the temperature changes. At considerable expense
he can regulate the temperature of greenhouses and of hot-
beds. If the temperature over the fruit orchards of Flor-
ida and California falls to the danger point, smudge fires
will prevent or decrease damage to the orchards, provided
the temperature normally would go only slightly below
the danger point. Shading is practiced in the production
of certain qualities of tobacco and coffee. The farmer
must adjust himself, however, to the major temperature
6 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
controls. Shortly after America was discovered explorers
who had reached the mainland during the summer season
spread reports of a warm climate. Settlers, expecting to
find high temperatures favorable for the immediate plant-
ing of seeds, came to America in the late fall. They were
surprised to find that a cold season was at hand, during
which, being unprepared, they suffered miserably. The
farmer of Minnesota who orders fruit trees or seeds from
Georgia is ignoring the fact that the plants have thriven
amidst conditions involving a long growing season. The
truck gardener who plants the seeds on the first warm day
of spring may be deeply disappointed because of the de-
struction of the young plants by a heavy frost. In inter-
mediate latitudes the farmer who places his orchard on
a southern slope is taking into consideration the impor-
tance of heat in the production of fruit, but he is neglect-
ing the fact that in the spring, when winter is entering
upon a death struggle with summer, the buds may open
under the friendly encouragement of the warm sunshine
only to be damaged by a frost, while the trees on the
northern slopes may be practically unharmed.
Many people have purchased farms in the flood plain
of the Mississippi, to find later that the land was almost
valueless because of the overflows and the changing river.
In many places, as in certain localities in northern
Missouri and in southern Illinois, are large areas of
apparently excellent farms, but the underlying hardpan
materially decreases the actual value of the land. In the
Great Valley of East Tennessee alternating layers of
shales, sandstones, and limestones have been tilted on
edge. The subsequent disintegration and decomposition
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 7
of the rocks have resulted in different types of soils. The
farming land varies so much in quality in short distances
that the value of one farm is no criterion for the value of
adjoining farms. Near Lexington, Kentucky, a faulting
has occurred as a result of which a rich limestone soil is on
one side of the fault and a poor shaly soil on the opposite
side. A farmer of the Great Valley of East Tennessee
knows from experience that the best soil of his region
ordinarily is a red soil. If he should move to central
Illinois and should prefer a farm with a reddish soil,
however, he would make a serious mistake, for the best
farms of central Illinois have deep black soils.
The farmer who removes the trees and cultivates a
very steep slope may hasten the gullying of the hillside
and the deposition of materials in the fertile lowland area.
Plowing up and down the slopes forms depressions that
encourage erosion. The selection of the lowest part of
the farm for pastureland is a response to the greater
available moisture content. Agricultural activities on the
alluvial plains and pastoral activities in the adjoining
hills reflect topographic, soil, and moisture contrasts.
On the basis of experience the time for planting
various seeds, the kind and extent of cultivation, and the
best time and way to harvest have been determined. In
spite of this knowledge, however, a late frost in spring
or an early frost in the fall may seriously damage the
crops. The hot, dry winds of the summer months may
burn the crops, a cold wave may kill the fruit, or the
weather may be too wet or too dry. Conditions may
favor the multiplication of pests, as the chinch bug, the
army worm, and the boll weevil. The farmer seeks to
8 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
adapt his activities to nature's requirements, and the
extent to which he is able to do this determines success
or failure.
2. Pastoral Activities
When the area north of the Ohio River was sparsely
populated live stock was relatively of much significance.
The cattle transported themselves over the long trails to
a market. A few years ago, in the vast, semiarid region
of the West, cattle trails, with wide, grassy areas on each
side, were laid out. Along these trails numerous herds of
cattle were driven to railroad stations. With increasing
population suitable areas are given over to crop produc-
tion, and live-stock raising is related to mixed farming.
Grain farming largely dominated for several years, but
with diminishing returns from an increasingly impov-
erished soil the necessity of raising animals, so that the
soil may be rested and fertilized, becomes acute. Ordi-
narily an area that is best adapted to crop production is
also best adapted to animal production, since the domesti-
cated animals depend on vegetation for their existence.
The typical pastoral activities, however, are found in
areas where grass is produced but where climatic condi-
tions are unfavorable for a more intensive use. Condi-
tions are not ideal, but are better adapted to stock raising
than to crop production.
A person engaged in pastoral activities should be
acquainted with poisonous weeds on which the animals
may feed, must take care that the grazing grounds are
not overstocked, must know the location of fresh-water
pools and the extent to which he can depend on them,
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 9
must anticipate pasturage and water shortage during the
dry season, and must provide the necessary shelter against
the low temperatures and storms of winter. In many
places the scattered grasses cannot profitably be cut and
converted into hay, but after the few weeks of precipita-
tion favorable for the growth of grasses may come a
period of high temperatures and little rainfall, which
cures the grass in situ. The deep snows of winter may
cover the grasses so that the cattle cannot reach them.
In certain areas the aid of chinook winds, which rapidly
melt the snow so that the underlying grasses are avail-
able, removes the danger of starvation or the necessity
of securing more expensive feed.
3. Lumbering Activities
Innumerable uses for lumber have been found. Many
farms have been located with reference to the proximity
of large forest trees. There are numerous varieties of
trees, many of which produce lumber or other products
useful to man. The lumberman must be able to identify
the different varieties of trees and to calculate their value.
All the lumbering operations must be carefully planned
so that a maximum cooperation of nature's forces may
be secured. The tree must be cut in such a way that it
will fall where least damage to younger trees will be
done and where the logs can be most economically
handled. In some of the Northern swamps logging opera-
tions are carried on in the winter, when the frozen ground
gives a solid foundation. Excellent roads of snow and
ice may be made along which the logs are dragged or
io THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
hauled on sleds to the water's edge. With the coming of
warm weather the ice of the river breaks up and the
logs are floated downstream to the sawmill. In the
southern Appalachians, where there is a very rugged
topography, lumbering operations are carried on during
the warmer part of the year, the cold, stormy weather of
winter making it very difficult to cut and remove the
logs where the area is pronouncedly rugged. In tropical
forests the difficulties are all but insurmountable. The
dense undergrowth must be cut away, and the logs must
be transported over low wet lands during hot, humid
weather. In many instances the logs are so heavy — for
example, the quebracho logs of Argentina — tnat a raft
is made of lighter logs to keep the heavier logs from
sinking. In securing the resources the lumberman is
particularly affected by climatic conditions, topography,
location, and the extent and nature of the forest.
4. Hunting and Trapping Activities
In sparsely populated regions the wild animal life may
be abundant and varied. As an area becomes densely
populated the wild animals gradually diminish. Man
determines what animals shall be exterminated and what
animals shall be domesticated and permitted to multiply
under his direction. Wild animals furnish food for the
table and furs and skins for clothing.
5. Fishing Activities
The ocean currents are laden with multitudes of
microscopic forms which are an appropriate food supply
for the larger aquatic animals. The banks or shallower
THE PRACTICAL NATURE CF GEOGRAPHY n
parts of the ocean are the best fishing grounds. The
Newfoundland Banks have become one of the leading
fishing grounds of the world. Half a century ago many
fish were caught in the inland waters of the United
States. In many places fishing no longer is profitable.
Man has emptied the sewage into the streams to such an
extent that fish cannot live, or he has fished so recklessly
that the fish have been almost exterminated. It has been
necessary to establish hatcheries and to enact laws regard-
ing fishing and the pollution of streams. Through such
constructive measures it is hoped that the inland waters
will again contribute substantially to the nation's food
supply.
6. Mining Activities
Numerous minerals are eagerly sought. While almost
all minerals have a wide distribution, only in restricted
places have most of them been concentrated in quanti-
ties sufficient for profitable extraction. Inventions and
discoveries have aided in the use of low grades of ore.
When prices for the products are high many mines can
be operated that must be closed when prices are low.
Old mines are being exhausted and new mines are being
opened. A half century ago Missouri mnked high in the
production of iron ore. Large quantities of ore were
secured from Iron Mountain, Pilot Knob, and adjoining
areas. Carondelet, now a part of St. Louis, was an active
iron and steel center. Missouri has become relatively
unimportant not because the iron ores are exhausted
but because of the discovery of the superior ores of
Minnesota and because of the excellent transportation
12 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
via the Great Lakes to the coke produced in Pennsyl-
vania. Recently the perfecting of a process that will
permit the making of a high-grade coke from Illinois
coal has suggested the probability that the St. Louis
industrial area will again become a great iron and steel
center. Illinois coke will be used, and the iron ore of
Minnesota will be brought to St. Louis via the Mississippi
River. Redistribution of people, changing needs and
wants, changing values, and inventions and discoveries
are constantly bringing about a readjustment of man to
the mineral resources.
7. Manufacturing Activities
In the preceding lines of activity the influence of the
physical environment was marked. An adjustment of
man in order that he might secure as much as possible
from nature's storehouses was emphasized. In the manu-
facture of commodities man is less subject to the chang-
ing conditions of nature, as uncontrollable variability is
less pronounced. While the environment is very signifi-
cant, the viewpoint shifts from the influence of nature
over man to the influence of man over the raw materials
of industry. In the production of wheat the cycle of
growth is determined by nature, and man simply attempts
to make the environment of the seed and of the plant as
favorable as possible. In the manufacture of flour from
wheat man determines the various steps resulting in the
changed form and nature of the wheat grains. Every
manufacturing industry may be studied profitably from
the standpoint of (1) machinery used, (2) processes,
(3) sources and nature of raw materials, (4) how the
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 13
raw materials are secured and transported, (5) disposi-
tion of the finished product, (6) factors under the con-
trol of man, and (7) factors subject to forces outside of
man's control. In every instance there is a close relation-
ship between the activities involved in securing raw
materials and the manufacturing industries. This inter-
dependence should be emphasized.
8. Transporting Activities
The resources of the earth are irregularly distributed.
Man's needs and wants are becoming more nearly the
same everywhere. Only through the redistribution of
materials is it possible to meet this broadening demand.
Transportation by land, water, and air has been improved
to such an extent that it has been possible to produce
fruits, vegetables, and various other highly perishable
commodities far from the centers of consumption. At one
time, before the invention of refrigerators, it was imprac-
ticable to ship meats from Argentina across the hot belt
to Europe. So dependent is a large city, as New York or
Chicago, on transportation facilities that, should the
transportation system break down, actual want and suffer-
ing would stare the people in the face inside of a week.
Nature has exerted a powerful influence, largely topo-
graphic, over the transportation lines not only through
the invitation extended to use her oceans, lakes, and
rivers but through favorable or unfavorable topographic
conditions affecting the constructing of railroads.
The explorers, traders, and early settlers of the New
World penetrated the interior by means of the water-
ways. Various trails, developed supplemental to the
14 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
waterways, followed the most favorable topographic
lines. The French rapidly occupied large parts of the
St. Lawrence and Mississippi basins because of the rela-
tive ease with which they could travel from place to place
on the numerous navigable streams. When a substan-
tial movement of people from the Atlantic seaboard to
the interior began, the Ohio River, with its navigable
tributaries, became a great transportation artery. Numer-
ous trails across the Appalachian barrier were established.
The famous Wilderness Road, extending through Cum-
berland Gap to the fertile lands of Kentucky, was used
by thousands of pioneers.
In the early construction of railroads the most favor-
able topographic lines were followed. As the need for
more transportation facilities has grown, and as man has
learned more and more how to overcome unfavorable
topographic barriers, the earlier valley roads in many
instances have been shortened and competitive lines,
piercing the mountains by means of tunnels and cuts and
crossing the valleys by means of trestles and fills, have
been built to shorten the distances between important
commercial and manufacturing centers.
Owing to the advantages of rail transportation, supple-
mented in some instances by unfair competition, the
waterways of the country fell into relative disuse. As the
natural resources have been developed the railroads have
been gradually overtaxed, which has led to a revival of
interest in the waterways, and numerous steps have been
taken looking toward their improvement. The transition
from the dominant use of the waterways to the dominant
use of railroads, and the present tendency toward a
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 15
maximum use of both railroads and waterways, illus-
trates how a gradual increase in the mastery of earth
resources may bring about a readjustment of transporta-
tion routes.
9. Professional Activities
In a highly developed society specialization of labor
becomes so pronounced that there are many people, as
lawyers, doctors, ministers, and teachers, who do not
secure their livelihood directly from mother earth, or
even by refashioning the raw materials of industry, or by
transporting commodities. Indirectly such people depend
on earth resources by serving certain needs of members
of the social group, who are thus dependent. Such activi-
ties are decidedly social, but they should be considered
in relation to the basic industries on which they depend.
Many of the problems that arise among professional peo-
ple, moreover, require geographic knowledge for their
interpretation.
The lawyer may consult the Weather Bureau records
to ascertain the condition of the weather at the time of
an accident ; the doctor may make a study of different
climates with respect to their effects on various diseases ;
the minister may study the geography of Palestine in
order that he may understand the environmental condi-
tions under which the Jewish and Christian religions were
evolved ; and the teacher may make a study of the air
of the schoolroom — its temperature, its humidity, and
temperature and humidity variations — with reference to
the promotion of the health of the children.
1 6 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
10. Investment Activities
Under modern conditions many individuals accumulate
capital. There is always a desire to invest the capital
safely, but at the same time to secure a high rate of
interest. The more doubtful securities frequently bear
the highest rates of interest. Investors frequently are
induced by unscrupulous promoters to place their funds
in propositions that are almost inevitable failures. If oil
stock is before the investor, a knowledge of the conditions
under which oil occurs and the areal distribution of prob-
able oil-producing territory is desirable. If swamp lands
are to be reclaimed, if an area is to be reforested, if a
fruit orchard is to be set out, or if a pecan grove is to be
established, in every instance the individual will have
a better background for investing intelligently if he
knows the physical conditions that must be dealt with
in carrying out the project.
ii. Middleman Activities
A large part of our population is concerned with the
bridging of the gap between producer and ultimate con-
sumer. The merchant should purchase goods accord-
ing to varying seasonal demands. He displays goods
according to the particular needs. He must draw on vari-
ous parts of the earth for his stock. He buys for future
or for immediate needs according to his judgment of
future prices. He should have an intelligent perspective
of his line back to the raw materials and the conditions
under which they are produced, and a forward perspec-
tive to the consumers and their probable needs.
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 17
RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES
As man's mastery of the earth has increased, nature's
forces have done much of the work that formerly was
done with human energy. The number of hours of voca-
tional work for man has decreased. More time is avail-
able for recreational activities. The need for recreational
grounds close to nature, where many pleasant strolls
amidst beautiful scenes is possible, where there are
animals to hunt and fish to catch, and where there is no
"maddening crowd," is acute. Some areas are valued
because of their low temperatures, because of cool nights,
because of the stimulating air of high altitudes, because
of the cool, salty breeze, or because of the inviting surf.
In other instances the recreational needs are indirectly
related to nature. Numerous games, as tennis, baseball,
and golf, are played, picture shows and operas are patron-
ized, and social intercourse with friends is welcomed. In
either case — whether it is nature beckoning to man or
whether it is man refashioning nature — the relationship
of man to environing nature is the essential viewpoint.
A grave danger at the present time lies in the fact that
people do not know how to use their spare time. This
danger is every year increasing as laborers shorten their
working hours. The teacher has numerous opportunities
to teach the pupils how to employ their leisure time desir-
ably. The geography teacher has a splendid opportunity
to implant a love for industry, an interest in one's fellow
man, a desire to create, a passion for growing things, a
liking for woods and fields and sky, and a craving for
travel and travel literature.
1 8 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Every citizen should be actively interested in the politi-
cal problems and the social policies of our country. An
intelligent voter in a recent bond-issue election in St.
Louis required considerable geographic knowledge in rela-
tion to the proposed improvement of the River des Peres,
in relation to the proposed improvement in transporta-
tion by the construction of an approach to the Free
Bridge, the completion of the Municipal Railway, and
the construction of a second municipal pier.
Our legislators must pass many laws bearing on con-
servation of natural resources, reclamation of arid and
swamp lands, the disposition of public lands, the improve-
ment of waterways, and commercial relations with other
countries. In the long run the legislators will vote accord-
ing to public sentiment. It is the function of government
to attempt to establish and preserve desirable social rela-
tions, but these relations in turn are inextricably inter-
woven with the economic foundation and the physical
environment. A sound public policy cannot be adopted
for our natural resources until the voters have an intelli-
gent conception of constructive measures that should be
enacted. Consequently a knowledge of geography is a
necessary preparation for the exercise of effective
political citizenship.
What is geography? Geography is concerned with
the discovery and interpretation of the relations between
the physical environment and life forms. The physical
environment, if geographically considered, includes the
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 19
controls of nature that take place largely apart from the
dominating intellectual control of man. The more impor-
tant controls are location, area, topography, drainage,
structure, climate, plant forms, and animal forms. Man's
response to the laws of nature, whether he is a mere slave
to them or whether he directs the forces of nature along
certain channels, is decidedly geographic. The reaction
of man on man, when the intellect exercises the dominat-
ing control, is less characteristically geographic, although
geographic factors are basic even in highly socialized
situations.
Place geography the unifying factor. All activities of
man are fundamentally geographic, and there is a geo-
graphic viewpoint for every subject and for every topic.
The subject of geography gives the student the geographic
viewpoint of life. If the province of geography was
merely to indicate the geographic influences that help to
explain other subjects, there would be no general need for
geography apart from other subjects, although a person
specializing on the geographic side of subjects undoubt-
edly could aid materially in securing the proper emphasis
of geographic factors. The organizing viewpoint for the
subject of geography is the relationship of life forms and
the physical environment in such a way that the sum total
of physical factors is seen functioning as an interacting
complex on the life forms, which also are reacting accord-
ing to their particular tendencies.
The organization of the geographic field is focused
about what may be variously termed place, locational,
areal, or regional geography — not mere place geography
in the sense of location on the earth's surface, but places
20 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
located relationally in such a way that the significant
interrelationships are discovered and interpreted. The
old sailor geography, therefore, was a natural step point-
ing in the direction of the relational, interpretative
geography of the present.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Make a list of the occupations in which your friends are
engaged and indicate the various ways that they serve each other.
Show the fundamental relationship of all these occupations to
earth resources.
2. Make a list of recreations in which you have engaged and note
the physical influences involved in each instance.
3. Make a list of political issues of present importance and sug-
gest any physical or earth influences that may be involved.
4. Make a list of the raw materials that have been used (a) in
the construction of the building in which you live, (b) in the manu-
facture of the clothing that you possess, (c) in the preparations of a
meal. Indicate the probable source of origin of each material and
suggest the various vocations that were involved in making the
material available in its present form.
5. Imagine yourself the manager of some economic enterprise and
indicate the various ways that geography may affect your business.
6. A recent educational article appeared entitled "The Recon-
struction of the Course of Study on a Social Basis." Would the
expression "The Social Reconstruction of the Course of Study on
a Physical Basis" more nearly represent the correct viewpoint?
Selected References:
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. The Teaching of Geography,
chap. i. pp. I-l 5.
Dryer, C. R. "What is Geography?" Journal of Geography
(1905), Vol. IV, pp. 34 p '-3 r, °-
Fairbanks, If. W. "A New Definition of Geography," Journal
of Geography (1919), Vol. XVIII, pp. [85-188.
THE PRACTICAL NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY 21
Fenneman, N. M. "The Circumference of Geography," Geographi-
cal Review (1919), Vol. VII, pp. 168-176. Synopsis in Journal
of Geography ( 1 9 1 9), Vol. XVIII, pp. 148-150.
Goode, J. Paul. " The Practical Value of Geography," American
Schoolmaster (1920), Vol. LIX, pp. 236-244.
McMurry, Charles. Special Method in Geography, chap, i,
pp. 1-14.
Packard, L. O. " Geography and Reconstruction in Education,"
Journal of Geography (191 9), Vol. XVIII, pp. 24-28.
Peattie, Roderick. "The New Geography," Educational Review
(1919), Vol. LVIII, pp. 420-430.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, i,
pp. 17-27; chap, vii, pp. 95-109.
Thomas, Helen Goss. "The New Geography," Educational
Review (1920), Vol. LIX, pp. 236-244.
Whitbeck, R. H. " The Need of Broad-Gauge Courses in Geog-
raphy," School Review (191 8), Vol. XXVI, pp. 199-204.
CHAPTER II
THE EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE
EMPHASIZING THE DEVELOPMENT OF
CIVILIZATIONS
The modern world different from the primitive world.
Primitive man was largely a creature of his immediate
environment. He subsisted on the accidental products of
nature and only incidentally affected his environment. If
nature was kind he prospered ; if nature was cruel he
suffered. Today, what a marked contrast! Man has
learned how to make the forces of nature serve him, how
to increase the production of desirable plants and animals,
how to extract minerals from the earth, how to minimize
the ravages of disease, and how to refashion and redis-
tribute the resources of the earth according to his varying
needs and wants.
Man's relations to his physical environment. The
assumption is frequently made that mind plays upon mind
and determines man's relations to his physical environ-
ment. This emphasis of the influence of mind over nature
tends to thrust into the background the overwhelming in-
fluence of the physical environment over man not only
in stimulating him to think but also in influencing his
decisions. Even in the instances that man seemingly has
risen superior to his environment, the previous physical
environment has been prominent in developing the needed
intellectual ability. Not the least fascinating of topics is
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 23
the story of the constant stimulus and control exerted by
nature in making possible the wonderful advancement of
man.
Beginnings of civilization in favorable regions. It is
probable that the human race, while in a low state of
development, was widely distributed over the earth's sur-
face. The commission of a crime, the presence of power-
ful enemies, a curiosity to explore, a famine, the pressure
of increasing population, and the confusion of travelers
concerning the way are some of the factors that might
have induced people to brave the unknown dangers of sea,
desert, plateau, and mountain in an endeavor to escape
punishment or oppression or to better their status.
Since nature rarely forces man to act, an important
civilization would scarcely have developed in every favor-
able area. In those areas presenting the most favorable
environments, however, other conditions being equal, we
should expect to find the most rapid development. Among
the factors that influenced human evolution are (1) loca-
tion, (2) protection, (3) area, (4) soil, and (5) the
necessity for the working out of group projects.
LOCATION
In low latitudes, amid the favorable conditions of high
temperatures and heavy rainfall, a great variety and
abundance of both plant and animal forms are found
throughout the year. The climate is enervating, numerous
diseases sap the vitality of man, insects are annoying, and
nature is so prodigal in supplying the needs of man that
the necessity of taking thought for the morrow — or at
24 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
least the stimulus for such thought, and particularly for
an extended period of time — is all but eliminated. Where
man's fundamental needs were cared for readily and con-
tinuously, and where the control of prodigal nature was
extraordinarily difficult, there was little stimulus to great
mental activity. In the higher latitudes, on the other
hand, the low temperatures and meager rainfall are
unfavorable for the existence, in the same variety and
abundance, of life forms so common in equatorial regions.
Nature is almost parsimonious in her gifts to man. Be-
cause of this inhospitable environment and the difficulties
of improving it, the energies of man are consumed in
providing for a bare existence. In neither equatorial nor
polar latitudes, therefore, are conditions very favorable.
In dry desert regions, with an inadequate water supply,
not only are the problems involved too great to be solved
by man emerging from a primitive state, but even today
these fields remain largely unconquered by man.
If a region existed in which the climate for a part of
the year was favorable for an abundance of life forms,
followed by a period of drought due to lack of rainfall or
proper temperatures not too long or severe, the necessity
during the period of plenty of laying by supplies for the
period of want would have stimulated man to exercise
forethought. The beginnings of civilization, therefore,
might be expected in intermediate latitudes (where the
growing period alternates with the winter season ) or in an
area (as in parts of the trade-wind deserts) where for a
part of the year rainfall is sufficient or irrigation is pos-
sible. Since the land mass of the Southern Hemisphere
in intermediate latitudes is very limited, while in the
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 25
Northern Hemisphere it extends over large areas, the
chances were in favor of more centers of civilization de-
veloping in the Northern Hemisphere.
PROTECTION
A group of people surrounded by other groups, with no
natural physical protection, may be forced to devote too
much of its energy to protective purposes. Adequate
physical protection leaves the group free to devote all
its energies to internal development. The sea, the desert,
and large plateaus have been the three very formidable
barriers.
AREA
The area should be large enough to permit an impor-
tant group development, but not so large that the energies
are scattered.
SOIL
Excellent soil which will encourage agricultural rather
than pastoral activities is necessary.
GROUP PROJECTS
If there is occasion for working out group projects not
too difficult, as irrigating systems, the social development
may be greatly stimulated.
The valley civilizations. The Nile valley met the con-
ditions necessary to encourage a beginning. The valley —
a long, narrow depression five to ten miles in width — was
large enough to support many people, although it was not
26 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
so large but that a community of interests was readily-
established. The valley at one time was much deeper, but
conditions had changed so that a large quantity of fine
material, giving rise to an excellent soil, was deposited.
One of the major sources of the Nile is in the lake region
near the equator, where heavy rains are characteristic of
the whole year. The flow of the Nile, therefore, is con-
stant. Another large tributary, the Blue Nile, originates
in the plateau of Abyssinia, where the rainfall is heavy
but seasonal. At the time of year that the greatly in-
creased volume is added to the White Nile, the lower Nile
overflows its banks, depositing a fine mantle of rich soil
on the flood plain and providing the water necessary for
crop production. The valley is depressed with reference
to the barrier desert lands on the east and the west, which
results in a sharp transition from verdure to barrenness.
On the south not only did desert conditions prevail, but
the ruggedness of the country and dangerous rapids in the
river prevented ready contact with people to the south.
On the north lay the Mediterranean Sea, a formidable
barrier to man just beginning to emerge from very primi-
tive conditions. The temperature was warm throughout
the year, but the rainfall was negligible. Dependent on
the annual flood of the Nile, the people found it neces-
sary to exercise forethought in storing up foods for the
period of the year when agriculture was at a minimum.
In the Tigris-Euphrates valleys similar conditions
existed, but in a varying degree. There were numerous
small areas separated from other parts of the valley by
swamps, too wet for roads but too dry for boats. With
increasing need for land the swamps were gradually
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 27
drained, and with the barriers removed the smaller com-
munities were cemented into a larger group. While a
winter precipitation was dominant, the melting snows of
the higher tributaries favorably affected the summer flow.
Unlike the Nile, the valleys were not depressed much
below the adjoining areas, which facilitated irrigation.
Neither were the adjoining desert conditions quite so pro-
nounced, but a sparse pastoral population adjoined the
valley population and formed a slender thread of contact
with other peoples. The people, therefore, were not
isolated to the same extent as the people of Egypt, and
foreign influences were correspondingly greater. In times
of relative scarcity elsewhere the rich valleys were always
a tempting prize.
The Assyrians, living in an area with very restricted
opportunities, naturally looked longingly on the better-
favored parts of the valley, and, spurred on by physical
necessity and later by a desire to secure those things
which nature had taught them were valuable, engaged
in a policy of conquest until much of southwestern
Asia was under their control. Their conquests, how-
ever, were effected and maintained by force, and as soon
as opportunity offered, the centralized government was
overthrown.
Contact between people of the Nile and people of
Mesopotamia seems to have been established through the
accidental meeting of parties seeking for copper or other
valuable materials in the intervening desert. The ex-
change of materials and ideas resulting was a mutual
benefit in stimulating still further development. Be-
tween the two civilizations ways determined largely
28 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
by topographic and desert conditions were discovered.
The narrowest part of the desert lay between Egypt and
the coastal plain of Palestine. The people of Palestine —
particularly those of the coast and of Samaria and Lower
Galilee living along the most important of the ways —
naturally were stimulated by contact with the caravans.
The Mediterranean civilization. It can hardly be a
coincidence that the Phoenicians began the commercial
conquest of the Mediterranean from its eastern end. The
stimulating influence of the fluvial civilizations, with their
moderate utilization of rivers as transportation carriers,
may have been significant. The coast of the Phoenicians
was irregular, offering numerous landing places for small
vessels, the adjoining mountains had meager resources,
while the sea beckoned. The numerous islands of the
eastern Mediterranean were stepping-stones, and the cau-
tious mariners crept from place to place along the coasts.
Gradually the Phoenicians became acquainted with the
various parts of the Mediterranean, and a considerable
commerce was developed. As the Mediterranean became
better known and as other groups of people became organ-
ized and advanced, the center of Mediterranean influence
tended to shift to the central part — first to Greece and
later to Rome. Further acquaintance with the sea and
improvements in the art of navigation enabled the seamen
to disregard the coasts and to sail directly across the sea
from one part to another.
Not only were the Romans, in part because of their
central location and relatively large body of compact,
desirable land, able to control the Mediterranean, but
through their extensive construction of good roads they
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 29
were able to exert a unifying influence on large land
areas. It was the individual initiative and ability of the
Macedonian, Philip the Great, that enabled him to con-
quer much of the known world, but it was the general
ability of the Romans that enabled them for a long time
to control the Mediterranean and, in addition, to extend
their operations northward through the Rhone gateway
until all of western Europe even unto England was under
their control.
As the geographic factors began to function differently,
the Roman Empire gradually declined. The eastern part
of the Mediterranean, by reason of distance from the
ocean, earlier civilization, numerous islands, and relations
to Asia, was different from the western section. Western
Europe was broken up into numerous groups mainly
determined by topographic conditions. From the large
plains of Eurasia to the northeast restless hordes threat-
ened the Empire. Necessity for defense had influenced
the martial ability of the Romans ; with the enemies far
removed to the northeast the Romans lost much of this
ability. With the breaking up of the Empire, naturally
the strongest capital was established at Constantinople
nearer the danger points.
The Romans had exerted a powerful influence on
numerous units of people, each of which had been dis-
tinctively civilized. With the removal of the strong,
centralized government western and southern Europe con-
tained numerous groups which, struggling among them-
selves, moved in the direction of relative stability. The
varied physical features gave rise to varied adjustments
which tended to develop and maintain distinct groups of
30 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
people, but at the same time the various groups, through
interchange of ideas, learned from each other.
The closing of the route to the Orient. In the mean-
time a wild, courageous, cruel, aggressive people — the
product of their environment in the semiarid steppes of
Asia — overswept southwestern Asia and intercepted the
profitable commerce that had been carried on between
Europe and Asia. To these people the Mohammedan re-
ligion, advocating religious conquest by the sword, made
a strong appeal. Under their fanatical activities south-
western Asia was rapidly conquered, and a spur extended
eastward to India and, creeping along the southern shore
of the Mediterranean, they even occupied the southern
part of Spain.
The ordinary routes to Asia were so firmly held that the
commercial cities of Italy, whose greatness had been due
to the commerce with Asia carried on by way of the Red
Sea, Mesopotamia, or the Caspian Sea, declined, and all
Europe was affected. Naturally the question persistently
arose, Is there no other practicable route to the Indies?
To the south was the great land mass of Africa, which
popular superstition had bounded on the south by a great
river. Perhaps it would be possible to sail around this
land mass and thus reach the Indies. From time to time
various thinkers had expressed their belief in the sphe-
ricity of the earth. If this were true, the mysterious Atlan-
tic to the west of Europe also might offer another route to
the Orient. There had been no adequate testing of these
theories because ( i ) man had not advanced sufficiently to
deal with the more difficult problems involved, and (2) in
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 31
the course of human evolution the Mediterranean, west-
ern Europe, and eastward relations with the Orient had
absorbed most of the energies. At the time that the
hordes were pouring out of central Asia, however, not only
was there a need of finding some other way to the Orient,
but the advancement that had been made was sufficient
to stimulate explorations.
It was not a coincidence that the two countries of the
Iberian Peninsula made the most earnest attempts to find
these new ways. On one side of this peninsula was the
Mediterranean Sea, which was well known ; on another
side was the Atlantic, with its more difficult problems.
The people of the peninsula came under the influence of
both bodies of water, and the experiences with the one
were used in the conquest of the other. The Portuguese,
pushing southward and encouraged by the gold, ivory, and
slaves secured from Africa, finally rounded the continent
and began a profitable trade with the Orient.
The New World. The discovery of the New World
and the Cape of Good Hope route to India nerved men
for still greater accomplishments, and Magellan con-
clusively established the unity of the oceans. The Portu-
guese route to the Orient alone was practicable. The
Spaniards, finding the route to the Indies too long, eagerly
explored the New World for gold and silver. Taking
advantage of the northeast trades, they discovered and
occupied islands of the West Indies, from which bases
the mainland was explored. Expeditions penetrated far
into the interior of North America without discovering
valuable products. Southward the Spaniards were more
32 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
successful. In the tropical highlands of Mexico and South
America the natives, stimulated by a favorable environ-
ment, had developed a high type of Indian civilization.
Precious metals had been concentrated in these moun-
tainous regions, and the Indians had accumulated large
quantities.
The Spaniards, with their superior control of energy,
were able quickly to conquer the Indians. The Andes
Mountains became a center of operations because the
climate was more favorable than in the hot, humid low-
lands adjoining, and because the precious metals were in
the mountainous sections. Gradually the Spaniards came
to exercise a dominant control over the whole of South
America with the exception of Brazil. The Portuguese
had sailed east, the Spaniards west, and the Pope in
separating the east from the west had drawn the line in
such a way that Brazil belonged to Portugal. Latin
America, relatively, has progressed slowly, in part as a
result of unfavorable physical conditions — particularly
climate and dependent factors. In those small areas with
climatic conditions similar to those of the United States
the greatest progress has been made.
Progress in Eurasia. The other countries of western
Europe became interested in the use of the Atlantic. The
hinterland of the Portuguese was limited, and spices had
to be distributed from other ports. The Rhine offered a
passage into the heart of Europe. Holland and Belgium
commanded its mouth. The Dutch, encouraged by
numerous islands and shallow seas, engaged in the fish-
ing industry. Ear from the seat of Roman Catholic in-
fluence, the Dutch also quickly had become Protestants.
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 33
The Spaniards with their gold had purchased materials
and engaged men. Columbus was an Italian ; Magellan
was a Portuguese. The Dutch, to a greater extent, used
their own energy and soon had secured much of the trade
that the Portuguese had initiated. Holland was too small,
however, to withstand the competition of larger countries
with similar advantages.
Paris, strategically located with respect to the water-
ways of France and at the narrowing of the Seine where
the Norsemen were repelled, became the influential center
of France. The policies of France were swayed in part
by the invitation to expand eastward, in part by the
influence of the sea. This division of interest, while lead-
ing to the downfall of the sea power of Holland, so weak-
ened France that she was unable to compete successfully
for ocean power against Britain, whose insular location
made her interest in the sea supreme. Diversity of physi-
cal features gave rise to different groups, but the insular
unit finally prevailed, and Britain gained the ocean
control.
In the meantime agricultural communities were estab-
lished in the forests of Russia, and gradually, with an
effective political organization, they were able to overrun
the adjoining steppes. Russia had aspirations to secure
better seaports, which has brought her into difficulties
with other countries, as Sweden, Japan, England, and
Turkey.
Modern Germany has a central location and diversified
features. It has constantly been affected by different
groups pressing in on various sides. Through a strong, cen-
tralized government Germany has effected an enormous
34 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
saving of energy, the diversion of which to war purposes
has resulted in the present downfall of Germany and her
allies.
Europe, influenced by its diversity of physical features
and irregular outline, had several important population
centers. These groups of people, without the improved
transportation facilities which permitted the coherent
development of the United States, and without the large
simple natural units, developed in relative isolation. Dif-
ferent groups developed varying ideals, customs, and
languages. In the course of time, through the fortunes
of war, migrations, assimilations, and marriages, the
political units came to differ widely from the ethnographic
units. Poland, for example, against the wishes of the
Poles, was arbitrarily divided among the countries of
Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany. In spite of the
political changes the different groups of people tended to
preserve their identities and to hope for a restoration of
their political powers.
With the outbreak of the war political and racial
antagonisms were intensified. With the completion of
the war an attempt was made to rearrange the boundary
lines of the countries and to establish new countries,
primarily along ethnic and physical lines. Each of the
groups of people occupied some distinctive natural region,
although in the absence, in many instances, of pronounced
topographic barriers the groups had intermingled on the
margins in such a way as to make the determination of
the most desirable boundary lines extraordinarily difficult.
The Poles and the Magyars occupy river basins ; the
Austrians, the Czechoslovaks, and the Jugoslavs occupy
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 35
mountainous areas. Under modern conditions natural
boundary lines are of minor significance. Temporarily
the national spirit of the various groups has been greatly
intensified, and numerous disputes have arisen. Each
group needs to recognize the natural region basis for its
political independence and to develop its unit in an effi-
cient manner. Instead of coveting its neighbor's terri-
tory, each group needs to arrange for an exchange of
commodities and ideas that will be mutually beneficial.
Unless the various groups can arrange an economic and
social balance among themselves, further dissensions and
conflicts are almost inevitable unless some superior organ-
ization can restrain them. The problems of Europe sug-
gest that the social and political groups of the world are
not yet in equilibrium either with respect to the economic
resources of the world or with respect to each other.
Chinese civilization was cradled in the Wei valley of
the Hwang. It gradually spread down the valley to the
great Hwang and, helped by the uniformity of physical
conditions and opportunities, overspread a large area,
giving rise to similar adaptations everywhere. In India,
subject to wave after wave of people coming by sea from
the East Indies and by land through the passes of the
northwest, there are many physical units, and many local
governments have been formed, capable of being united
only by some outside power, as Great Britain.
The United States dependent upon natural resources
and upon other countries. Varying types of civilization
have developed in different parts of the world. In each
case earth influences have been marked, although with in-
creasing development these influences have factored both
36 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
directly and indirectly, giving rise to very complex situa-
tions difficult to interpret. The wonderful progress of the
United States has been possible, in part because of the
successive racial experiences in Egypt, Babylonia, Pales-
tine, the Mediterranean Sea region, and western Europe ;
in part by reason of the large topographic provinces, the
varied and abundant resources, and the favorable climate.
Favored by nature as much as northwest Europe, Amer-
ica, profiting from experience, has had less economic
and social machinery to scrap and, taking advantage of
latest inventions, has forged ahead. America owes much
to nature and to other people. Is it not a part of the
divine plan that in the evolution of the human race Amer-
ica, in turn, with a perfected experience, shall help other
countries to develop and shall lead the world through a
perfecting of parts, through an exchange of commodities
and ideas, and through a sympathetic understanding to
a higher level ?
The wonderful future. Gradually the earth has come
to be related as one organic whole through the discov-
eries and inventions that have been made. "It may be
said that in its widest sense on its material side history
is the story of man's increasing ability to control energy." 5
While remarkable advances have been made, the geo-
graphic conquest has just begun. There are large areas of
the earth that man uses but little ; for example, the great
tropical forests, the cold deserts, and the hot deserts. If
man can control or mitigate the effects of adverse fac-
tors in such regions as the Amazon and Kongo basins,
there may in time be a readjustment of populations, since
1 James Fairgrieve, Geography and World Power, pp. 3-4.
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE 37
plant and animal life, the food of man, are found in great
abundance. Large populations may be concentrated in
now barren desert wastes if an economical way can be
found of utilizing and storing the sun's energy. It seems
probable that the human race is on one of the steepest
slopes of evolution, and the mind is awed with wonder at
the potential discoveries and inventions of the future,
which may make man more nearly "lord of creation."
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Imagine yourself a person with your present physical body but
with no more intelligence than is possessed by some animal with
which you are acquainted. Indicate the hardships that you might
experience in protecting yourself and in supplying your needs.
2. On an outline map of Eurasia indicate the routes connecting
the Mediterranean countries of Europe with the Orient before the
discovery of the Portuguese route.
3. On an outline map of the world indicate the Portuguese route
by way of South Africa, and the Spanish route by way of the Strait
of Magellan. Imagine yourself with Vasco da Gama on his voyage
from Portugal to India or with Magellan on his trip around the
world and describe probable incidents of the journey.
4. Is the realignment of the political boundary lines of Europe a
retrogressive or a progressive step in relation to civilization ?
5. In the light of the development of civilizations and inequalities
in the distribution of earth resources, what should be the attitude of
every civilized being toward the establishment of a world-wide
understanding that will result in political stability?
6. Has the economic brotherhood of man already been estab-
lished? What relation may the long-desired social brotherhood of
man bear to the economic brotherhood ?
7. Beginning with the present relationships of man to earth
resources, indicate the possible changes, through inventions and
discoveries, during the next thousand years.
38 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Selected References :
Fairgrieve, James. Geography and World Power.
Gorgas, William Crawford. Sanitation in Panama (191 8), p. 298.
Holtz, Frederick L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geog-
raphy, pp. 290-308.
Huntington, Ellsworth. World Power and Evolution, p. 287.
Levine, Isaac Don. The Resurrected Nations, p. 309.
Redway, Jacques W. The New Basis of Geography, pp. 1-15.
Smith, J. Russell. The World's Food Resources.
Stoddard, Lothrop, and Frank, Glenn. Stakes of the War,
P- 377-
CHAPTER III
THE RELATION OF GEOGRAPHY TO OTHER
SUBJECTS
Geography a part of the world-whole of knowledge.
The people of each generation, through social inheritance,
have the accumulated knowledge of the past on which
they can draw for assistance. This knowledge, whether
accidentally or purposefully discovered, in so far as it has
functioned usefully, has been considered with reference
to life situations. In an attempt to pass on the social in-
heritance so that there will be no loss, and so that the
knowledge may be put to maximum use, it has been cus-
tomary to establish organizing centers about which ma-
terial representing a similar viewpoint may be clustered.
Numerous subjects, such as geography, history, and
mathematics, have been thus recognized. Geography has
been further subdivided into many parts, as mathemati-
cal, economic, political, regional, and locational geog-
raphy, each of which represents a particular viewpoint
within the field of this subject. Each special phase again
is divided and subdivided unto the last minor detail.
Any topic, consequently, is related to a larger topic and
to corresponding larger topics, in the last analysis forming
a part of a major organizing center, which gives rise to a
subject — geography — and which in turn has definite,
unavoidable relations with all other major organizing
centers or subjects.
39
40 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
It should not be forgotten that the various subjects
included in the curriculum are recognized for convenience
in desirably transmitting the more fundamental aspects
of the social inheritance. The teacher, consequently, is
interested not only in the development of the geographical
concept through a logical, well-graded arrangement of
geographical material, but also in the proper relating of
geography to other subjects in such a way that the sub-
ject will not be thought of in isolation, but as a coordinate
part, in common with other subjects, of the world-whole
of knowledge and a coordinate part of the knowledge of
the individual.
The "mutual assistance" of subjects. The university
student of geography, stirred with a strong desire to
interpret a topic geographically, may spend much time in
clarifying and elaborating this field of knowledge. He
may be interested in the study of geography in relative
isolation from other subjects in order that he may bring
out clearly the significance of this viewpoint. The teacher
is not interested in making any subject as a subject stand
out prominently in the child's mind, but she wishes the
pupil, through the various subjects, to establish a rational,
comprehensive contact with his social and physical en-
vironment. With this aim in mind she avails herself of
every desirable opportunity to draw on other subjects to
illuminate some geography topic, and she likewise is
glad to have other subjects reenforced through a liberal
use of geographical data.
The same topic a part of several subjects. Subjects
can be made of mutual assistance to each other with-
out necessarily losing their identity. The same topic
RELATION TO OTHER SUBJECTS 41
may be discussed in connection with several different
subjects. Japan may be discussed in history with refer-
ence to its development, culminating in the present.
Japan may be discussed in geography with reference to
the effects of the physical background in influencing the
present adjustments. A series of arithmetic problems
dealing with Japan may be solved by the arithmetic
class. The subject to which a given topic belongs is
dependent upon the particular or dominant viewpoint
taken in the discussion of the topic. In the handling of
topics in the classroom the geography teacher will draw
liberally on other subjects as needed, in order that the
pupil may secure a well-rounded view of the topic ; but
the geographical material must dominate and the material
of other subjects must merely "assist" in the develop-
ment of the topic or the teacher has ceased, temporarily
at least, to be a geography teacher.
Relation of tool and content subjects. Geography
(place) and history (time), comprehensively considered,
involve the total of human experience. While these sub-
jects are all-inclusive, many subjects have been con-
veniently recognized for the purpose of realizing the
aims of education.
Subjects have their raison d'etre in relation to time
(history) and place (geography) . The basic content
subjects of the school curriculum, therefore, are geog-
raphy and history. Other content subjects, however,
have been recognized for the purpose of accomplishing
specific aims; and, in addition, certain subjects, as writ-
ing, reading, spelling, and arithmetic, have been organ-
ized for the purpose of securing definite habits and skills.
42 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
History and geography offer the opportunity for the
securing of situations out of which the need for a mastery
of the formal subjects may arise. It is evident, then, that
while other subjects will react on geography and history
in a helpful way, the motive for interpreting geography
may be found in the situations of these subjects, while the
significant motive for the mastery of the tool subjects is
to be found in the need of mastering certain drills and
skills in order that the product may be more efficiently
and quickly used in the interpretation of content situa-
tions. Geography and history may be used in an im-
portant way in assisting the teacher to make the drill
subjects worth while and purposeful. In a minor way the
drill subjects may arouse an interest in the content sub-
jects. One does not naturally interpret a life situation,
however, in order that one may learn how to read, write,
and calculate, but one engages in drills in order that the
situations of life may be met more readily and effectively.
Geography and real life situations. The suggested rela-
tion between tool and content subjects is based on the
assumption that the topics selected for detailed study in
the content subjects represent natural situations. If geog-
raphy is taught as an academic subject, the need for the
subject, in turn, arises out of life situations. If life situa-
tions with a dominantly geographical basis are selected
for the geography course, and if the content of other sub-
jects is incidentally drawn on to illuminate the situation,
the need for the subject is found in the topics themselves.
To the extent that geography emphasizes only the physi-
cal background at the relative expense of correlative
social relations, the justification of the subject is found
RELATION TO OTHER SUBJECTS 43
in the study of the geography topic as a part of the com-
plete unit of work. Under these conditions it is not the
drill subjects but the more comprehensive real life situa-
tion that will furnish the relational interpretation that
makes academic geography meaningful. The present
tendency, as indicated elsewhere, is to select topics with
a strong geographical element and to study them as com-
plete units rather than to select topics for a one-sided
geographical interpretation.
Geography and the tool subjects. (1) Reading. The
teacher understands the importance of incorporating into
the reading lesson ideas that are related to the child's
interests and experiences. She draws on literature, his-
tory, civics, and geography. Since the child has become
acquainted on the functional side with the wants and
needs of man, — food, clothing, shelter, fuel, light, luxu-
ries, and transportation, — reading material based on these
experiences is utilized. The child has a keen interest in
children and their activities. Many of the selections,
therefore, are based on activities not only characteristic
of our own children but also of children of other
lands. The teacher of geography, while incidentally
interested in any geographical ideas aroused in connection
with reading, is fundamentally interested in the pupil's
reading skill as a basis for the unlocking of the great
storehouse of geographical material found in books, news-
papers, and magazines. The extensive reading involved
in the study of geography is invaluable in enlarging the
child's reading vocabulary.
(2) Spelling. The teacher, if her spelling period is to
yield the best returns, will attempt to secure words that
44 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
are used in other subjects. The geography course offers a
special opportunity to secure numerous words both of a
special and general nature. The geography teacher is
interested in correct spelling in connection with the child's
written expression of ideas. To the extent that the pupil
is unable to spell words needed in geography, the teacher
assists by placing the words on the board. The list of
words gradually secured in this way is sometimes used
for drill work during the spelling period.
(3) Writing. The teacher of writing, in securing words,
expressions, and sentences in which the child has an in-
terest, may draw on geographical experience. The geog-
raphy teacher may assist the writing teacher by insisting
that pupils shall write neatly and legibly. Unless a pupil
is held to a high standard of written self-expression in
other subjects he will tend to discount the value of either
spelling or writing. The geography teacher is keenly
interested in the ability of the child to express himself in a
clear, legible hand.
(4) English. In every subject correct written or oral
English should be stressed. The geography teacher should
be interested both in the content and in language as a
medium of expression. The geography content, however,
rather than the English form, will receive the major
emphasis. Too much attention to the form may retard
freedom of expression. It may be desirable, therefore,
to note some of the more common mistakes, to which
special attention may be given in the English lesson.
After the mistakes have been analyzed, the teacher of
other subjects should assist in breaking up the undesir-
able habits. Geography material may be used by the
RELATION TO OTHER SUBJECTS 45
English teacher as a means of enlarging the vocabulary,
improving the organization, and correcting wrong habits.
Any geography contribution of the English teacher, how-
ever, is incidental ; language improvement as a basis for
expression is fundamental.
( 5 ) Arithmetic. The arithmetic teacher no longer be-
lieves that a well-graded series of problems is sufficient.
He recognizes the desirability of organizing his problems
about life situations. The pupil's work is more highly
motivated because he thinks of arithmetic not merely as
a drill subject but as a means of developing an arithmet-
ical point of view in relation to life situations. Arithmetic,
functioning as a subject in relation to human problems,
tends to become more assuredly a part of the usable
knowledge of the student. Geography, concerned with
the adjustments of man to natural resources, offers
unusual opportunities, hitherto but little recognized, for
the selection and grouping of such problems about
geography centers.
The Wentworth-Smith School Arithmetics (Ginn and
Company) illustrate admirably the combination of care-
ful grading and worth-while problems drawn from life
situations. Geographical problems, illustrating the close
relations of arithmetic and geography, have been included.
In the chapter entitled "Introduction to Percentage"
(" School Arithmetic, Advanced Book," p. 139) is a page
of "Problems about Geography," including such prob-
lems as the following :
The area of Illinois is 56,600 sq. mi. approximately. Of this
63% is underlain with coal beds. How many square miles of
coal lands are there in the state?
46 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
The area of the United States is 3,600,000 sq. mi. approxi-
mately, and of this about yl% is in Texas and about 3.4%
is in New Mexico. Find the approximate number of square
miles in each of these states.
It will be noted that these problems not only teach
percentage but convey correct geographical impressions.
Thus the first problem emphasizes the abundant coal
supply of Illinois, which contributes so much to the indus-
trial development of the state, and the second compares
the relative sizes of Texas and New Mexico both by
per cents and by areas.
In teaching graphs we find such problems as the
following (p. 382) :
The population of the earth by continents in millions is
approximately as follows: Africa, 143; North America, 140;
South America, 56; Asia, 873; Australasia, 16; Europe, 465.
Draw a graph representing these facts.
By the time the student has completed the graph called
for in the problem he will have an effective conception of
the distribution of population.
In other parts of the same book the products of cer-
tain sections of the country are emphasized. Thus in a
group of problems on " Shipping Fruit" (p. 177) we have
the following :
The standard Florida orange box for shipping is 12 in. by
12 in. by 26^: in. How many cubic inches does it contain?
In shipping Georgia peaches a crate 8 in. by 12.J in. by
22 in. is used. This contains how much more than 1 bu.?
The geography teacher is eager that the child shall
have the ability to express himself in an arithmetical way.
RELATION TO OTHER SUBJECTS 47
The development of arithmetical skill in relation to geo-
graphical material enables the pupil, with a minimum of
effort, to apply his skill in the interpretation of geograph-
ical situations. The geography and arithmetic teachers
are mutually helpful. If the arithmetic pupil needs a geo-
graphical background, the arithmetic teacher gives him
the slight amount required, the dominant viewpoint being
arithmetical. If the pupil has already secured the neces-
sary geographical background, the arithmetic teacher
eagerly relates his work to the geographical material. In
the first instance the pupil's initial grasp of geography
may be given by the arithmetic teacher ; in the second
instance the value of the geography work is incidentally
impressed on the individual because of the use to which
it is put in arithmetic.
Content subjects. (1) History. As long as history was\
largely a mere chronological account of the significant \
happenings, geography was not drawn upon in an impor-
tant way. With a shift in emphasis to the interpretation /
of historic events, geography has been levied upon heavily. /
The inequalities in the distribution of nature's resources
— differences in climate, in topography, and in soils — have
influenced groups of people differently. The opposed
attitude of the North and the South toward slavery was
largely a reflection of a contrast in climatic conditions,
the resultant products of which made slavery profitable
in the South but unprofitable in the North. The pre-
dominance of manufacturing in New England has caused
this section to favor a high protective tariff. The pres-
ence of gold in California hastened the settlement of the
Pacific coast. The presence of the Appalachian barrier
48 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
kept the colonies concentrated along the Atlantic sea-
board until their strength was sufficient for larger con-
quests. The streams, forests, and prairies influenced the
development of America. Every military campaign or
battle becomes meaningful if interpreted in terms of
topography, climate, and resources.
In a corresponding way the geography teacher makes
use of history. An interpretation of a geographical situa-
tion is often inadequately presented unless, in addition
to the influence of the physical environment, the past
events bearing on the situation are also considered. A
geographical discussion of the development of a modern
city, as New York, may be interpreted in a strictly geo-
graphical way, but the topic is grasped more effectively
if the historical perspective of development is included.
Among other topics similarly in need of history may be
noted ( i ) transportation by river, canal, and rail, and
(2 ) economic production, as orange growing in California
and the raising of Egyptian cotton in the Imperial Valley.
The discussion of the geography of a country, as Mexico,
is one-sided from a unit standpoint unless the historical
explanation of the present unsatisfactory development is
included. A consideration of numerous topics of the new
Europe — for example, the poverty of present Austria, the
dying of Vienna, and the aspirations of the Poles —
requires a historical perspective. As long as history is
regarded as a study of the relations of peoples and their
progress, and geography is regarded as a study of the
interacting relations of man and the physical environ-
ment, the two subjects will be fundamentally helpful to
each other, but neither will be absorbed by the other.
RELATION TO OTHER SUBJECTS 49
(2) Literature. Literature becomes tinged with a
deeper meaning if the geographical background is properly-
developed. If the selection is a true account or has a basis
in fact, geography may aid literature much as it assists
history. Even though the selection is a construction of
the imagination, an understanding of the physical factors
involved — whether some aspect of nature, products, or
places — will add to the appreciation. In reenforcing the
geographical discussions the geography teacher may select
pieces of literature in which the geographical factors are
intimately involved. Geography, however, has much
more to contribute to literature than literature has to
contribute to geography.
Maintaining the geographical viewpoint. Each subject
represents an outlook over the great field of human knowl-
edge. An attempt is made to develop the arithmetical
outlook, the geographical outlook, and the historical out-
look. The geography teacher has a definite responsibility
in developing the geographical outlook, but, as has been
noted, this outlook can be adequately developed only by
relating the geography work to other subjects. If the
teacher permits the assisting subject to become predomi-
nant, however worthy the material under discussion may
be, she is lost. It is the business of the geography teacher
to find in the field of geography worth-while material for
discussion. She is interested in developing the individual
through the subject of geography, the other subjects
incidentally contributing. Through the appropriate use
of geographical material the teacher may hope to arouse
the pupil's interests in geography in relation to the devel-
opment of corresponding interests in other subjects.
50 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. (a) List some topic in geography and indicate how an adequate
discussion of the topic may require the assistance of other subjects,
and (b) list topics in other subjects that may be illuminated
through the use of the geography learned in the discussion of the
topic.
2. Which of the school subjects can be most helpfully related
to geography ? Give reasons for your selection.
3. List a geographical topic and show how, through a discussion,
the class may gradually digress until the discussion has become a
part of another subject. Suggest how the teacher, if digression is
threatened, may keep the class in the field of geography.
4. Select a topic and show that it may be considered from (a) a
geographical viewpoint, (b) a historical viewpoint, (c) an arith-
metical viewpoint, and (d) a language viewpoint.
Selected References :
Armstrong, T. H. " Relation of Geography to the Other Studies
in the Elementary Course of Study,'' Education (1903),
Vol. XXIII, pp. 331-336-
CHAMBERLAIN', James F. " Literary Selections as an Aid in Teach-
ing Geography," Journal of Geography (191 6), Vol. XV,
pp. 9-16.
Cockburn, Sir John. " Geography as a Correlating Center,"
Educational Foundations (1904), p. 193.
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. The Teaching of Geography,
chap, vii, pp. 9S-1 1 1.
Emerson, Philip. " Primary Geography and Reading,'' Journal
of Geography (1914), Vol. XIII, pp. 89-91.
Holt/., Frkoerick L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geog-
raphy, chap. xxi. pp. 273—289.
Makindkr, II. J. "Development of Geography out of Nature
Study,'' Educational Foundations (1904), Vol. XVI, p. 194.
McMukrv, Charles. Special Method in Geography, chap, viii,
pp. I I 7-1 2<S.
Sutherland, William J. The Teaching of Geography, chap, iv,
pp. 52-63 : chap. v. pp. 63-80.
CHAPTER IV
THE EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD
Status of geography method before the World War.
For some years before the outbreak of the World War
lecturers had frequently spoken of the u new geography."
The leaders of geographical thought had already noted the
shortcomings of descriptive geography, of fact geography,
and of place geography. The emphasis had been shifted
to relational and interpretative geography. Mere descrip-
tion of the location, area, topography, soils, and climate
of a region was insufficient. The "new geography"
involved an interpretation of the relations that man sus-
tained with his environment. The facts of geography were
still necessary, and a good memory remained a valuable
human asset, but information was related to interpretation.
The "old geography" had been organized according to a
standard outline : (i) location, (2) area, (3) topography,
(4) climate, (5) life forms, and (6) human activities. Any
area under discussion was ordinarily developed with the
aid of this outline or some similar outline. With the shift-
ing of emphasis from informational to interpretative geog-
raphy, as represented by the "new geography," the
standard outline was retained, and an endeavor was made
to ascertain the influence of each physical factor upon
human activities. The retention of the standard-outline
organization of physical factors is readily understood
51
52 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
when it is remembered that geography in this country-
has secured its impetus in large part from teachers of
natural sciences, particularly geologists. At the outbreak
of the World War the old topical outline of place and
description had been vitalized by relating these topics in
a meaningful way to mankind.
Status of geography method during the World War.
With the outbreak of the World War the people of the
United States became much interested in the European
situation. As the United States was gradually drawn into
the struggle this interest was intensified. The entire re-
sources of our country were marshaled in an endeavor to
preserve American ideals. Every institution of society
was called upon to do its appropriate work. In the great
battle of nations the schools proved their sterling worth.
The children were called upon to sell liberty bonds,
to buy thrift stamps, to collect waste materials, to knit
clothing, and to arrange patriotic programs. In every
instance they responded whole-heartedly.
The war not only appealed to social instincts and inter-
ests, but it directly affected practically every member of
the social group. Interrupted production and the diver-
sion of large quantities of materials for war purposes
helped to increase prices. In many instances an actual
shortage of products for home consumption, as sugar and
coal, brought the war very close to the firesides of the
American people ; consequently the war profoundly
affected both the social and the individual lives of men,
women, and children. The school problems growing out
of the war were closely related to the social organiza-
tion, on the one hand, and to the lives of the children on
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD 53
the other hand. Why was the work of the children done
so quickly and so effectively? Because the children had
an opportunity to do something that would really count.
Their activities were directed by the dominating purpose
of realizing an aim that to them seemed worth while.
They were finding worth-while situations in the world's
activities. Because of the spontaneous response of the
children, the World War brought vividly before the teach-
ers the increased efficiency that can be secured if the
school work is related closely to the child's interests and
experiences. In other words, the World War strikingly
illustrated the value of motivated work.
The readjustment of the local economic field result-
ing in the curtailment of certain industries, as brickmak-
ing, and resulting in the enlargement of certain industries
whose products contributed directly toward the winning
of the war called the attention of the residents to the
nature of the home industries and brought into prom-
inence the raw materials upon which these industries
depended. The intense interest in local affairs aroused a
further interest in the related national and international
affairs. Home geography was emphasized more than ever
because of the social situation which demanded it. The
teachers, recognizing the value of local materials intrinsi-
cally and as a basis for the interpretation of the far-away,
inspected local topographic features and industries and
discussed local problems. As a result of the W T orld War,
therefore, local geography was amplified and, in the dis-
cussion of world problems, illustrations were drawn from
the home field whenever this was possible. More care-
fully than ever before, the teacher related the experiences
54 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
of the child, secured from his immediate environment, to
the problems of the distant regions.
The numerous problems that came up in connection
with the war were studied in their natural setting. The
war arose out of a difference of ideals among the social
groups. The attention of the world, therefore, was drawn
first of all to social groups, the various peoples at war,
the armies and navies. It was soon seen that the social
structure was fundamentally based upon a physical back-
ground, particularly the plant, animal, and mineral re-
sources and the transportation facilities. The economic
resources of the earth loomed into fateful significance. It
was realized as never before that the resources of the earth
are unequally distributed and that the increasing needs
and wants of man were being supplied only through the
wonderful transportation system that had been developed,
reaching to all parts of the world. The distribution and
nature of the earth resources, the means of increasing pro-
duction, the redistribution of resources so as to serve the
Allies in the most effective fashion, were some of the big
subjects that came up for discussion. While the physical
background was brought into prominence, it will be noted
that the approach to the physical background came from
the social side. The problems that arose during the
World War, therefore, expressed the needs of the social
group, and all physical factors that had a bearing on the
problem entered into the discussions. With the thorough
motivation of problems, the approach was from the social
rather than from the physical viewpoint.
The use of maps and globes had long been recom-
mended for geography classes. In many schools, however,
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD 55
these symbols were more or less indifferently used. Dur-
ing the war the interest of people in various parts of
the world caused them to make a liberal use of maps and
globes in locating places and in discovering the conditions
of climate, relief, and drainage that affected activities.
This demand was noticeable in the homes as well as in
the schools. More map equipment was purchased for the
schools, and dust-covered atlases were resurrected from
their obscure places. Real, vital problems, which could
best be answered with the aid of maps, stimulated both
teacher and pupils to use them frequently. As a result,
geography teaching was improved through the use of
more effective tools in the consideration of problems.
Before the war the tendency had been to consider any
well-defined geographical influences, whether these influ-
ences were of slight or of fundamental significance. In
the life-and-death struggle of a nation the more important
problems naturally will become prominent, while inci-
dental problems will scarcely be given passing notice.
The problems that were discussed by the social group, in
general, were very vital. When Constantinople was being
attacked, it was not a peculiar custom of the Moham-
medans that was being discussed, but the difficulties in-
volved in capturing the city and the significance of this
city, if captured, to the Allies. In the consideration of
various regions, therefore, the more significant problems
were brought out in detail, while the less significant
physical influences were ignored.
Status of geography method after the World War.
With the termination of the war the demands of other
institutions upon the schools rapidly diminished, although
56 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the worth of the schools in helping to solve the social
problems had been conclusively demonstrated. At the
time that the need of other institutions for direct assist-
ance of the schools was acute, the ready response of the
pupils proved that the schools also needed the assistance
of out-of-school forces. It remains yet to be proved that
the problems of peace may be made just as appealing as
the problems of war. Teachers have been taught a les-
son, and they are eagerly scanning the newspapers for
vital, appealing current events and are making an impor-
tant use of local industries and topographic forms and
processes.
Teachers are no longer insisting that a standardized
outline should be used in the teaching of the various coun-
tries. They are seeking earnestly for the more significant
problems of each area and are leaving the unimportant
details for more advanced study. The trained geog-
rapher can help the teachers by making a special study of
the content of geography for every part of the world
and by selecting the more important problems for an
elaborate development without reference to an encyclo-
pedic inclusion of all facts that have been included to
satisfy the demands of the standardized outline. The
teacher will make a special study of the geographic prob-
lems that the geographer considers of primary importance
and will make a special study of the interests and experi-
ences of children with the purpose of causing the prob-
lems to arise out of natural situations of the child's life.
It is the duty of the geographer to indicate the geographic
problems that are of greatest worth to society, and it is
the business of the teacher to find some means of getting
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD 57
the child to adopt these problems as his own personal
problems, to be solved through his initiative.
Evolution of geographic method. In the preceding
discussion it has been indicated (1) that until about
the close of the last century the subject of geography
consisted largely of description and location; (2) that
the various countries were studied according to a stand-
ardized outline; (3) that this standardized outline
approached the study of an area from the physical
standpoint; (4) that when informational geography
was supplemented with interpretative geography the
same standardized outline was retained. The process of
pedagogical evolution was hastened by the advent of the
World War, so that (1) more attention was given to the
effective motivation of problems; (2) the more signifi-
cant problems of each region were selected for careful
study ; (3) the problems were approached from the social
rather than from the physical standpoint; (4) the special
symbols of geography, the map and the globe, were
effectively used ; and (5) local geography received much
emphasis. With the termination of the war the teachers
have attempted to retain the advantages that the war
has unquestionably brought. Many of these advantages,
it is believed, can be retained through the use of the
problem method.
The problem. The areal unit under consideration
may be Poland. The significance of motivation may be
indicated in the various types of assignments that may
be made. Poland may be studied systematically accord-
ing to a standardized outline, by topics, or each topic
may be stated in the form of an interpretative problem.
58 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
The status of Poland in the world affairs of today may be
noted, and the chief problems of immediate concern to
the world may be studied. A problem of considerable
interest is u Is it probable that Poland will become a
great European power ? " The technic of the teacher
enters into the assignment in an important way : ( i ) she
may simply assign the problem for study; (2) she may
discuss the partition of Poland, the aspirations of the
Poles, and the factors leading to the recognition of Poland,
and thus seek to arouse an interest in Poland. This dis-
cussion may precede or succeed the statement of the
problem. Preferably the introductory material should
precede the statement of the problem, which should arise
out of the interests and experiences of the child appealed
to in the introductory discussion.
After the problem is raised and concisely stated, the
degree of enthusiasm with which it will be attacked will
depend upon the feeling of worth-whileness of the prob-
lem that has been aroused in the initial discussion and
upon the more or less urgent appeal of other problems
that the pupil may have. When the problem has been
properly aroused in the minds of the children, the
next step involves the securing of material that has a
probable bearing on the problem. This material is care-
fully studied in relation to the problem. In a discussion
of the Polish problem such topics as the following will be
discussed : the effects of location, with reference to the
sea, to friendly or unfriendly nations, to the chief land
routes of Europe; the possibilities of friction with adjoin-
ing nations due to boundary lines not physically well de-
fined, economic jealousies, political ambitions, and vaguely
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD 59
defined ethnographic boundaries ; the resources of the
country — (1) minerals, particularly coal and iron,
(2) agricultural products and conditioning factors, such
as temperature, precipitation, soils, and drainage, (3) pas-
toral products, with respect to their significance in rugged
regions, and the place of live stock in diversified agricul-
ture, (4) products of the forests, (5) the development of
transportation facilities as affected by topography and
economic needs, (6) the surplus resources and their dis-
position, (7) needed products which must be imported,
(8) the importance of the manufacturing industries, and
(9) the possibilities of developing latent resources and of
increasing the value of manufactured products ; the physi-
cal and economic factors encouraging or discouraging
political stability ; stimulus of the physical environment,
particularly climate, directly upon the people ; and the
character of the people as developed historically under the
influence of the physical environment.
In the handling of topics over which the public is thor-
oughly aroused, considerable skill is required on the part
of the teacher. In the school of yesterday modern prob-
lems of a really vital nature were scarcely discussed be-
cause it was recognized that such problems were full of
social gunpowder. We are coming to believe that vital
problems should be discussed, and we are coming to
judge a teacher, in part, by the skill she shows in develop-
ing all parts of a problem, in securing a free and easy
discussion on the part of the children, in getting them, al-
though perhaps disagreeing, to respect the opinions of
each other, and in teaching them how to discuss con-
scientiously problems over which there may be serious
60 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
disagreement and yet to continue to dwell together in
brotherly love and in harmony.
After the problem has been thoroughly discussed, con-
clusions should be reached or the material summarized.
If adults are divided over the proper solution of the prob-
lem, it is better to encourage each child to come to his
own personal conclusion, but he should be required to
summarize the material in such a way as to indicate that i
reason as well as feeling enters into the result.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Select some country and contrast the treatment that was given
it some years ago with the best possible presentation according to
the light of modern pedagogy.
2. Is the author justified in taking the World War as a pivot for
the discussion of geographic progress ?
3. Is it probable that substantial progress in the teaching of
geography would have been made if the World War had not
occurred ?
4. What relation may be established between the evolution of
geographic knowledge and the evolution of geographic method ?
5. Along what lines should investigators work with the view of
improving further the teaching of geography ?
Selected References :
Atwood, Wallace W. " Geography in America," Geographical
Review (1919), Vol. VII, pp. 36-43.
Brigham, A. P. "Geography and the War," Journal of Geography
(1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 89-102.
Brown", Robert M. "Geography in Practice and in Theory," Edu-
cational Review, Vol. IV, p. 30.
Goode, J. Palm.. "What the War should do for our Methods in
Geography," School and Society (1919), Vol. IX. pp. 459-462.
EVOLUTION OF GEOGRAPHY METHOD 61
Miller, George J. " National Council of Geography Teachers,"
Journal of Geography (1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 69-76.
Phillips, C. A. " Development of Methods of Teaching Modern
Geography," Elementary School Teacher, Vol. X, pp. 427-515.
Potter, Jefferson R. " History of the Methods of Instruction in
Geography," Pedagogical Seminary (1891), Vol. I, pp. 415-424.
Rooper, T. G. " Methods of Teaching Geography," Journal of
Geography (1902), Vol. I, pp. 70-76.
Thomas, Olive J. " Development and Present Organization of
Elementary School Geography in the United States," Journal
of Geography (191 7), Vol. XV, pp. 213-221.
Winship, A. E. " From Absurd to Beautiful Books," Journal of
Education (1909), Vol. LXIX, pp. 674-676.
CHAPTER V
AIMS OR PURPOSES IN THE TEACHING OF
GEOGRAPHY
Agreement with the general aims of education. Since
geography is one of the subjects through the teaching of
which the desirable development of the child is effected,
geographical aims must be in harmony with the general
aims of education. Through education the individual
learns how to adjust himself to his physical and social
environment for the common welfare. Through the many
processes of adjustment and readjustment he secures the
finest kind of training in citizenship. The importance of
training the pupil not only to adjust himself to existing
conditions, but also to interpret existing conditions with
the view of improving them, is keenly recognized in our
progressive schools. If the general aims of education are
adequately realized, geography, taught from the modern
viewpoint, inevitably is strongly emphasized.
VIEWS OF EDUCATORS CONCERNING THE AIMS OF
GEOGRAPHY TEACHING
Usable geographical knowledge. The desirability of
acquainting the child with usable geographical knowledge
is suggested in the following statement of R. E. Dodge
and C. B. Kirchwey: 1
1 The Teaching of Geography, p. 8.
62
AIMS 63
The decision as to what should be included in a school
course in geography, then, depends on our understanding of
what we would like a pupil to gain from his elementary-school
study of geography. The desired result may be considered
under two heads : first, knowledge of geographic facts and
principles ; and second, power to use that knowledge in daily
life both during the school years and afterwards.
Enlightened outlook on the world. Geography should
give the student a comprehensive view of man's relations
to the earth.
The purpose of geographical teaching may be defined as the
acquisition by the pupil of a familiarity with the working of
geographical principles in concrete cases, and the creation of a
more enlightened outlook on other peoples and on certain
classes of public events. 1
Practical and cultural aims. Professor F. L. Holtz 2
classifies the aims as practical and cultural. Under prac-
tical values he states that (1) geography teaches place
relations that may be used in daily life ; (2) the commer-
cial and manufacturing world depends upon geographical
information; (3) geography teaches us about our own
country and also about foreign countries, which are but
complements of home geography; (4) national and inter-
national sympathies are broadened; (5) geographical
allusions in current reading material may be more readily
understood and appreciated; and (6) ability to use geo-
graphical material in after-school days is given. Under
cultural aims he states that ( 1 ) geography contributes to
the enjoyment of the natural elements and forces, the
1 Archer, Lewis, and Chapman, The Teaching of Geography, p. 7.
2 Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography, pp. 1-5.
64 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
beauty of scenery, and the ways of life of the people, both
in our local walks and in more extended travels; (2) the
subject is intrinsically very interesting; (3) geography as
a discipline tends to establish certain habits of thinking,
a geographical method of looking at the relations of
the earth and man.
Geographical adjustment. Professor Sutherland has
stated 1 that (1) geography should assist in adjusting the
pupil to his physiographic, economic, social, and political
environment ; ( 2 ) geography has much practical value ;
(3) geography should be studied as u the only true basis
for the study of natural science"; (4) the cultural value
of geography is very evident. "Many students of geog-
raphy assert that there is no subject that has done more
to broaden their intellectual outlook and to deepen their
appreciation of nature and life generally than has the
study of geography."
Knowledge of peoples and countries with adequate
interpretations. A broad acquaintanceship with numerous
groups of people will be helpful in maintaining desirable
social relations.
Let us grant that many a man is earning a living and is
getting a good deal of satisfaction out of life, and doing both
on a very limited knowledge of geography. Men have become
millionaires and presidents who did not know whether St. Roque
is a cape or a river, and the man who invented the roller
process of making Hour may not have known the ''leading
five wheat-growing states of the Union." Yet this and a
great deal more may be granted without altering the general
truth that geographical knowledge is a good thing and a useful
1 William J. Sutherland. The Teaching of Geography, pp. 80-93.
AIMS 65
thing ; that it makes our reading more satisfying, our conver-
sation more intelligent, our minds more broad, our sympathies
more cosmopolitan, and our citizenship more enlightened. . . .
If taught with much field work, geography trains the powers
of observation ; if taught with much map drawing, it trains the
eye and hand ; if taught as it was in my country-school days,
it trains the memory. All of these are legitimate, all deserve
some degree of emphasis, yet the study of geography is not a
device or an invention for accomplishing even these worthy
ends of training the observation, the eye, the hand, or the
memory.
Without intending in the least to minimize the importance
of training the powers of observation or imagination or the
powers of eye and hand and memory, I am still convinced that
geography has it own mission in the school. That mission is
to give the broadest possible knowledge of peoples and coun-
tries, their cities, their industries, their achievements, and all
that goes to make them strong or weak, leaders or followers
among the nations of the earth ; and the principal reasons why
these things are as they are. 1
Method aims versus content aims. The teacher may
stress the various ways in which results are secured, or she
may stress the content with slight reference to method.
Teachers of one group believe that the object of the study
of geography is the acquisition of a certain mass of definite,
organized material, useful in its application in later student
life. Teachers of the other, realizing the impossibility of the
pupils' acquiring in a few years an encyclopedic mass of ma-
terial which shall always be equal to the demand upon it,
hold that the purpose of geography teaching is to arouse in the
pupil a desire to follow out each geographic lead to its logical
: R. II. Whitbeck, "Ideals and Aims in Elementary Geography," Jour-
nal of Geography (1915), Vol. XIV, pp. 69-70.
66 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
end, to teach him where to seek geographic information and
how to use it, and to create in him an interest in all things
geographic, — to give him, in short, a working knowledge of
geography. 1
Training and cultural values. Geography should im-
part an ability to adjust one's life to the opportunities
presented.
To sum up : Through the study of geography we may direct
the student to current periodicals and newspapers of a good
class, we may stimulate them to read books of travel and
description and arouse a desire to travel, and at the same time
we may train them into library habits. We may lead them to
respect labor, to appreciate beauty in nature, and to an ethical
point of view in the social phase of the study of the great
commercial products. 2
Brotherhood of man. The dependence of men, in com-
mon, upon the resources of the earth should form the
basis for a universal brotherhood.
The fact that other people believe themselves the "chosen
ones of God," and act upon this belief, in no way atones for
our sin in this direction. We should be held responsible for
our acts, and unless the belief in the brotherhood of man be-
comes a conviction instead of a platitude, race war is inevi-
table. Race prejudice must be eliminated in order to avoid
this awful calamity. In perplexity we turn to the school for
help. Here we find that the geography teacher more than any
other has the opportunity of erasing race prejudices. This is
because geography is the only subject that brings one into
!Jane Perry Cook, "Primary Aims in Geography Teaching in the
Grammar Grades," Journal of Geography (iqn), Vol. IX, p. 203.
-Bertha Henderson, "The Cultural and the Training Value of Geog-
raphy," Journal of Geography, Vol. XIV, pp. 1 00-101.
AIMS 67
contact with all the living peoples of the world. ... In order
that the student may learn to emphasize the best natural quali-
ties of others as readily as he is wont to emphasize those of
his own people, care must be taken to stress the greatest achieve-
ments and best characteristics of all foreign peoples studied. 1
The following quotation from a paper by J. Russell
Smith" suggests that an inadequate emphasis upon the
"brotherhood of man" in the teaching of geography
may have been a factor that caused the Germans reck-
lessly to plunge the world into a terrible struggle :
Germany is self-centered. The courses in history begin and
end with Germany and give very little attention to any other
country. The method of instruction seems to savor strongly
of the imperial idea, with militant Germany as a unified and
central figure. History is a tool to excite patriotism, and
geography, by its great emphasis on Germany, is in some
measure her sister. One result is a surprising ignorance of
foreign countries, and America is no exception.
Aesthetic enjoyment. The study of geography should
lead to a deep appreciation of the beauties of nature.
Every land has its beauties of form, impressive, appealing
and beyond human understanding or complete appreciation.
If they be analyzed into their parts from a purely artistic
standpoint, like the curves of ancient architecture, they have
an artistic force that is striking. If they be viewed as wholes
and behind the forms there be seen in suggestion the long
life history that each form may reveal in a fragmentary way
1 Zonia Baber, " Lost Opportunities in the Teaching of Geography,"
Journal of Geography (1916), Vol. XIV, p. 207.
-"Geography in Germany," Journal of Geography (1012), Vol. I,
P- 430.
68 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
to the sympathetic and understanding inquirer, they offer a
source of pleasure, joy, and profit to all.
To know one's landscape, to feel in sympathy with it, is
often to be at peace with life. When all the world seems
wrong and the burdens overwhelming, he who can look out on
the familiar fields and hills or get among them and give way
to their beauties of form and color has a resource within
himself that will be an ever-present power of recuperation. 1
Aims noted in the St. Louis School Survey. 2 The sub-
committee on the course of study in geography agreed
that the following results should be secured in the teach-
ing of geography in the elementary schools :
i. Vocational understanding. They express the judgment
that geography is of direct and immediate technical vocational
service for only a few occupations, but that it is of immeasur-
able service for developing that general occupational intelli-
gence necessary on the part of all within a democracy for the
purpose of general supervision, through public opinion, of the
various constituent social groups : manufacturing, commercial,
mining, agricultural, and other industrial groups. They also
refer to the value of geography to those who consume the
products of the multitude of occupational groups.
2. Social and civic understanding. The subject has, further,
the all-important task of developing an understanding and
appreciation of the interdependencics existing among individ-
uals and social groups of every type. "The teaching," they
say, "should cultivate sympathy with others whose needs,
resources, efforts, and feelings are like our own. Prejudices
grow out of ignorance and are best removed by understanding."
1 R. E. Dodge, "An /Esthetic Side of Geography," Journal of Geog-
raphy C1915), Vol. x;ir. p. 305.
-Survey of the St. Louis Public Schools, Board of Education of
St. Louis (1917), pp. 91-92.
AIMS 69
3. They refer to the enrichment of consciousness through
giving one a vision of the geographical environment that is as
wide as the world itself. It is to give him intellectually, so-
cially, and otherwise a world that is bounded not by the nar-
row visible horizon of the region where he dwells, but which
is bounded by a world horizon. Familiar thus with multitudes
of things and relations, his consciousness is not only liberal-
ized, but he is given the very practical power of adaptability
to conditions wherever he may find himself.
4. The committee also refers to conventional values — knowl-
edge of geographical facts that people are supposed to know
just because the schools have been in the habit of teaching
them. The positive program of the committee naturally nega-
tives this criterion. They show their negative attitude toward
it particularly as they draw up the program of work. The
minima of place geography are relatively brief and include
practically nothing beyond what people need to know in that
general geographical orientation indicated by the committee
in the three purposes above enumerated. The list of minimum
essentials omits hundreds of place names that for most people
have no value beyond the conventional one.
5. The committee refers to certain other general types of
results of the subjective "mental discipline" character. It is
not possible to judge the extent to which these subjective aims
influenced the committee in its choice of geographical subject
matter. The first three of the aims just mentioned are the
ones that are most fruitful and appear to be the ones at least
chiefly in the minds of the committee in their work.
The teaching of geography should impart the more
important facts of conventional or practical value, should
secure on the part of the pupil ability to interpret prop-
erly the geographical factors that enter into problems of
timelv moment, and should develop an aonrcciation of
70 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the importance of the United States intrinsically and in
its relational aspects to the world as a whole. The realiza-
tion of these aims requires not only that the teacher shall
relate the child to the necessary geography content but
that she shall present this material in approved ways. The
teacher who would succeed in the teaching of geography,
therefore, must have an adequate mastery of both content
and method.
Immediate aims. In order that the general aims shall
be realized, it is necessary that a teacher shall set up
specific aims that she wishes to realize through each geo-
graphical unit of work. The immediate aims should be
definite. These aims may involve (i) certain facts,
(2) the interpretation of facts, (3) the ability to use
knowledge in a new situation, and (4) the establishment
of ideals. Many of the weaknesses in the teaching of
geography can be traced to the lack of definiteness in
teaching a unit of work. The teacher agrees with the
general aims, but does not sufficiently analyze her work
to insure that she has certain immediate objectives
leading in the direction of the generalized aims..
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Select the aim that you consider of greatest significance and
give reasons for your selection.
2. What relation should exist between cultural and practical
aims ? Are the two groups of aims incompatible in the same
situation ?
3. Select a geographical topic and indicate the immediate aims
that you would hope to realize, and note the relation of these imme-
diate aims to the general aims in teaching geography.
AIMS 71
4. Indicate how you would expect to realize the aims noted in
exercise 3.
5. What is the value of well-defined aims?
6. Indicate how the aim of the teacher and the aim of the pupil
in relation to the same unit of work may be different.
Selected References :
Allen, Nellie B. " Power versus Knowledge as the Aim in the
Teaching of Geography," Journal of Education (19 19), Vol.
LXXXIX, pp. 233-234.
Baker, Zoxia. " Lost Opportunities in Teaching Geography,"
Journal of Geography (191 6), Vol. XIV, pp. 295-298.
Brigham, A. P. " Present-Day Need for Geography," American
Schoolmaster (1920), Vol. XIII, pp. 61-63.
Cook, J. P. " Primary Aims in Geography Teaching in the Gram-
mar Grades," Journal of Geography (1911), Vol. IX, pp. 203-208.
Dodge, R. E. " The /Esthetic Side of Geography, — Beauty in
Landscape Forms," Journal of Geog?-aphy (191 5), Vol. XIII,
pp. 302-305.
Gregory, W. M. " Symposium on what is most needed in the
Teaching of Elementary Geography, - ' Journal of Geography,
Vol. X, pp. 244-262.
Henderson, Bertha. " Cultural and Training Value of Geog-
raphy," Journal of Geography (191 5), Vol. XIV, pp. 97-101.
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, i, pp. 1-5.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, vi,
pp. 80-95.
Whitbeck, R. H. " Ideals and Aims in Elementary Geography,"
Journal of Geography (191 5), Vol. XIV, pp. 65-70.
PART TWO. THE COURSE OF STUDY
CHAPTER VI
THE ORGANIZATION OF A COURSE OF STUDY
Requirements. A course of study in geography should
be graded in such a way (i) that it is adapted to the
child's interests and experiences, (2) that the work of
the earlier grades is a preparation for the work of the
later grades, (3) that the work of the earlier grades may
be reviewed in a new view in the interpretation of upper-
grade topics, and (4) that a child leaving school in any
grade will have a fund of usable knowledge. There are
four viewpoints that should be held in mind in the or-
ganization of a course of study : ( 1 ) local geography,
(2) journey geography, (3) regional geography, and
(4) world geography. Home geography emphasizes the
environment immediately within reach of the child. Jour-
ney geography involves actual and imaginary journeys
leading to a conception of the earth as a whole. Regional
geography is an intensive study of the geography of a
definitely defined region. World geography is a consid-
eration of topics from a world-wide standpoint. These
divisions of geography will be taken up in the grades in
the order named.
Testing a course of study. A course of study should be
theoretically sound. During the present period of experi-
mentation emphasis is being placed on actual results
secured under ordinary schoolroom conditions. It does
75
f
76 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
not follow that all topics which "work" should be included
in the geography curriculum. All topics selected, on the
other hand, should "work" or be eliminated. A good
teacher may succeed with a poorly selected topic, while
a poor teacher may fail with a well-adapted topic. Empir-
ical experiences need to be carefully evaluated and
checked in the light of a sound theoretical organization.
In the last analysis the theoretical and the practical
course of study, the one reenforcing the other, should
be harmonized.
THE INFORMAL GEOGRAPHY WORK OF THE
PRIMARY GRADES
The meaning of pre-gcography work. The study of
geography as a distinct subject in the school curriculum
is begun in the first grade in a few schools. In most in-
stances, however, formal geography work is begun in the
third or the fourth grade. The child, therefore, has had
six to ten years of experience with a physical and social
environment before taking up the study of geography as
a subject. No need for the concept denoted by the word
"geography" arises until the materials dealing with the
study of the earth in relation to man are differentiated
from the other phases of school work. The term "pre-
geography" includes those aspects of the child's experi-
ences, whether accidentally or purposefully acquired,
which constitute a foundational preparation for the
study of formal geography.
The recognition of pre-gcography work. It would be
a tedious and difficult beginning for both teacher and
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 77
pupil if the child, at the beginning of his formal geog-
raphy work, had no conception of geographical materials.
The teacher who does not systematically recognize this
foundational work runs the risk of lingering over familiar
material or of presenting material for the assimilation of
which the child has had inadequate preparation. The
teacher who carefully considers the pre-geography work
of the child and who intelligently questions him to make
sure that the assumed conceptions are present, and in
order to recall the old as a basis of departure for the new,
is establishing an ideal situation for substantial progress.
It is constantly urged that the teacher should relate her
work to the child's experiences. The danger of retard-
ing development by repetition, by keeping the child on
work with which he is thoroughly familiar, is just as acute.
A proper understanding of the relation of the old to the
new eliminates both dangers.
The acquisition of pre-geography knowledge. The
child has secured his pre-geography knowledge in the
home, at play, at school, and on various trips in the home
community or elsewhere. On the basis of need he has
modified his environment or adjusted himself to it. From
the adult standpoint his knowledge is limited and simple.
His problems, however, have been real, and perhaps for
him just as difficult of solution as the more complex prob-
lems of the adult. He has never concerned himself with
the systematic logical organization of his experiences nor
with the purposeful acquisition of knowledge because it
may be needed by and by. He worries little about the
morrow, but meets each situation that arises in the way
that seems best to him.
78 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Very seldom, if ever, is it the case that the pre-school
life of the child is planned so that a series of successive,
graded, relational situations will train toward a definite
objective. During the earliest school life of the child no
abrupt change in the accustomed way of learning is made.
The child informally comes into contact with situations
similar to those in his out-of-school life. There is this
difference, however. Consciously on the part of the
teacher, but unconsciously on the part of the child, the
situations are systematically arranged in order of diffi-
culty so as to bring about a continuous and persistent
growth and development. In addition a simple organiza-
tion of experiences is accomplished. No formal mention
of the word a geography" has been made, although if the
child knows the word " geography" he has not committed
an unpardonable sin.
Formal geography an outgrowth of pre- geography.
The pre-geography work has been accomplished, undif-
ferentiated from other subjects, in relation to the child's
needs. The materials are classified into subjects for
convenience and for real or fancied economy of time in
teaching. We take the child from an unorganized en-
vironment into the school life, where he is given intensive
training. The transition is gradually effected from the
informal to the formal teaching of geography.
FIRST VIEWPOINT OF GEOGRAPHY
Importance of the local environment. Should the pupil
proceed from the study of the world as a whole to its parts
or from a study of parts proceed synthetically to build up
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 79
a concept of the world as a whole ? The answer lies in an
understanding of the law of apperception. Since the child
is dependent on his immediate environment for an arousal
of consciousness and increasing intensity of conscious-
ness, the nature of his actual environment is very
important. The early organized work of the geography
teacher should deal particularly with the geographical
material with which the child has become acquainted
or with which he may be brought into first-hand con-
tact. The teacher is concerned with the organization
of the child's experiences from a geographical viewpoint
and with the enriching and enlarging of these environ-
mental experiences. Since many of the things with which
the child is acquainted — as bananas, chocolate, and silk
— have been secured from a distance and specially treated
by man, the interest aroused in relation to environing
things may be the means of introducing the child in an
elementary way to the producing areas. A teacher should
not select promiscuously from the child's past or present
environment. There are many elements of an environ-
ment, even of an adult, that make no strong appeal. As
is characteristic of the adult, the child is greatly stimu-
lated by those factors of his environment that have some
definite relation to his own life. Of particular concern to
the child is the way his physical needs and wants are met.
The geography work in the lower grades, consequently,
is concerned primarily with the requirements of the home
for food, clothing, shelter, light, fuel, and luxuries, and
with the means taken to meet these requirements.
Interest in the child life of foreign lands. Not only are
children interested in their own activities and relations,
80 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
but they are also interested, through contrasts and com-
parisons, in the experiences of people, especially chil-
dren, of other lands. The lower grades, therefore, should
provide for a consideration of types of people in different
environments. The human types that have been empha-
sized have been selected because of some dominant physi-
cal factor in the environment. In some instances several
outstanding influences are related to the same group, as
may be seen in the following classification :
Latitude
i. High: Eskimo, Laplander.
2. Intermediate: local type, as the St. Louis, Chicago, or
Boston type.
3. Low: Xegro, Amazon Indian, Filipino.
Altitude
1 . Lowlands : Dutch.
2. Highlands : Swiss.
Rainfall
1. Desert: Arab
2. Hot, rainy lowlands: Xegro, Amazon Indian.
Land mass
1. Coastal: English, Norwegians.
2. Interior: Russians.
Deserts
1 . Hot : Arab.
2. Cold : Eskimo.
Contrasted civilization
1. Occidental: local type.
2. Oriental: Chinese, Japanese.
Historical contrasts
1. Present : local type.
2. Past : Indian.
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 81
Each type is developed as a unit. In story form the
children follow and live through the activities of the
Eskimo child. Not only do they contrast Eskimo life
with their own, but as the successive types are consid-
ered each type is also contrasted with the various types
previously studied.
During the early period that the organizing centers for
geography are found in the child's environment the
teacher gives the child much practice in the direct obser-
vation of materials. The class makes an elementary
study of available land forms and visits industrial plants
where the processes and materials are sufficiently simple.
Care is taken to avoid a complex environment which is
too difficult or too far removed from the child's interests.
Diversity of materials emphasized. The first view of
organized geography emphasizes the organization of and
additional contact with the materials of the immediate
environment and lightly touches on the producing areas.
The local life is the big organizing center. The teacher
depends largely on visualization material. Using the cot-
ton garments of the children as a point of departure, the
teacher may appeal to their curiosity to learn how the
cotton garment came to be. The children are shown a
cotton boll, the cotton is separated by them from the
seeds, and the threads are woven into cloth. The child is
not merely told the relation between raw cotton and wear-
ing apparel, but actual materials are given him to handle.
In the absence of actual material the teacher depends on
the picture, which is the symbolic material most nearly
representing the cotton boll. The child has no adequate
foundation for a detailed exhaustive study of any topic,
82 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
but is securing, through the points of contact with a
diversity of materials, numerous initial concepts that,
through enrichment in the successive grades, will consti-
tute a valuable nucleus for further development.
SECOND VIEWPOINT OF GEOGRAPHY
Building up a concept of the earth as a whole. The dis-
tant regions are now considered in relation to their domi-
nant or outstanding characteristics. Cotton, which was
considered in relation to clothing, is now considered in
relation to a cotton plantation. The rather vague idea
aroused concerning cotton production is now elaborated
through a detailed type study. Similar detailed type
studies are made of a tea plantation, a coffee plantation, a
wheat farm, a stock farm, a diamond mine, a fruit farm,
etc. Through the detailed study of widely distributed
areas in relation to the production, manufacture, or hand-
ling of some article with which the child is acquainted,
various parts of the earth gradually become meaningful to
the child. An attempt is made to build up a general con-
cept of the earth as a whole. The local area is the radi-
ating nucleus for a consideration of remote areas.
Journey geography and type studies. The various areas
should be definitely related to the home area as to direc-
tion, distance in miles and time, and land and water routes
connecting the two areas. This will help the child to
think of the area as a real area in which people are living
and making desirable adjustments to the resources. The
area will be thought of as a part of the earth as a whole,
of which the home unit is another part. The child's
interest in the remote area is aroused not only because of
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 83
the products with which he is acquainted that originate
therein but also through this relating of the far-away
lands to his home region. Those who would emphasize
this gradual upbuilding of a conception of the world as a
whole, through relating the areas studied to the home
region and to each other, have spoken of this work as
"journey geography." Those who consider that the
really significant thing is the detailed study of an impor-
tant unit of work in widely distributed areas, and that the
relating of the region studied is primarily a motivating
step, through the realistic areal relations established, have
spoken of this work as "type studies," or as studies of
organizing centers. Whether one thinks of journey geog-
raphy leading to type studies or of type studies ap-
proached through journey geography, the completed unit
of work is essentially the same.
THIRD VIEWPOINT OF GEOGRAPHY
Regional geography. The next viewpoint of geography
involves a systematic study of the regions of the earth.
The children first consider their needs and wants, then
they consider characteristic conditions under which the
products to meet these needs and wants are produced.
Their elementary acquaintance with different parts of the
earth has prepared them for the advanced step of study-
ing regional units. In the first viewpoint the emphasis
was the immediate environment; in the second viewpoint
the emphasis was a consideration of how the remote areas
serve the local community, and an interest was aroused in
widely distributed areas. The second viewpoint repre-
sents an easy transition from emphasis on the local
84 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
environment to emphasis on the local environments of
other groups of people, widely distributed.
Political units. For purposes of administration the
land areas have been divided into unequal parts called
political units. The boundaries, dependent in part on the
unequal pressure exerted by contiguous groups of people,
are in numerous instances artificial, dividing areas that
geographically are one. For working purposes the politi-
cal unit, whether city, county, state, or nation, is a coher-
ent unit. Statistical data, collected by the governments,
are ordinarily based on the political unit. In the prepara-
tion of geographic data, consequently, authors have found
that the political unit can be more conveniently handled.
The material presented, moreover, is organized in relation
to a group with common political aspirations, and there-
fore a group whose interests, theoretically, are in com-
mon. The geographic units and parts of geographic units
within the political unit are given special consideration.
Frequently the parts of a geographic unit are not related
adequately to the larger geographic unit, although this is
a shortcoming that can readily be eliminated. This type
of regional geography approaches the study of the region
from the standpoint of the social organization in control
and uses the activities of the people as a means of
interpreting the physical background.
Natural regions or geographic provinces. It has been
suggested that the earth should be divided into natural
regions, or geographic provinces, as a basis for geographic
study. In each region with a similar physical environ-
ment the people react characteristically. A political
boundary line running athwart the region will not, in the
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 85
long run, essentially modify the activities of the people on
either side of the line. Whether the natural unit, there-
fore, is included in a country, or whether it is a part of
several countries, because of the similarities in adjust-
ments throughout the region it is argued that an economy
in time is effected, that a more nearly accurate conception
of life relations is given, that the material can be more
desirably organized for presentation, and that the problem
method of attack can be more readily used. Political
boundaries may be sweepingly changed as a result of the
vagaries of war ; physical boundaries change very slowly.
The political units would not be neglected. The pupil
would learn of their positions in relation to the physical
background. Noting the regions and parts of natural
regions included in the country, and having a conception
of the characteristic adjustments in each province, the
pupil is in a position to appreciate not only the resources
of a particular country but also the extent to which these
resources, through a division of provinces, are shared with
adjacent countries. The study of geographic units does
not bar the teacher from approaching or motivating the
unit through a political area. The suggestion for the
study of a natural region may come through the consider-
ation of a country in which the region is contained or in
which the region is characteristically represented.
Order in which to study regions. The order in which
regions should be studied will depend, in part, on the loca-
tion of the school. If the school is located in a great com-
mercial and industrial center, — St. Louis, for example, —
a systematic study of the factors contributing to its loca-
tion and development may be made. A general view of
86 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the United States suggests the location of this city toward
the center of the great interior depression, to the east of
which is the great eastern section and to the west of which
is the great western section of the United States. The
great interior depression will be divided into appropriate
provinces for study, and through the close economic and
social relations between this area and the eastern and
western sections will be found approaches for a similar
detailed study of the rest of the United States. The con-
cepts developed in connection with the regional study of
the United States form a basis for a rapid interpretation
of geographic provinces elsewhere. The geography of the
United States, in fact, becomes a measuring rod by means
of which other regional units are quickly mastered. Per-
haps the study of Europe is next approached through the
historic, economic, social, political, and blood ties that
relate the two areas. Since Europe has been the great
modern colonizer, the other areas — Latin America, Asia,
Africa, and Australia — are considered not only in rela-
tion to the United States but also in relation to Europe.
Many teachers prefer to study South America imme-
diately after the study of North America (i) because
South America is a part of the New World and through
the Monroe Doctrine has special relations with the United
States, (2) because South America extends far enough
southward from the equator so that the two continents
together give all ranges of climates in both hemispheres
and therefore a marked contrast of products, (3) because
South America is in a relatively early state of develop-
ment, and (4) because South America consists of large,
simple geographical units.
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 87
FOURTH VIEWPOINT OF GEOGRAPHY
An international breadth of view desirable. Through
improved transportation facilities, and the consequent
opportunity of moving commodities readily, the world-
wide production of important articles tends to determine
prices. Materials are redistributed in accordance with
world-wide demands. The local community, moreover,
is dependent on remote areas for many products, while
the surplus of the local area may be transported to
remote areas to satisfy a corresponding demand. As a
climax to his geography course it is desirable, therefore,
that the pupil shall secure a world-wide view of the
more fundamental products, problems, and principles
affecting man.
The world-wide production and consumption of each
significant product — as wheat, corn, potatoes, sugar,
coffee, cotton, cattle, hogs, sheep, coal, and iron — should
be considered. Among other topics may be mentioned
land and water distributions, climatic diversity, distribu-
tion of population, the trunk land and water routes, and
the distribution and relative importance of political units,
including colonial possessions. Mathematical geography
— involving the planetary relations of the earth to the
sun and the consequences of the earth's form, size, rota-
tion, and revolution — should be emphasized.
Logical and psychological order of development in
harmony. The suggestive organization of a course of
study as presented in this chapter not only unfolds the
subject in a logical, systematic fashion, but is also care-
fully related to the developing interests and increasing
88 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
experiences of the pupil. The pupil is led by easy steps
from a consideration of his local environment to a con-
sideration of the environment of other people ; an inten-
sive study of the various types of environment is made
through regional geography ; and finally, after an inten-
sive study of parts is made, the child notes the world-wide
relations of parts as they definitely affect man. The
course takes the child in the local environment in which
he happens to be placed, and expands it into a world-
wide environment.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Why should every teacher be interested in the whole course of
study in geography even though she may teach the work of only one
grade ?
2. Compare the course of study with which you are acquainted
with the course of study outlined in this chapter.
3. Should a definite geography course be outlined for the primary
grades ?
4. Select a textbook in geography and compare it with the sug-
gested course of study.
5. How might a detailed course of study be worked out effectively
by the geography teachers of a school system or a group of teachers
from different rural schools?
6. What should an ideal course of study in geography contain?
Selected References :
Bahkr. Zoxia. "Scope of Geography," Journal of Geography
(1905). Vol- IV. pp. 3S6-396.
Bagu.y, William C. "Geography in the Intermediate Grades,"
Journal of Geography (19051. Vol. IV, pp. 299-308.
Barnks, B. A. "Geography in the Detroit Elementary Schools,"
Journal of Geography (1 91 6), Vol. XIV, pp. 144-150.
ORGANIZATION OF COURSE OF STUDY 89
Brigham, A. P. " Report of Committee on Geography,'' /Iwerican
Education (1920), Vol. XXIII, pp. 300-307.
Childs, Breta W. " Study in Home Geography," Journal of
Geography (1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 154-158.
Calkins, R. D. " Commercial Geography from the Regional Point
of View," Journal of Geography (1918;, Vol. XVII, pp. 18-25.
Dickersox, R. E. " Improvement of Geography Teaching, "Journal
of Geography ('1915), Vol. XIII, pp. 297-30 1 .
Dodge, R. E. " Course of Study in Geography," Journal of Geog-
raphy (1908), Vol. VII, pp. 7-14.
Dryer, C. R. " Regional Geography," foimial of Geography ( 1 9 1 2),
Vol. XI, pp. 73-76.
Fairbanks, H. YV. " Organization of an Ideal Course in Geog-
raphy," Journal of Geography (1919), Vol. XVI, pp. 233-237.
Freeman, Frank N. The Psychology of the Common Branches,
chap, viii, pp. 1 61-178.
KiRCinvKY, C. B. "Geography in the Junior High School — Its
Relation to Elementary School and to Senior High School Geog-
raphy," Journal of Geography (1916). Vol. XIV, pp. 291-294.
McMurry, Charles. Course of Study in the Eight Grades,
pp. 123-139.
Sutherland, W. F. " Course of Study in Geography,"' Journal
of Geography (191 2), Vol. XI. pp. 126-129.
Thomas, Helen Goss. "How shall we teach Geography ?" Jour-
nal of Geography (1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 250-254.
"Geography in the St. Louis Schools," Journal of Geography (19 18),
Vol. XVII, pp. r 22- 1 27.
" Regional Geography in a Course of Instruction for the Seventh
Grade, Massachusetts Manual," Journal of Geography (1919),
Vol. XVIII, pp. 62-75.
PART THREE. THE MATERIALS OF
GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER VII
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY
Nature of observational geography. Through direct
contact with the social and physical environment many
fundamental impressions are secured. All direct experi-
ences with geographical materials are phases of observa-
tional geography. The small child observes that people
wear raincoats and rubbers as a protection against a
storm. He also may desire similar protection. A heavy
rainfall or snowfall may make the roads almost impass-
able. The wind may cause considerable damage to
buildings. The warm, sunshiny days may stimulate the
gardens to grow rapidly. Whether the person is actively
concerned or whether he is a mere spectator, he is securing
geographical sense impressions of observational geog-
raphy. The direct interpretation of the physical environ-
ment is significant to everyone irrespective of age.
Relation to local and home geography. There is a
tendency to regard the terms "observational geography,"
" local geography," and "home geography" as more or
less interchangeable. Local geography refers to the geog-
raphy of the immediate region of the home, irrespective
of whether the person can observe the materials ; home
geography refers to the ways in which the needs and wants
of the homes of the pupils are met, and therefore relates
the homes, in part at least, to the rest of the world ;
93
94 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
observational geography refers to the direct experiences
of the child, whether in the home, in his local community,
or in other parts of the world.
Observations by children and adults. Observation by a
child is different in degree from observation by an adult.
The child has had limited experiences, and therefore has a
limited number of concepts, most of which are but poorly
developed. He is only beginning to make his acquaint-
anceship with the phenomena of the world and reacts
simply to the successive situations. The observations of
an adult may be no more nearly accurate in so far as the
actual elements of the situation are concerned, but his
grasp, because of the wealth of material he can bring to
bear on the situation, may be much more comprehensive.
The child observes and seeks to understand ; the adult
observes and seeks to interpret.
Emphasizing observational geography. In the early
part of the school course observation should be strongly
emphasized. These observations should be interesting,
accurate, and as comprehensive as the state of develop-
ment of the child will permit. These basic, concrete im-
pressions form the material for the concepts by means of
which he will interpret the world-whole. If the observa-
tional experiences are inaccurate or but hazily understood,
the pupil's knowledge of the world-whole will correspond-
ingly suffer. The success of the teacher of geography in
the upper grades is conditioned by the type of observa-
tional geography taught in the lower grades.
Observational geography should be taught throughout
the grades. An intelligent adjustment to the environment
and a sympathetic understanding are desirable if one is to
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 95
live most effectively and most happily. The reinterpreta-
tion of observational material, with the aid of the in-
creased and enriched concepts of the older pupil, is as
necessary for adult success as the simple observations
of the lower grades.
Nature of observations. The practical utilization of
observational material in school involves (1) the use of
materials and processes which are a part of the ordinary
environment of the child, (2) the bringing of materials to
the school, and (3) excursion work, by means of which
the child is taken to the materials.
In so far as it is practicable, materials and processes
should be observed in their natural or industrial environ-
ment. Since opportunities of this kind are very limited
at the school, the need of excursion work with the children
is evident. Excursion work in geography is primarily
concerned (1) with a study of physical forms and proc-
esses, commonly included under the term "physical
geography," and (2) with plant, animal, and mineral
products and industries, commonly included under the
term " commercial and industrial geography."
EXCURSION WORK
Value of field work. Field work (1) relates the school
work to out-of-school problems, (2) adds interest,
(3) gives concreteness and realism to the work, (4) af-
fords a basis for the schoolroom work, (5) helps the pupil
to fit himself into the world of relationships, (6) teaches
interdependence, (7) arouses sympathy for people of all
vocations, (8) stimulates an appreciation of the beauti-
ful and useful, (9) indicates, through the products and
96 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
processes, the wonderful power behind the world of affairs
that conditions man's activities and thus brings the pupil
into closer touch with the Infinite, and (10) shows that
nature, including man, is eternally changing and promotes
mobility of adjustment on the part of the pupil. Field
work does not have a monopoly on the advantages
above noted, but a line of work that combines so many
possibilities should not be neglected.
Reasons jor insufficient field work. If the value of
field work is recognized, why is this phase of geography
not systematically organized and incorporated as a part
of the course of study? Why is much of the field work
almost valueless ? To what extent is the teacher to
blame? Is it practicable to introduce more field work
into our schools? How should more field work be intro-
duced ? Should the course of study definitely state what
should be done in each grade? Should field work be
required or should it be optional with the teacher ? What
are the difficulties that a teacher and superintendent meet
in attempting to emphasize field work, and how may
these difficulties be overcome?
Among the reasons for the placing of insufficient em-
phasis upon field work may be noted the following :
i. The teacher was not taught with the assistance of
field trips and has had no experiences as a pupil that
help her to appreciate the need. She was taught largely
through books and through discussions about things. She
has made her own adjustment to her home, the route to
school, and the routine formal school work. Even though
she may now and then feel that the school work is not
sufficiently related to real things and life situations,
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 97
because of her lack of knowledge of field work and its
revelations she feels that nothing but failure would at-
tend her efforts ; or, perhaps, comfortably adjusted to a
minimum of activity and of varied experiences, she self-
ishly prefers to substitute the shadow of knowledge for
the substance.
2. The pupils may become unruly. They may even
become unruly in the schoolroom. How much. more likely
are they to lose all respect for discipline in God's great
out-of-doors, where many things are beckoning hither and
thither. In many cases the apparent order of a school-
room may be a surly or resigned submission to the inev-
itable, and underlying the surface appearance there may
be insubordination in every child, awaiting a favorable
opportunity. The teacher who has this type of order in
the schoolroom should wisely shun field work, for the
opportunities offered to evade her iron discipline will be
used to worry her into an early grave. There is some
hope that if such a teacher should take a few field trips
she might begin to see that there is such a thing as secur-
ing discipline through the interests of the children in the
materials of the world. If she takes a few field trips she
may either ''make or break" herself as a teacher, for
unless she reforms her disciplinary methods in the school-
room the pupils once given a taste of real knowledge will
tend to disrespect her schoolroom tactics more than ever.
If teacher and pupils are working together in a com-
panionable way in unfolding the wonders of the earth, the
advantages of field work are such that teacher and pupils
will be brought even closer together. Little external
discipline is necessary when the pupils feel that they,
98 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
with the teacher, are doing something worth while. The
teacher, therefore, who is afraid that her children will
cause her too much trouble by being unruly should search-
ingly analyze her schoolroom work and methods.
3. The attention of the pupils will wander. There is a
tendency for each pupil to follow his own personal inclina-
tions in making observations. The child tends to estab-
lish relations with those things which please him most.
No teacher should attempt a field trip without a pre-
arranged plan, but she should be quick to sense the imme-
diate interests of the children and to build on these.
Sometimes it is just as desirable to follow the lead of a
pupil as to follow the lead of a teacher. It is well to
encourage the pupils to make personal observations and
to follow these with suggestions or questions. The wander-
ing attention of the pupils can be seized upon by the
wide-awake teacher as a means of emphasizing the
opportunities offered by the trip.
4. The pupils do not learn anything new in field trips.
If this statement is true the reason is not far to seek.
Can the blind lead the blind with any certainty of def-
inite progress ? It is desirable that a teacher with this
view should accustom herself to an analytical study of
field trips. She should have training in observing, in
classifying and in organizing her observations, and in con-
sidering the value of school work properly related to field
work.
5. The public will disapprove. The patrons of the
school were not taught through field trips. They think
that a teacher's place is in the schoolroom. They con-
fuse field trips and picnics. Such a situation must be
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 99
handled as diplomatically and as patiently as possible.
Parents should be taken into our confidence, and we
should tell them what we are doing and why, in an attempt
to get them to sympathize with our aims. Written per-
mission of the parents may be secured, and those who are
unfortunate in not being permitted to go along can be
benefited by the lively discussions relating to the field
trips. Public opposition to field trips can be readily
overcome through a proper enlightenment of parents.
6. Some of the children may be injured. There is prob-
ably no situation whether in school or out that is abso-
lutely devoid of danger. The wise teacher will avoid
very dangerous places. It is better to play safe by tak-
ing every possible precaution to prevent accidents.
7. Many trips involve transportation charges, which
prevent some from going. To deprive any child of the
privilege of going on a field trip, especially in view of the
fact that field work fundamentally is important, is de-
cidedly undemocratic and deplorable. The school board
should provide for the transportation cost of field trips
out of the school fund as general equipment is paid for,
or at least those unable to secure the needed money from
home should be provided for. In the meantime it is bet-
ter that those who can go shall be taken on field trips.
8. Classes are too large to be handled in the field.
Some classes are too large for schoolroom work. Such
classes will also be too large for effective field work. The
large class does not excuse the teacher from doing her
best in the schoolroom, although she is laboring under
a serious handicap ; neither does it excuse her from doing
her best with the large group in a field trip. Field trips
ioo THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
that will permit the class to work in large groups may be
selected. Some of the mothers of the pupils may be glad
to assist, the field work being greatly facilitated through
their help. The principal may find it possible to assist
the teacher.
9. The teacher may be in charge of a class that is recit-
ing and of a class that is studying at the same time. In
such instances it is not practicable to go at that particu-
lar time, unless arrangements can be made for someone to
take charge of the room temporarily or unless both groups
of pupils can be taken.
10. The time involved in a field trip is longer than a
period. If possible, arrangements should be made to
have a longer period for the field work, or, if necessary,
arrangements can be made so that a part or all of the
trips can be taken after school or on Saturday.
11. The superintendent is not in sympathy with field
trips, not because he believes the field trips are valueless
but because they interfere with the routinized efficiency
of the school plant. This is a serious situation, but the
enthusiastic, self-sacrificing teacher, inspired with a vision
of her opportunity, will engage in field work with the
pupils in out-of-school hours. Gradually, as the signifi-
cance of this work becomes more and more evident, the
school periods will be made sufficiently elastic so that the
real field work can be done on the same level as other
school work.
A brief survey of the leading difficulties arising in con-
nection with field work indicates that while there are diffi-
culties, there are none that are insurmountable. All lines
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 101
of activity, in school and out, have their special problems.
If field work is recognized as having a marked value
which no other type of activity can meet, the problem of
those responsible for the education of the children is not
to ignore or slight this work on the grounds of convenience
or inherent difficulties, but manfully to attack the prob-
lems so that field work will be done — done intelligently,
consistently, and persistently.
My resolve. I believe in observational geography. I
believe in field work in physical and industrial geography.
In order that I may make my work more effective, I
resolve that I will engage in field work, whenever and
wherever the opportunity is offered of raising the standard
of geography work. In order that I may plan my field
trips intelligently, I furthermore resolve that I will forth-
with proceed to acquaint myself with the physical forms
and processes of my community, working up type studies
of these, that I will visit the various industrial establish-
ments of my locality if possible, and, if this is not pos-
sible, that I will secure detailed information concerning
them. So help me, Mr. Superintendent, and keep me
steadfast and true.
Nature of physical-geography field trips. The nature
of the field work in physical geography is determined by
the types of physical forms and processes that are avail-
able. In a volcanic region, in a glaciated region, or along
the seacoast the field work will differ somewhat from
the field work in a region where rivers, with their help-
ing agencies, have largely determined the forms and proc-
esses. In preparing herself for field work the teacher may
102 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
approach the subject in the following way: a general
survey of the principal forms and processes ; the general
distribution of these forms and processes, with particular
reference to the United States; the prevailing forms in
the physiographic region in which she lives ; a specific
consideration of the particular forms and processes that
are available for first-hand consideration. If a teacher is
living in a region where the work of running water, with
helping agencies, primarily has been concerned, she will
be interested in noting the divides and valleys; how the
valleys are being widened, deepened, and lengthened ; the
rapidity with which these changes are going on ; rapids,
falls, meanders, currents ; materials being transported and
deposited ; the nature of the materials ; the relation of trib-
utary valleys to main valleys ; the effects of topography
on human relations ; and floods. Her problem primarily
involves the making of accurate, searching observations
and the interpretation of the facts noted.
Nature of commercial-geography field trips. The prob-
lem with respect to products and industries is somewhat
similar. What are the principal products and industries,
how are they distributed, what raw materials are secured
in your neighborhood, and what disposition is made of
surplus products ? What materials are brought into the
neighborhood and what use is made of them? What in-
dustries are carried on, what raw materials are used, what
products are obtained, and what disposition is made of
them ? What is the significance of the industries of the
neighborhood to the people? Observe industries and
materials carefully and seek to interpret correctly the
facts ascertained.
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 103
Preparation of the teacher. Not until the teacher has
a detailed knowledge of local physical forms and indus-
tries is she qualified to become an expert teacher of
geography. Even then she is not qualified unless she
also understands methods in relation to child growth. The
teacher who lacks knowledge or who lacks correct methods
is to be pitied ; the teacher who lacks both knowledge and
correct methods should not be tolerated.
Some teachers may feel that the requirements sug-
gested are so high that they never can become good teach-
ers. An unattainable ideal has not been pictured ; an
ideal has been set forth that few teachers have reached.
Unless one has met these requirements, is it wise to engage
in field work? Field work fundamentally is important
for both teacher and pupils. A group of boys and girls
stimulated by a common situation learn much from each
other. It may be practicable to take a field trip with chil-
dren even though the teacher does not know much more
about the materials than the children. Teacher and pupils
can learn together. The pupils may not derive so much
benefit from such a trip, but the teaching will be much
more efficient as a whole than if field work is omitted alto-
gether. Gradually the teacher will broaden her experi-
ences and become more and more proficient in directing
pupils. The poor pupils on whom she practices will suffer.
They will not suffer nearly so much as they would if field
work were altogether avoided.
A teacher should carefully consider the various factors
involved in a field trip. She should not let her enthu-
siasm run away with her good judgment. A single accident
will seriously retard the possibilities of further developing
104 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
field geography. Some industrial establishments are un-
safe for any classes of elementary-school pupils. Short,
trips near the school at noontime, at recess, or after school
may be taken with pupils who are interested. A teacher
will find these simple trips so appealing, so helpful, and
so comparatively easy that by degrees she will come to
feel that she can tackle the longer trips. Splendid geo-
graphic material is usually close at hand, often no farther
away than a stone's throw from the school building.
Measuring the success of field work. Children should
be encouraged to make supplementary observations and
reports. Pupils who take temporary trips to other regions
should be encouraged to make observations and to report
their experiences to the class. Observational geography
should never be finished in so far as the pupils are con-
cerned. The field work of the school should be regarded
merely as a point of departure for continued growth along
this line. A teacher can measure the success of her work
in part by the extent to which she has realized her content
aim, in part by the interest and enthusiasm in field work
that has been aroused.
Bringing materials and activities to the child. The
ideal situation is to take the pupils to the places where the
actual work, whether of man or nature, is being accom-
plished under normal conditions. In one's own com-
munity, however, there are factories which for some
reason, perhaps because of danger or because of the
policy of the company, are not available for first-hand
study. Such industries should not be ignored. It may
be possible to secure samples of materials or to set up
simple experiments or demonstrations that will help the
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 105
children to understand such industries. Special investiga-
tions may be made by members of the class who are able
individually to secure permission to inspect the factory.
If the children cannot be taken to the factory, as much of
the factory as possible should be brought to the children.
Some industrial units — as a cotton, coffee, or tea planta-
tion — may be unavailable for first-hand study because of
remoteness. If industries must be discussed in the school-
room, it is good pedagogy to have as much observational
material as possible on hand to make the presentation as
concrete and realistic as possible.
Collections by individuals should be encouraged. The
opportunities of children to secure materials are varied.
Collections of local products are particularly relevant. One
child may make a collection pertaining to the corn plant
and its products or to the wheat plant and its products.
Another child may be able to secure through correspond-
ence or through some older person samples of products
from a distance, as gold ore from Alaska, copper ore
from Montana, or crude oil from Oklahoma. The interest
of the child in his own collection is personal and intense.
Materials cannot always be secured by the children at
the time that they are needed. There arises, therefore, the
need of accumulating materials that will be available at
any time. Out of the needs of the pupils and teachers
has arisen the educational museum. Pupils and teachers
may gradually accumulate materials. Such a museum is
of great value to all children who have been concerned
in its formation, but it also has more of the personal
element in it for future classes than formal museum
material that is purchased ready-made. It is not always
106 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
possible to secure through the pupils the materials needed.
In response to this need for material not readily secured,
companies have been formed for the purpose of collecting
and arranging materials. The teachers thus may be re-
lieved of the task of securing materials on the basis of
need, and are not disappointed because of inability to
secure materials as needed. Such museum cabinets un-
fortunately tend to remove the personal element. The
museum material tends to become a part of the formal,
mechanical equipment of the school, much superior to the
former abstract teaching, but pedagogically inferior to
the personal collections.
Is it possible to combine the advantages of the personal
collections and the formal museum material, and at the
same time reduce to a minimum their respective disad-
vantages ? Pupils should be encouraged to make individ-
ual collections. The teacher should cast the weight of her
influence in this direction by showing her appreciation of
all attempts of pupils in this direction. She should make
them feel that she values much more highly their collec-
tions than the formal museum material. The discussion,
when practicable, should center about the informal ma-
terial to the neglect of the regular museum material. The
museum material can be used as a check upon the ma-
terials of the children. Materials of the museum should
be correlated or associated with the materials of the chil-
dren. If the children cannot secure the needed material,
then, and only then, as the next best plan, is it advisable
to place considerable emphasis on the museum material.
Since much of the material of value can be secured only
through the formal educational museum, every school
OBSERVATIONAL GEOGRAPHY 107
system should have a liberal appropriation for the up-
building of a museum. Many materials, however, as
ores, seeds, nuts, etc., can be secured in quantities, as
laboratory material in general is secured, and the pupils,
with the help of the teacher, can classify and arrange the
materials to much greater advantage than through the
mere observation of material that has been already sys-
tematically arranged and classified.
Results. If the needed emphasis is placed on observa-
tional geography, the child will become widely acquainted
with his own environment and will have the ability and
desire to keep himself acquainted with changes ; he will
appreciate the interdependencies in his own community
and the relations of his community to the world-whole as
it actually exists ; he will have a measuring rod by means
of which extra-community geography can be understood ;
he will believe more thoroughly in school work, because
it actually is dealing with things worth while.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Make a list of topographic forms and processes that may be
observed in your community. Make a supplementary list indicating
the forms and processes that cannot be observed in your community.
2. Make a list of industrial establishments that are in your neigh-
borhood and indicate (a) those to which access cannot be secured,
(b) those to which it would not be wise to take children, although
the teacher might profitably observe, and (c) those that are available
for visits with children.
3. Select a definite industry in each class as indicated in exercise 2
and indicate in detail the use that might be made of each industry
educationally.
4. Make a list of products that might profitably be brought into
the schoolroom and suggest desirable ways of using them.
108 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
5. Make an individual collection of products that are available
in your community.
6. Compare the relative value of exhibit materials secured and
organized by the children with those organized by commercial firms
for school use.
Selected References :
Baber, Zonia. " Field Work in the Elementary School," Journal
of Geography ; Vol. IV, pp. 1S-22.
Carney, Frank. " Observational Work for Children," Journal of
Geography. Vol. IV. pp. 12-17.
Davis. W. M. " Home Geography,*' Journal of Geography,
Vol. IV, pp. 1-5.
Dodge. R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. Teaching of Geography,
chap. xi. pp. 135-153; chap, xvii, pp. 217-244; chap, xiii,
pp. 1 64-1 Si.
Him:. L. W. " Function of the School Excursion, - ' Journal of
Geography, Vol. IV, pp. 446-450.
HoLTZ, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap. iii. pp. 13-19: chap, v, pp. 30-40; chap, vi, pp. 44-59.
Howe, Elizabeth. " Can the Collecting Instinct he Utilized in
Teaching? - ' Elementaiy School TeacJier, Vol. VI, p. 466.
Jefferson, M. " Out-of-door Work in Geography," Journal of
Geography, Vol. IV, pp. 49-57.
McMuRRY, Charles. Special Method in Geography, chap, vii,
pp. 1 01- 1 17.
Parkins. A. E. ''Teaching the Geography of a Small Area,''
Journal of Geography (1920), Vol. XIX. pp. 130-140.
Reiiway, Jacques. The New Basis of Geography, chap, xi,
PP- ' 35-1 53.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, iii,
PP- 3'^ 5 2: chap, xviii, pp. 202-217: chap, xix, pp. 217-235.
Wooster, L. I). "The Beginnings of Geography," Journal of
Geography (1917). Vol. XVI, pp. 21-25.
"Geography at Council Bluffs, Iowa,"' Journal of Geography,
Vol. IV, pp. S6-92.
CHAPTER VIII
REPRESENTATIVE, OR SYMBOLIC, GEOGRAPHY
Value oj symbols. Since the child will have an oppor-
tunity of observing a very small proportion of the geo-
graphic material that he will study, effective devices must
be employed to assist him in picturing vividly and
accurately situations far away. Symbols must be substi-
tuted. During the period that observational work was
being stressed the child needed symbols as a means of
expressing and recording his observations. On the basis
of need symbols were adopted, in accordance with his own
ideas or at the suggestion of the teacher, to represent
certain concepts.
When the teacher is ready to enter into a detailed
study of the geography of the world-whole, the pupils
have a mastery of symbols by means of which they can
intelligently interpret conditions elsewhere. If they have
learned to express themselves in terms of symbols that
are generally employed, they will be able readily to in-
terpret the symbols of others. Representative geography,
therefore, involves the adoption and use of symbols for
the expression of thought, and the interpretation of the
thoughts of others through the use of symbols. Without
a common language of symbols it would be practically
impossible for man to profit through social inheritance ;
it would be practically impossible for a child ever to pass
109
no THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
beyond his actual experiences in securing a knowledge of
the world or in the interpretation of remote areas.
The leading symbols used by the child in the expres-
sion of thought and the interpretation of the world-whole
are pictures, drawings, models, illustrations through
graphs and diagrams, maps, globes, and language.
PICTURES
Increasing emphasis of pictures. In the early Ameri-
can textbooks of geography, pictures were almost lacking.
Shortly before the Revolutionary War, Jedediah Morse's
American geographies appeared in two volumes without
pictures. Jacob Willetts explained the absence of numer-
ous pictures in his geography (1826) in the following
words : " It has not been deemed expedient to sprinkle
the book with pictures, from a conviction that they serve
to divert the attention of the pupil rather than to inform
his mind or improve his taste."
As increasing emphasis has been placed on visual educa-
tion the number of pictures in the textbooks has increased.
Many pictures, however, have been selected with insuffi-
cient care, the teacher has not trained the pupils in the
interpretation of pictures, and the emphasis placed on the
reading material in contrast to picture study has brought
about a general neglect of pictures in spite of the fact
that their value theoretically is recognized. It is gratify-
ing to note that the recent textbooks contain numerous
pictures each of which has been selected with a definite
purpose in mind, that meaningful statements directly re-
lating to the pictures are made, and that in some instances
questions intended to stimulate the pupil to interpret the
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY in
picture are included. With the definite recognition of
pictures as an essential part of the textbook organiza-
tion, picture study undoubtedly will be more generally
practiced.
Visualizing scenes through pictures. Only a small part
of geography can be studied through direct observation.
The child's knowledge of world geography, necessarily,
is secured primarily through the use of symbols. The
picture, which is the least arbitrary of symbols, closely
reproduces scenes beyond the child's vision in such a way
that the child can economically and accurately secure the
appropriate mental images.
When a picture of the Niagara Falls is presented, this great
scenic feature immediately assumes an element of reality.
Now, by virtue of the interest aroused through what the vision
reports, the great sheet of water is seen to fall. Its thunder
as it strikes the rocks one hundred and sixty feet below is
heard. The descent to the Cave of the Winds can actually be
made, and, through skillful teaching, the children will almost
gasp for breath as they are drenched by the falling spray.
Now, in some measure at least, the pupils can make the con-
nection between this falling water and the power that propels
the street cars in Buffalo and illuminates the streets and build-
ings of the city. 1
Comparison of photograph with the original. A school
camera, used during field trips, may be helpful in train-
ing pupils correctly to observe and interpret pictures.
The pupils will observe carefully the scene photographed,
and when the print is made they will attempt to explain
1 James F. Chamberlain, "The Use of Pictures in Geography Teaching,"
Journal of Education (May 7, 1914I, Vol. LXXIX, p. 523.
H2 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
appropriate parts of the trip in relation to the picture.
During a field trip an area may also be discussed in con-
nection with photographs previously taken. The pupil,
through such analysis, will come to appreciate the value
of pictures in representing, and he will learn to look for
the important things. Pupils who have learned to observe
nature and man's adjustments to nature will desire to use
their cameras not only in taking pictures of their friends
but also in recording geographic observations.
In comparing the picture with the area photographed,
teacher and pupils will ask themselves many questions.
Does the picture typically represent the area studied?
Does it show more or less of the area than is necessary
for recalling the field discussion ? Does the picture bring
out the important things in a clear way? Are there any
seemingly irrelevant things represented in the picture?
Are things represented in the picture that were not
observed in the field ? Does the picture help in imaging
more vividly the field work? Is there anything in the
picture to indicate the relative sizes of things represented ?
The camera records an area comparable to the area that
comes under the observation of the individual from one
viewpoint.
Overcoming weaknesses in picture study. A geographic
picture should have some distinguishing characteristic.
Panoramic views of cities are frequently almost worthless
because of the confused jumble of roofs and trees, which
might represent almost any large city. The important
part of the picture should stand out in prominent relief.
When a person is making a special study in the field other
objects of greater prominence may scarcely be noticed,
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 113
but the photograph will bring these less important objects
into sharp relief. Pictures are subject to misinterpreta-
tions, and particularly is this true of the ordinary photo-
graph, which does not indicate the true colors of the
original. Since the picture is static, there may be diffi-
culty in getting the child to construct a mental picture of
the situation represented. His mental imagery may stop
with the picture. The picture does not indicate the
change that is in progress, but merely indicates the situa-
tion at a particular moment. If a picture of a silo being
filled is taken, the men, horses, wagons, silage, forks, etc.
are shown in one position only. The picture of a silo
being filled should be used as an organizing center for an
appreciation of these changes. A picture does not give a
pupil a real appreciation of a situation unless he has had
similar experiences. A pupil may note a diver preparing
to dive for sponges, but unless he has had similar experi-
ence he will not secure a real appreciation of the
situation. An analysis of a picture of a hay-pitcher may
indicate that there is a stack of hay, a man with a pitch-
fork, a partially loaded hay-frame to which two horses
are hitched, while a jug of water is placed in the shade.
The pupil may easily get the "know" of the situation,
but it is desirable that he also shall get the "feel" of the
situation. He will need to know about the work of
the water-boy, the heat of the sun's rays, the thirst of the
pitcher for cool water, the fatigue involved in lifting
the hay, the diversion offered by snakes, rabbits, and field
mice, the pleasant thoughts aroused over the excellent
meals that are served. An appropriate feeling concern-
ing the scene represented, in relation to changes and in
H4 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
relation to the situation itself, can best be secured, in
the absence of actual similar experiences, through the
use of clear, vivid, descriptive, and interpretative state-
ments, which will stimulate the imagination of the child
to picture the scene in its natural setting.
Value of pictures. Picture study is invaluable in geog-
raphy teaching. A picture, if wisely selected, ( i ) enables
a pupil to take in at a glance a complex relationship eco-
nomically and accurately, (2) recalls a concrete, specific
situation, (3) gives, through its reproduction of the orig-
inal, an appearance of reality, (4) is easily understood,
and (5) arouses questions which will lead the pupil far
beyond the immediate purpose of the picture.
Collecting and using pictures. The modern textbooks
have many excellent pictures. There are numerous
supplementary sources, including newspapers, magazines,
post cards, and advertising materials. The National Geo-
graphic Magazine, Asia, the Pan-American Union, and
the rotogravure section of the Sunday newspapers are
valuable sources. Every school should have a collection
of pictures to illustrate the various topics of geography.
This is particularly true of the lower grades, where the
child is building up his initial geographic concepts. Pupils
should be encouraged to make individual collections
and to organize these collections under appropriate
headings.
The supplementary pictures of the school may be
classified and filed in envelopes with the general topic and
the particular pictures indicated on the backs of the
envelopes. The pictures, when needed, may be withdrawn
from the files and clasped to cardboards. If it seems
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 115
preferable, each picture may be mounted on a cardboard,
and the mounted pictures may be carefully classified and
filed away.
The pictures may be placed on a table in any order, and
the pupils may be asked to arrange them in logical order
so as to show causes and effects or successive changes in
sequence. Pictures dealing with a topic under discussion
may be mixed with irrelevant pictures, and pupils may
be asked to select the pertinent pictures. The individual
contributions may be compared with the school collection
to determine what additional contributions have been
made. The teacher may depend on the individual con-
tributions and use only as much of the school collection
as is necessary to illustrate the various phases of the
discussion. The pupils may indicate the phases of the
discussion that should be illustrated, and they may
attempt to find appropriate illustrations. Pupils may
study questions bearing on a set of pictures, the discus-
sion following during the class period. Pupils may be
asked to make a list of appropriate questions dealing with
each picture. The ability of students to interpret pictures
and to use them as organizing centers may be tested
(1) by presenting them with a picture and appropriate
questions, (2) by distributing pictures, each with a num-
ber, the pupils to write opposite the same numbers on
a sheet the important thing represented, (3) by giving
pupils the names of the pictures and asking them to place
beside each the appropriate number as indicated on the
picture. In journey-geography work pupils can "think
through" the details of the trip more successfully if they
have pictures illustrating the appealing scenes along the
ii6 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
route. The pupil may describe the journey in relation to
the pictures. The details may vary, but the teacher will
attempt to use the pictures in such a way that she secures
a maximum of worth-while mental activity from each
member of the class.
The suggestion of pictures. A picture is of value be-
cause of what it actually teaches and because of what it
suggests. Some questions can be definitely answered from
a study of a picture ; some questions can be answered
inferentially ; while other questions may be suggested by
the picture study, but other materials may be required for
satisfactory answers. In the verification of inferences
other sources may be consulted. If the pupil, for example,
is looking at a picture of a truck garden, he may be able
to identify certainly the sprinkling system, he may infer
that the growing vegetation consists of radishes, lettuce,
and onions, but he may find it necessary to consult the
descriptive material to verify this inference. He may
want to know the location of the gardener's market, and
it may be necessary for him to consult the context and to
locate the city on a map. With the picture of a part of
a truck garden as a point of departure he may answer
questions directly related to the picture, and widening
his viewpoint he may use the picture as an organizing
center for a large body of related knowledge. It is bet-
ter to make a careful study of a few pictures than to
dazzle the pupil with a large number of pictures which
are flashed before him in rapid succession. Pictures
should become meaningful centers for large bodies of
knowledge, and exceeding care should therefore be
exercised in their selection.
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 117
Classes of pictures needed. Among pictures that it may
be desirable to collect for geographic use may be men-
tioned ( 1 ) those showing climatic and topographic condi-
tions, (2) those showing plant and animal distributions,
(3) those showing the various ways in which man has
utilized the resources of the earth and the ways in which
these resources, through transportation facilities, have
been distributed, and (4) those pictures which present the
scenic attractions of nature. A picture collection should
be frequently revised through the elimination of the less
desirable pictures and the addition of superior ones.
Picture study related to study of other materials. If
the interpretation of pictures in connection with observa-
tional geography has been emphasized, the child has a
very important mastery of a symbol that will help him to
image conditions far away. If a picture cannot be cer-
tainly interpreted it is useless to spend much time discuss-
ing it, but good pictures of scenes far away should be
carefully studied. Pictures should be used to reenforce
other means of teaching geography ; the other materials
of geography may be used in helping the pupil to answer
questions raised, but not satisfactorily answered, through
the picture.
Stereoscopes. The stereoscope increases the vividness
of the picture by the apparent depth given. Excellent
pictures are available for practically every geographic
topic. The stereograph has all the advantages that have
been attributed to the ordinary picture, and in addi-
tion there is the advantage of increased vividness. The
picture may be reenforced by descriptive material on
the back. If only a few stereoscopes are available the
n8 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
stereographs and stereoscopes may be placed on a table,
and the pupils may be permitted to study a set of pictures
as a part of their assignment. It may be desirable occa-
sionally, when a stereograph will throw light on a discus-
sion, to pass the stereoscope and picture from one student
to another, the class discussion in the meantime being con-
tinued. If enough stereoscopes are available each child
may be supplied with a stereoscope and picture. The
pupils will study their pictures for a given time, and when
the teacher says "pass" the pupils will pass their pictures.
If there are twenty pupils in the class and one minute is
allowed for each picture, every pupil will have the oppor-
tunity of seeing all the pictures in twenty minutes. If
the pupil also reads the explanation on the back, a longer
period of time will be necessary. After the pupils have
seen all the pictures, each pupil may be asked to make
a special study of the stereograph that he happens to
have. The class may then hold an appreciation exercise.
Each pupil may describe his picture, and the rest of the
class may attempt to recall the picture. Each pupil may
be assigned a picture, and an oral report of each picture
relating to a central topic may constitute the basis for the
class discussion. Each pupil, standing before the class
with stereoscope and picture before him, may describe
what he sees, and the other pupils later may have an
opportunity to look at the pictures described, if they
desire. The stereoscope is of particular value in arousing
an interest in worth-while topics.
The lantern. The lantern offers the particular advan-
tage of enabling the whole class readily to observe the
same picture at the same time. A discussion with the
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 119
picture before the class enables each pupil to make the
appropriate associations. In connection with the study
of a topic a lantern-slide lesson may be desirable. Occa-
sionally the teacher may give an illustrated talk. In
harmony with the idea that actual participation of stu-
dents will involve maximum activity, however, it is fre-
quently desirable to assign a slide to each pupil. The
pupil makes a special study of his slide. The slides may
be thrown on the screen in a given order, but if the
mastery of the subject under discussion is not affected, it
may be desirable to put the slides in the lantern in any
order, with a challenge to the pupil to recognize his slide
when it is shown. If a slide lesson is introductory to a
study of a topic, the teacher may need to supplement the
pictures with pertinent descriptive material. The pupils
should be encouraged to describe the pictures also. If a
slide lesson succeeds the discussion of a topic, the pupils
should be able to interpret the slides out of their experi-
ences. Unless a slide makes a definite contribution to the
topic it should be omitted. The slide lesson tests the
ability of the pupil to discuss a topic in a clear, vivid way.
The motion picture. The crowning achievement in the
reproduction of that which is good to see is the motion
picture. The moving picture overcomes the primary dis-
advantage of an ordinary picture. It not only reproduces
the original but also gives the appearance of action. The
picture through the changing scenes becomes dynamic.
The changing relationships help the child to get the
"feel" as well as the "know" of the pictures. The
moving picture is the nearest approach to a first-hand
observation. Many situations which would involve a
120 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
long time for direct observation, or which can be observed
only with great danger or difficulty, can be observed at
a nominal expense in a comfortable environment.
It is impossible to overrate + he power and influence upon
our national life which is being exercised by motion pictures
today. They are a part of the life of the people. The rich
and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, of all ages and
all classes, no matter what language they speak or understand,
find amusement and recreation in them. The motion picture
speaks to the mind in a universal language. A picture can be
absolutely absorbed merely by seeing it. It is probably the
easiest way to receive impressions that the world has yet dis-
covered. Mr. Oberhoetzer, Secretary of the State Board of
Censorship of Pennsylvania, says : " One can read and get
an impression if he is industrious enough to do so, but when
he views a motion picture he gets an impression in spite of
himself. The influence of a motion picture is obviously much
greater than the influence of a book. It is more graphic and is
an influence which fixes the mind of a person who does not read
or who cannot read and he absorbs it anyhow." 1
In the Detroit schools 2 a recent experiment was con-
ducted to test the value of the picture film. The film
told about oranges. The children were able to talk about
fumigating the trees, watering the trees, packing the
oranges, etc. in a clear, accurate manner. An attempt was
made to teach a group with similar ability the story of
oranges through oral presentation. The twenty-four pupils
averaged 78 per cent for the seventeen and one-half
'Estella L. Moulton, "Our School Children and the Movies,'' Visual
Education (June, 1020), Vol. I, p. 24.
2 J. H. Wilson, "Visual Education in Detroit Schools," Visual Educa-
cation (June, 1920), Vol. I, pp. 9-10.
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 121
minutes involved in looking at the film, and the other
group of twenty-four children averaged only 70.8 per
cent in an oral presentation of the same topic lasting
thirty minutes. The time saved by the visual method
was nearly 50 per cent, while the children showed an
increased score of 7.2 per cent.
There are many difficulties involved in the use of films
for educational purposes. The film companies have been
catering to the demands of the people, who, to the number
of over six million daily, attend moving-picture theaters
in the United States. The school-teachers have been very
conservative in their attitude toward the picture film as
an educational agency. The strong appeal of the moving
picture to people of all ages and the vivid mental impres-
sions thereby secured suggest the desirability of making
a special study of the wonderful educational possibilities
of the motion picture.
MAPS AND GLOBES
In connection with the observational work of the early
grades locational or place geography inevitably receives
emphasis. Where did we go and how did we go ? Can we
draw a plan of our schoolroom, or of the block on which
the school is located, so that someone else can look at
our plan and understand the location of places ? Can we
convey a clearer idea of where we went by indicating on
paper the direction and the location of the object of our
field trip? At first, without much attention to accurate
scale, but only with a rough sense of proportion, crude
maps can be made, by means of which the child can
122 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
describe his trip more vividly. If the child wishes to illus-
trate a difference in elevation of two adjoining areas, he
can resort to two colors. If green stands for the lower
part and brown for the higher part, he can indicate this
in the legend, and then another person can lell from the
map which is higher and which is lower. During the
period that observational work is emphasized the map
work will be largely local and will be developed in con-
nection with the observational work on the basis of need.
A symbol that, unlike the picture, has no necessary rela-
tion to the scene will come to be so associated with the
thing represented that the child can readily understand
the thing.
Through the expression of ideas in relation to obser-
vational geography the child becomes acquainted with
the use of maps. As he studies the world-whole he will
have occasion to use maps many, many times. The
maps made by others, depicting conditions removed from
his locality, will be intelligible because of this preliminary
work.
There is greater danger of an abuse of maps than
there is of pictures. The pictures can readily be asso-
ciated with a concrete scene. While the child starts with
a map that represents a small, well-known area, he soon
passes to areas not well known. Since the symbols are
purely arbitrary, unless extraordinary care is taken the
child will come to think of the map as the thing itself.
This tendency could probably be avoided in part if large-
scale maps were used to represent local areas in the region
under discussion. Many false impressions concerning
the location of our leading cities would never have been
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 123
formed had the pupils, when first introduced to these
cities by means of a map, been given a large-scale map
of the city. The tendency to stop with the symbol is most
pronounced with maps that represent areas that are much
larger than those to which the child in his experience is
accustomed. Europe, for example, does not become a
real region, populated with real people engaged in real
activities, but Europe is in the room hanging on the wall.
Many a child has wondered if the Europe across the
Atlantic had any real relation to the map of Europe in
the schoolroom, and many a child, talking glibly as if he
realized the relation, in reality had no feeling of a close
relationship.
Work in geography which stops with the symbols is in
large part a failure. Symbols are of value only as they
will enable the child to image the real thing more vividly.
One of the crying needs is that teachers shall constantly
check the pupils so as to avoid the u horrible practice of
not reading beyond the map." Much of this difficulty
can be overcome by having pupils consider the location
of the area with respect to themselves — the distance,
how long it will take to get there, how one may go,
materials that are sent there, and products that come
from the region.
Maps are valuable because (1) they bring together in
an intelligible way large areas that could not otherwise
be grasped, (2) they present the essentials and omit the
nonessentials, and (3), while the symbols may be arbi-
trary, they represent a definite thing.
124 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
DIAGRAMS AND CHARTS
It is sometimes desirable to make use of diagrams and
charts. The child has observed something which he can
illustrate by means of a diagram. To aid in explaining
he constructs the diagram. He may wish to illustrate a
cross section of a valley, the relation of divides and val-
leys, the gradient of a stream, the formation of natural
levees, the use of a derrick in lifting stone out of a quarry.
In each case he simply, and perhaps crudely, seeks to
increase the vividness of his description or explanation
through illustrations or diagrams. He may wish to visu-
alize the varying production of some crop from year to
year. Geographers are coming more and more to use
diagrams to aid the pupil in visualization. The teacher
should devote more time in helping the child to express
his thoughts diagrammatically, so that he will appreciate
the value of this method of transmitting thought.
A diagram constructed by the pupil to aid in explaining
a problem to the class may be defective, but the pupil,
while speaking, may be able to amplify the diagram in
such a way that the defects are minimized. The questions
of the class may be helpful in pointing out weaknesses.
Pupils should be encouraged to construct diagrams care-
fully and to explain them fully.
LANGUAGE
In observational geography an excellent opportunity is
offered of training the pupil in oral and written expression.
New ideas are being secured. The pupil talks about what
he has seen. Perhaps field notes are taken. On its return
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 125
from the field trip the class engages in an oral discussion
of the trip. Probably a written account of the trip or
some aspect of it is required. Some of the accounts may
be typewritten, and students may read several accounts
concerning the trip. Accounts in books, directly related
to the field work, may be found. In connection with the
field work the need of words to represent ideas is keen.
In connection with the observation, involving an account
of industries far away, in which museum material is used,
the need of representative material becomes acute.
The teacher, in language adapted to the children, tells
them many things of interest. Written articles adapted
to the state of development of the children are placed in
their hands. There is a gradual shifting in emphasis from
observational to representative material. The geography
textbook is placed in the hands of the child at an early
age, and it consequently becomes important not only in
conveying ideas but also in helping the child to enlarge
his reading vocabulary.
Considerable practice should be given the pupils in the
vivid visualizing of ideas that have been conveyed to
them through language. There is danger that both the
teacher and the pupils will mistake knowledge of words
for knowledge of ideas. Pupils may memorize words in
relation and recite glibly. This danger may be guarded
against by having pupils attempt to reproduce the ideas
in different words, or in a different set of symbols, or by
enriching the material presented on the printed page.
With advancing years the pupil will, to an increasing
extent, be dependent on the printed page for geographic
information.
126 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Sources of representative material. The principal
sources of representative material are textbooks ; supple-
mentary readers ; newspapers ; magazines ; government
publications of the United States, of the states, and of
various foreign governments ; publications of an adver-
tising nature, as railroad folders, reports of manufactur-
ing companies, and reports of chambers of commerce;
maps and globes ; atlases ; gazetteers ; encylopedias ; dic-
tionaries ; stereoscopic and stereographic material ; and
pictures. These materials are used with varying emphasis
in the several grades.
Textbooks. In the textbooks will be found reading
material, maps of various kinds, diagrams, pictures, a
pronouncing vocabulary — practically everything it is
possible to show in a book in the way of representative
material that will assist in geography teaching. Neces-
sarily, because of the large field covered, the material in
most instances is insufficiently amplified and requires the
use of supplementary materials. The textbook is valuable
in directing the teacher and pupil, in giving pertinent and
authentic material in well-organized form, but it is, in too
many instances, a skeletonized presentation.
Maps. Wall, library, and outline maps are valuable
supplements of the textbook. The wall map offers the chil-
dren an opportunity to work concertedly and presents the
material from a somewhat different viewpoint. The out-
line map reduces the work of the children to a minimum,
gives them correct outlines through which their impres-
sions of form are secured, and permits them to engage in
self-expression by filling in the information desired.
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 127
Supplementary reading. Detailed articles from supple-
mentary readers, magazines, etc. are significant in enrich-
ing and making meaningful the condensed statements of
the textbook. They may be used in arousing interest in
the textbook material, or, as questions arise in connection
with the study of the textbook, pupils may use the sup-
plementary material to answer their questions. Pupils
should be encouraged to note geographic materials and
to make reports concerning them.
Results. The teacher has the responsibility of seeing to
it that each pupil shall become acquainted with the vari-
ous types of geographic materials, that he shall under-
stand how to use them, and that he shall have a desire to
use them. One fundamental aim of the teacher in connec-
tion with geography should be to give the child the ability
to find quickly and satisfactorily any item of geography
concerning which he may wish to inform himself in
after life.
In connection with observational geography the child,
on the basis of need, becomes acquainted with the various
ways of conveying ideas, through the use of symbols, to
others. Some of the symbols are in general use in all
subjects, and some, as maps, are particularly pertinent in
geography work. The child, through his acquaintance
with symbols as a means of self-expression, is prepared to
interpret them. Through the numerous means of convey-
ing ideas the pupil makes an intensive study of the world
as a whole and its various parts. An increasing grasp
of subject matter is accompanied by an increasing ability
to recognize and interpret the symbols of geography.
128 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. What is the relation between observational and symbolic
geography ?
2. Select five pictures that are valuable geographically and five
that are almost valueless geographically. Explain your basis for
selection.
3. Select a geographic topic and suggest a series of pictures that
would assist materially in the study.
4. Attend a "movie performance" and indicate the extent to
which geography was desirably depicted.
5. Read a daily newspaper with respect to (a) the important
place names mentioned and (b) the current events with a strong
geographic viewpoint.
6. What are the essential characteristics of a desirable geography
textbook ?
Selected References :
Expression Work:
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. The Teaching of Geography,
chap, viii, pp. 1 10-120.
Hausmax, L. A. "Simple and Rapid Method for Making Relief
Models from Contour Maps," Journal of Geography (1917),
Vol. XVI, pp. 97-100.
LoiiECK, A. K. " Block Diagrams," Journal of Geography (1920),
Vol. XIX, pp. 24-33.
Meaks, L. W. "Theme Writing in Geography," Journal of Geog-
raphy, Vol. X. pp. 1 30-1 3 1.
Vax Ci.ef.f, E. " Language of Geography," Journal of Geography,
Vol. XI, pp. 235-238.
Globes :
Johnson, Wii.i.is E. Mathematical Geography, pp. 24-190.
Wiswkll, L. (). Globes and Maps in Elementary Schools, p. 64.
Maps :
Au,i;\. L. R. "Map Drawing," Journal of Geography, Vol. IV,
PP- 33°- 336-
REPRESENTATIVE GEOGRAPHY 129
Andrews, A. A. " Maps in the Teaching of Geography," Journal
of Geography, Vol. I, pp. 97-102.
Brown, R. M. " Map Reading, South America," Journal of Geog-
raphy, Vol. IV, pp. 273-288.
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. Teaching of Geography,
chap, x, pp. 126-135.
Gulliver, F. P. " Orientation of Maps," Journal of Geography,
Vol. VII, pp. 55-58.
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, xiv, pp. 162-174; chap, xv, pp. 175-204.
Kelton, M. E. " Experiment in Fourth-Grade Geography," fotir-
na I of Geography, Vol. XIV, pp. 245-251.
Redway, Jacques. New Basis of Geography, chap, ix, pp. 1 56-1 72.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, xx,
pp. 235-261.
Pictures :
Averill, L. A. " Educational Possibilities of the Motion Picture,"
Educational Review, Vol. L, pp. 392-398.
Chamberlain, J. F. " Use of Pictures in Geography Teaching,"
Journal of Education (1914), Vol. LXXIX, pp. 523-524.
Gardner, L. M. " Picture Study," Journal of Geography, Vol.
XIII, pp. 85-89.
Hine, L. W. " The School Camera," Elenientary School Teacher,
Vol. VI, pp. 343-347-
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, vii, pp. 60-71, 83-95.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, pp. 193-202.
Textbooks :
Calkins, R. D. " The Text, the Course of Study, and the Teacher,"
Jour/ml of Geography, Vol. IV, pp. 164- 167.
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. Teaching of Geography,
chap, ix, pp. 120-126.
Hall-Quest, Alfred. The Textbook (191 8), p. 247.
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, iv, pp. 20-29; chap, xxiv, pp. 321-334.
130 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Kenyon, W. J. " Consideration of Geography Texts," Elementary
School Teacher, Vol. VI, pp. 97-107.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, xv,
pp. 172-183.
Supplementary reading :
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. Teaching of Geography, chap.
xiv, pp. 181 — 193.
Grose, H. D. "Making Library Work, Field Work, and Labora-
tory Work Mutually Supplemental," Journal of Geography, Vol.
XIV, pp. 253-256.
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, xiii, pp. 1 56-181.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, xvi,
pp. 183-193.
PART FOUR. THE CLASS
CHAPTER IX
CLASS ORGANIZATION
Threefold conception of class organization. For working
purposes the class may be organized (i) as a unit, (2) in
subgroups (group work), or (3) on an individual basis.
The three organizations indicated are not sharply sepa-
rated. A class of thirty may be given the same assignment
and divided into groups, each group being held respon-
sible for a certain part of the assignment, or each member
of the class may be assigned a different topic.
The class as a unit. The whole class may work on
the problem "Account for the dominating significance of
manufacturing in the New England States." During the
study period each member bends his efforts toward at-
tempting to solve the problem. Each individual is respon-
sible for the interpretation of the problem. There is no
phase of the problem that he can conscientiously neglect.
His ability to meet the situation on his own initiative is
challenged. His success depends in part upon his ability
to interpret maps and books.
During the recitation period the class discusses the
material that has been secured. The statements of each
member are received and evaluated by the other members.
Every student has studied each phase of the problem and
is prepared either to discuss or to criticize the statements
of other students. The whole discussion is appreciatively
134 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
followed to the extent that the student has mastered the
assignment. The recitation period is a clearing house for
the exchange and modification of ideas. This type of or-
ganization has the advantage of placing on each pupil a
maximum responsibility of meeting the whole situation
individually. Depending on himself, he is stimulated to
"see a problem through." The desirability of checking
one's conclusions with those of other people is noted
through the class discussions. Individualism, checked by
social evaluation, is emphasized.
Group work. In an attempt to secure a greater sociali-
zation of the course of study, teachers have placed increas-
ing emphasis on group work. The class may be divided
into any desired number of subgroups. The problem
" Account for the dominating significance of manufactur-
ing in the New England States" may be subdivided into a
sufficient number of minor problems so that each group
will have a subproblem. The teacher may indicate the sub-
topics, or preferably the class as a whole may suggest the
topics that should be studied in an attempt to solve the
problem.
The class, with the help of the teacher, should plan the
details of the work. The class may be divided into a
variable number of groups according to the number of
minor problems. It is not necessary that all the groups
shall contain the same number of pupils. If the minor
problems vary in importance or in available material, the
number in each group may vary accordingly. Inasmuch
as the pupils are grappling with a new situation, the sug-
gestions of the teacher will be helpful in securing a reason-
ably satisfactory distribution of topics and of groups.
CLASS ORGANIZATION 135
Ordinarily it seems better to select a leader for each
group. The leader may be selected by the class, occasion-
ally by the teacher, or each subgroup may select its own
leader. If the leaders are selected, each leader may select
in turn students for his group. This method, however,
emphasizes the group organization apart from any special
interest of the pupil in a minor problem. The pupil must
adjust himself to the problem which his group happens
to have. The volunteer system may be employed, and
each student may select the minor problem that he pre-
fers to study. This method emphasizes individual adjust-
ment on the basis of strong interest already existing in the
subject matter, and an appropriate distribution of pupils
in relation to the various topics may not be secured.
In many instances it may seem wise to steer a medium
course. The topics, with the suggested number of pupils
needed, may be listed on the board. Pupils may be asked
to volunteer for each topic, and then those topics for
which there is least demand may first be assigned. If
only five pupils are wanted for the first topic, and ten
volunteer, the teacher may temporarily pass by this topic
and all similarly popular topics. If five are wanted for a
topic, and only three respond, the teacher may call for
more volunteers. Frequently enough pupils, stimulated
by a desire to cooperate and pleased with the thought that
they are yielding their preferences for the general welfare
of the group, or because their original preferences were
not very strong, will volunteer. If the less popular topics
are disposed of first, the more popular topics are auto-
matically disposed of. If the cooperative class spirit is
inadequately developed, it may be necessary for the
[36 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
teacher arbitrarily to make selections. Pupils should
have the opportunity both to follow up their preferences
and to adjust themselves to problems in which they have
no particular interest.
Care should be taken not to build up fixed groups.
Pupils, prompted by friendship, may clique together not
because of a special interest in the same topic but because
they like to work together. Such combinations, once
effected, may tend to become self-perpetuating. Pupils
rearranged in different groups have a broader experience
in learning how to work with other people.
If each group selects its own leader, there will be a
tendency to select the one who has shown marked quali-
ties of leadership. Unguided, the subgroups may select
the same leaders repeatedly. According to our democratic
conception of education each pupil should have the oppor-
tunity to work under a leader of a group and also the
opportunity of exercising the functions of leadership.
Pupils tend to clique together, to select the same topic, and
to appoint the same captain repeatedly because they have
not learned to analyze such situations. The real teacher
will not arbitrarily break up these tendencies. She will
analyze these situations with the children, and she will
attempt to get their intelligent cooperation in realizing
the maximum possibilities of group work.
Report of subgroup to the class as a ivlwlc. The
individuals of the group must cooperate ; the groups also
must cooperate in order that the larger problems may be
solved. Theoretically the major and minor problems
should make such an appeal that each pupil in preparing
the work, in explaining to the group, and in listening to
CLASS ORGANIZATION 137
the explanations of others is enthusiastically interested.
Practically, because of failure to realize ideal conditions,
various devices may be helpful. The group leading the
discussion, stimulated by the responsibility of carrying
forward the program and the desire to win the approba-
tion of the class, in addition to the stimulation secured
from the problem itself, ordinarily is mentally very active.
Since the pupils are immature, they may need assist-
ance in discovering the attributes of a well-presented
report. The pupils should be encouraged to criticize con-
structively their own work and the work of other members
of the class. They should analyze the responsibilities of
the "giver" and the "receiver." The group reciting, with
an absolute mastery of its subject matter, should present
its materials in a clear, convincing, enthusiastic manner.
New words should be written on the board, and place
names should be located on the map. The pupil, anxious
to please, may attempt to memorize the pertinent parts of
an article. His mind may be diverted from the thought
to the form. He may copy the words from a book and
read these "notes" to the class in such a way as to indi-
cate that he is not thinking. The pupil may be asked to
talk without his notes, or, if he apparently has memorized
a form, an interruption through a few well-directed ques-
tions may break up the memory chain. The teacher
should constantly attempt to lead the pupils from the
plane of mere transmission of the thoughts of another to
the plane of giving ideas which the child thoroughly
understands.
Rarely will it be possible for pupils to give a finished
presentation. They are not masters of the art. The
138 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
teacher, with her knowledge of the interests and experi-
ences of the class, with her broader grasp of subject mat-
ter, should be able to select, organize, and present subject
matter in a more appealing way. The teacher's talk may
make a stronger appeal because of the care with which
the details have been selected and may be more profit-
able to the listeners. Pupils should be trained, however,
not only to receive knowledge but to present their views
effectively. However conscientiously the group may at-
tempt to present its topic, it may fall short of an ideal
presentation with reference to the rest of the class.
The listeners. Since group presentation is rarely ideal,
the attention of the rest of the class is not always held,
even though the topic itself may be very appealing. In
spite of a well-selected topic and an excellent presentation,
certain students, unchecked, may yield to some more
appealing interest. Numerous devices may be used to
retain class attention. Pupils not only need to learn the
art of presenting, they need to learn the art of listening.
As a matter of politeness and tolerance of other view-
points pupils should learn to control themselves irre-
spective of the topic that is presented.
The group in charge has a responsibility that it cannot
shift without detection. The listeners, unless presented
with ideas that they can use or for which they will be
held responsible, may secure little benefit, even though
outwardly they are attentive. The presentation may be
followed by a quiz, the questions being asked by the
group, by the teacher, or by various members of the class.
The group presenting the material may be questioned.
The class may be asked to write on one or more questions,
CLASS ORGANIZATION 139
which will permit individual checking of results. Pupils
may be asked to engage in systematic note-taking, to list
appropriate questions as the discussion proceeds, and to
summarize the discussion. The class may occasionally be
asked to criticize the presentation of the group, and this
may make it alert, although in this instance the emphasis
is shifted from subject matter to the means of presentation.
Ideal group work. The discussion thus far has pro-
ceeded with the assumption that the work is imperfectly
motivated and that the means of transmitting ideas,
because of immaturity, is faulty. As perfect motivation
is more nearly attained the need for devices correspond-
ingly decreases. The teacher's ambition is to secure
perfect motivation ; to the extent that she fails she must
resort to devices or lose control of the situation.
The teacher will attempt to get some objective before
the class which the class feels is decidedly worth while.
She will analyze with them the materials that ought to be
examined. If their interpretation will involve too much
work for each individual, the need for group work, involv-
ing a subdivision of the unit of work, arises. Each group
feels its responsibility because its contribution is neces-
sary in reaching the goal. The c ] ass is interested in the
contribution of each group because cooperative endeavor
will enable them to reach the goal more quickly and eco-
nomically. Each student is interested in ever)* contribu-
tion as a means to a desired end. No problem of discipline
arises, and there is no nee,: of securing devices to hold the
attention of the pupil, for his interest is centered on the
possible value of the material in helping him to reach
the goal. The eagerness of the pupils to give and to
140 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
receive more than counterbalances the effects of imperfect
giving and receiving. The teacher will attempt to realize
this ideal situation ; in proportion as she fails she must
resort to devices and arbitrary control.
Questioning. The pupil, in reporting, may succeed in
presenting his report more effectively if he occasionally
will ask questions and give the class an opportunity to
make inferences. A subgroup need not always give a
formal report. It may stand ready to answer any ques-
tions of the class dealing with its topic. The questions
challenge the ability of the group to use its findings in
response to class needs and tend to break up any mere
memory organization of the report.
Advantages of group work. There are several striking
advantages that may come from group work, (i) A
teacher may have found it difficult to secure responses
from certain members of the class. If such a person be-
comes a member of a small group, social pressure of other
members of the group will be brought to bear on him.
The pupils are quick to discover and shame the slacker
into action, and they are correspondingly successful in
levying on the abilities of the timid persons. (2) The
student who has been attempting to monopolize the recita-
tion learns to check himself and finds an outlet for a part
of his energy in assisting the weak members of his group
to participate. (3) Training in leadership is given.
(4) Not only is cooperation in a group secured but also
the cooperation of the various groups because of the com-
mon objective. (5) Much of the responsibility is shifted
from the teacher to the pupils, where it belongs. (6) Ini-
tiative is readily developed. (7) Economy of time in the
CLASS ORGANIZATION 141
consideration of the problem is effected because of the
division of the work. (8) More ground can be covered in
a given time because of the team work.
Difficulties of group work. There are certain difficul-
ties that may arise in connection with group work.
Teachers may become enthusiastic over group work
because of the ease with which they can shift the respon-
sibility for the work to the pupils. The teacher, lulled
into minimum activity, may permit the assignment to
degenerate into purposeless, topical assignments to each
group, each group helping the class to beat time through
the recitation period. If the class period is divided into
the needed parts so that each group can recite, each group
may learn from experience about how much time it will be
given, and it may prepare merely for the length of time
required to "take up" its part of the time. The pupils
may not develop the independent spirit that comes from
individual work. The leaders may tend to do most of the
work. The teacher will need to guard against ( 1 ) undue
exercise of leadership by a few, (2) the monopoly of
work by a few, (3) the mere transmission of ideas by
memorizing articles, (4) careless, inaccurate, or irrelevant
statements, (5) poor presentation, (6) willful inattention,
and ( 7 ) purposeless work.
Individual work. Individual work may consist of in-
dividual assignments of minor problems, each bearing on
a major problem ; individual assignment of articles, each
bearing on the same topic ; an individual assignment to
secure further light on a topic under discussion or to be dis-
cussed ; or an individual assignment to satisfy some prob-
lem in which an individual expresses particular interest.
142 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Perhaps the most common individual assignment in-
volves a preparation of a report for the class. Following
a discussion of the lumber industry, the teacher may as-
sign each pupil a different slide or picture to be studied
and later interpreted before the class. In a discussion of
the resources along the Trans-Siberian railroad the whole
class may express an interest in the difficulties involved
in its construction, and some individual may be asked to
read a given article or to attempt to find the desired
information. He will later make a detailed report to the
class. In a study of China an individual, but not the
class as a whole, may express a desire to learn more about
the significance of the Great Wall in Chinese history.
The individual concerned may make a detailed study, but,
because the class is not generally interested, a report, if
made to the class, will be very brief. The individual
report may be made with the aim of acquainting students
with certain books or magazines. Each pupil may be
assigned a bound volume of the National Geographic
Magazine, the Geographic Review, the Journal of Geog-
raphy, Asia, or the Pan-American Union, or the current
numbers of other magazines, and he may be asked to
select an article and prepare it in the form of a written
report for presentation to the class. It is not the busi-
ness of the school to prescribe maximum essentials,
but minimum essentials. Individual reports permit the
teacher to stimulate each pupil to accomplish as much
more than the minimum essentials as seems desirable.
An individual assignment is of particular value in
developing and testing the ability of the individual to
work alone. In the reading and reporting of an article
CLASS ORGANIZATION 143
some pupils will insist on reporting from notes or from
memory almost the exact statements of the author. In-
experienced pupils will not readily discriminate between
important and incidental statements. There will be a
tendency for a pupil to pass on to a class statements that
he himself does not understand. Pupils should be en-
couraged not to be mere transmitters of knowledge but
to raise the special report to a problem level. They should
select, evaluate, and reorganize the material. The final
report should indicate a thorough mastery of the article.
In the foregoing discussion an attempt has been made
to indicate the value of class, group, and individual work.
Group work is being emphasized in many schools, and in
her enthusiasm the teacher may feel that all geography
work should be organized on this basis. The thoughtful
teacher, however, will make frequent use of all three
class organizations suggested. It should be noted that the
three organizations shade into each other. The individual
report has many of the characteristics of the group
reports, and the class as a whole is one large group. In
any case the pupils do not exist for the purpose of
exemplifying these class organizations, but the organiza-
tions are analyzed and skillfully utilized in the develop-
ment of the pupils.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. In the last analysis should group and class work be measured
through the accomplishment of the class as a whole or through the
accomplishment of each individual ?
2. Which of the three kinds of organization suggested should
be emphasized the most ?
144 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
3. Does it, after all, make much difference how the class is
organized if the pupils are mastering the content of geography, or
are there special habits, attitudes, and ideals that the pupils should
secure through the study of geography ?
4. What are the functions of the teacher when the class is doing
group work ? May she become absolutely unnecessary ?
Selected References :
Bigelow, Luna E. " The Individual Assignment in Geography,"
Elementary School Teacher, Vol. IX, pp. 250-256.
Kilpatrick, Van E. " Emancipating the Individual Pupil,*' Educa-
tion, Vol. XXX, pp. 375-386.
MAYBERRY, L. W. " Individualizing Problems for Pupils," Ele-
ment ary School Teacher, Vol. XVIII. pp. 133- 137.
Morris, Wilsox C. " The Individual and our Educational Sys-
tem," School and Society (191 5). Vol. II, pp. 554-557-
Scott, Colin A. Self-Organized Groups, Kindergarten and First
Grade, Vol. II, pp. 316-320.
Shaw, C. B. " Some Experiments in Group Work," Elementary
School Teacher, Vol. VII, pp. 329-334.
CHAPTER X
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE ACTIVITY
Socializing the school. The school has been established
primarily with the aim of preparing for social efficiency.
The school has always been a relatively socialized institu-
tion, but society is dynamic, and it has been difficult to
adjust the school curriculum in accordance with the
changes so as to keep the content thoroughly socialized.
The increased complexity of social organization has added
to the difficulties of determining the fundamentals of a
socialized school. The influence of the Greek ideal of
culture apart from utility has still further retarded a
thorough socialization of the school plant. Since the
school not only should help the child to adjust himself to
the present social organization but also should give him
the ability to readjust himself to the changing conditions
of society, it is desirable that a broad view shall be taken
in the socialization of content.
Those who daily come in contact almost exclusively with
children can hardly be expected to have their ring of social
interest widened beyond the confines of the school playground
or the second back alley. . . . Not infrequently teachers so
lose touch with the needs of the social order that this in its
progress washes past them altogether, leaving them stranded
high and dry like fossils on the deserted shore line of an ancient
sea. As for taking any active part in civic and political affairs,
MS
146 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
some teachers meet perfectly a recent characterization of college
students — "as innocuous as a flock of sheep." 1
Socialization resolves itself into two parts — ( i ) social-
ization of the content and (2) socialization of the method.
The socialization of content involves the selection of sub-
ject matter that has a well-defined relation to present-
day activities. The socialization of method involves the
organization of subject matter in relation to the class in
such a way that, through the mastery of content, the
pupils secure positive training in social relations.
Geography as a socialized study. Geography, dealing
with mams relations with his physical environment, is
ideally adapted to socialized work. The pupil, through
the study of geography, sees man in his socialized relations
making a living directly or indirectly from mother earth.
He sees people cooperating and groups of people cooper-
ating. The subject itself, therefore, suggests both to
teacher and to pupil the value of socialized work.
Socializing the work of geography classes. If socialized
work is desirable, as indicated through the study of geog-
raphy, in the out-of-school activities, it is a reasonable
assumption that the school, an institutional organization
of society, can also profit through socialized work. What
are some of the characteristics of socialized work ?
1. Socialization demands that the pupils shall do their
proportionate share of the work in accordance with
ability. The teacher may be regarded as a pupil who,
presumably as to methods and knowledge, is a little
1 D. D. Johnson, "Socializing Education," School and Society (Decem-
ber 18, 1915), Vol. II, pp. 868-869.
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE ACTIVITY 147
farther along than the rest of the pupils. She is a member
of the social group that meets with specific aims in view.
2. Socialization demands that pupils shall enter into
the discussion in a democratic manner. No pupil will be
permitted to monopolize the recitation period. Pupils
who do not contribute will be made to feel that they are
passive members of the group. Their own self-respect
will demand that they participate. Pupils inclined to
talk too much, on the other hand, will resolutely give way
to the more timid members. The active will encourage
the passive; the passive will arouse themselves so that
they will have a voice in the proceedings.
3. Socialization demands that pupils not only shall
answer questions but also shall ask them. In the formal
recitation work it has been the custom to regard the
teacher as the one who should ask questions and the
pupils as the ones who should answer them. Pupils,
through their own questions, can more nearly meet their
real needs than a teacher, who is unacquainted with the
special difficulties that the child has encountered. It
requires skill to ask as well as to answer questions. The
teacher, in common with the other pupils, has a right to
ask questions and also has an opportunity to answer ques-
tions, but her assistance in either case is given only so far
as it is necessary in order to enable the children to utilize
the time and material in the most effective fashion.
4. Socialization suggests that pupils may originate
problems or topics for discussion. With respect to any
topic thus advanced, the class may consider whether the
topic is pertinent and worth while. The guidance of the
teacher may be necessary in assisting the pupils to form
148 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
a judgment. Frequently, if teacher and pupils are living
on the same intellectual level, one topic leads to another
in such a way that pupils can make the proper suggestions
and thus adopt topics which the democratic situation
demands.
5. Socialization suggests that sameness of preparation
on the part of pupils does not necessarily bring the best
results. It is desirable that a variety of material bearing
on the topic shall be available as a part of the school
equipment. Pupils should be encouraged to depend on a
variety of sources. They should be made to feel that
their success, in large part, depends upon their ability to
make actual contributions to the classroom discussions.
The classroom becomes a clearing house for the ideas of
the pupils. False ideas are corrected and concepts are
enriched and increased. The democratic exchange of
ideas, involving a maximum of mental activity, promotes
rapid development.
Socializing industrial studies. In a discussion of the
silk industry some pupil may visit a silk factory, a silk
wholesale house, or a silk retail house. Some child may
be able to secure silkworms. Various children may secure
mulberry leaves, different articles made from silk, stories
relating to the industry, etc. It may be practicable to
assign different topics to different members of the class.
The class may hold each member responsible for a specific
contribution ; or each member may be held responsible
for a specific contribution, and all may be assigned cer-
tain topics : or each member may be held responsible for
the same topic, but a spirit of rivalry may be developed
in the securing of really valuable material. In general, it
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE ACTIVITY 149
is better to have a definite nucleus of material to illustrate
the study, in part as an organizing center for the individ-
ual contributions, in part to take the place of materials
that the children cannot at the moment secure from
independent sources.
On a field trip the teacher may ask the children to be
observant of any details that may come to their attention.
The teacher may ask questions ; the pupils may ask
questions. Everyone feels the responsibility of making
a contribution either by directing the attention of the
class to a particular thing or by helping to answer the
questions that may be raised. The teacher indirectly
retains her leadership of the party, and her attitude is
unobtrusive.
A test of socialization. A test of successful socialization
is made when a teacher is called out of the room or when
she is unable to attend the class exercise. This is par-
ticularly significant in the upper grades, since with the
increasing development of the pupils, if socialization is
successful, the direct influence of the teacher should be
loss and less needful. If the pupils are able to continue
the exercise and to discuss it along desirable lines, the
teacher can flatter herself that she is working in the right
direction. In a room where the personality of the teacher
is dominant a class may dissipate its energies when the
teacher is absent. The teacher, as a leader, presumably
knows how to conduct herself as a member of the social
group. Her aim as a director of children is to give them
this same knowledge and desire.
Function of the teacher. The responsibility of the
teacher is just as great in socialized work as in an
150 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
arbitrarily directed exercise. In the lower grades the
teacher consciously directs the work of the class with defi-
nite objectives in mind. With increasing maturity both
teacher and pupils are guided more and more by the sub-
ject matter, and as the pupils come nearer and nearer to
the general intellectual level of the teacher, the teacher's
direct and indirect leadership becomes less important.
Even though some of the pupils should reach the same
intellectual level as the teacher, since the pupils have
learned the value of cooperative work, all can continue
to advance through helpful group study.
Free activity. In its extreme form a pupil engaging in
"free activity" is permitted to do just as he pleases. The
pupil, during a free period, may not care to study the
particular part of geography that the class is studying, or
he may prefer to study some topic wholly foreign to geog-
raphy, or he may not care to study at all. A pupil left
wholly to his own desires may engage in activities that
are harmful to himself or inimical to the best interests of
society. The free-activity period permits the teacher to
make a special study of the child's genuine attitudes and
special interests and gives her an opportunity to note his
shortcomings and his strong points.
Xo individual can engage in absolutely free activity.
Nature conditions man's activities, and the social rela-
tions of the individual frequently limit his activities.
Consequently, when the expression "free activity" is
used, free activity within limits or limited free activity
is meant. There is a considerable difference in the extent
to which a person may be permitted to engage in free
activity. In the adult group there are all gradations of
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE ACTIVITY 151
free activity, from the activity of the man who always
conforms to the laws because of desirable habits and
attitudes, and therefore never is compelled by society to
do right, to the activity of the man who frequently breaks
the laws in his attempts to engage in antisocial free ac-
tivity, and therefore finds himself restrained by the stern
hand of the law. The problem of the school is to secure
right habits and attitudes, so that the pupil, when given
relative freedom in determining his actions, will always
enter into desirable social relations.
Desirable free activity cannot always be secured by
arbitrary control. The pupil needs to have experiences in
initiating activity. The socialized recitation permits the
child to propose plans of action, while at the same time
his plans are approved or modified by the other members
of the group. Through active participation the pupil
secures training in social relations, the pleasant or un-
pleasant effects of which tend to establish habits and
attitudes of a desirable nature.
Geography and free activity. It has been shown that
the discussions in geography can be readily socialized. In
the geography classes, therefore, the pupils can be given
that training which will tend to cause the free activity of
the individual to conform to social needs. Not only may
this social free activity be secured through the coopera-
tive efforts involved in the various forms of class organ-
ization, but the subject matter itself may be used so as
to permit considerable freedom of action.
Examples of limited free activity: a country. The
pupils of a geography class were told that they might
read anything about Japan that appealed to them. They
152 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
were to make a brief report at the next recitation period.
As each pupil recited the other pupils took notes. The
pupils were asked to organize the notes and to classify
them. The pupils then secured supplementary contribu-
tions. Each pupil attempted to organize the material
presented. As a result of the miscellaneous contributions
the individual outlines on Japan were secured, and from
the individual outlines the class comparatively agreed
upon a single outline. The class proceeded from a wealth
of disorganized details to a systematic organization.
Absolute freedom of selection of material bearing on
Japan was at first permitted, but, as the contributions
were made, the restricted new material and not the teacher
gradually limited the range of choice. Finally an outline
organization of material was effected to which the pupils
adjusted themselves in their further studies. The pupils
were not forced to conform to an outline organization
imposed on them by the teacher, but they gradually
evolved and used an outline organization because they
had discovered its value.
Study oj a continent and free activity. The pupils were
told to glance over the articles in their textbooks concern-
ing the different countries of South America. They were
told to select the country that they preferred for detailed
study. Each pupil was held to the material of the text-
book concerning each country. The periods during which
each country would be discussed were indicated. The
pupils who had made a special study of a country con-
tributed their additional information at the time that the
class was studying about that country.
SOCIALIZATION AND FREE ACTIVITY 153
Supplementary reading. During the time that the class
was studying Asia pupils were given a reference list of
supplementary material dealing with that continent. They
were told that the list was given them merely for their
convenience and that they might make a selection of any
other materials bearing on Asia. This work was not
required, but the pupils were made to feel that their
supplementary work was worth while through the class
contributions they were encouraged to make and through
the list of voluntarily read books and articles submitted
to the teacher.
Socialization and free activity in harmony. Unanalyzed,
" socialization" and "free activity" seem to be contrasted
terms. The two phases of development are in reality dif-
ferent viewpoints of the same educational endeavor. The
individual is a unit of society. The establishment of de-
sirable relations among the different members of a group
by appropriate use of the subject matter is socialization ;
the unhampered initiation of activity, based on the de-
sires and judgment of an individual, constitutes free
activity. The teacher, with the assistance of content sub-
jects, — particularly geography and history, — attempts to
develop the individual in such a way that his actions, as
determined by himself, will harmonize with the common
group welfare.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Xote the characteristics of a thoroughly socialized recitation.
2. Is it possible for a person to engage in free activity and at
the same time be thoroughly socialized ?
154 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
3. Should the greater emphasis be placed on the socialization of
content or the socialization of method ?
4. Is geography superior to most subjects in the possibilities that
it affords for highly socialized work?
Selected References :
Barbour, C. W. " Free Period as an Educational Factor," Kinder-
garten and First Grade (191 8), Vol. Ill, pp. 133-139.
Bigelow, Luna E. " The Social Life in Geography," Elementary
School Teacher, Vol. IX, p. 113.
Cummins. Robert A. " A Completely Socialized School," School
and Society (191 9), Vol. X, pp. 685-692.
Fox, Florence C. " Socialized Recitations," School and Society
(1 9 1 8). Vol. ATI, pp. 650-651.
Johnson. D. D. "Socializing Education," School and Society (191S),
Vol. VII. pp. 865-873.
Miles, U. "Socializing Outside Reading," English Journal (191 7),
Vol. VI, pp. 330-333-
Pendleton. C. S. " Socialized Recitation," American Education
(1920), Vol. XXIII, pp. 307-312.
Pierce, B. L. " Socialized Recitation," Historical Outlook (1920),
Vol. XL, pp. 307-317.
CHAPTER XI
THE RELATION OF THE STUDY PERIOD TO THE
RECITATION PERIOD
SUPERVISED AND INDEPENDENT STUDY
Former conception of the recitation period. When the
recitation period was regarded as a ^hearing" period for
lessons learned from books, emphasis was placed on repe-
tition of form as well as repetition of fact. The teacher,
with open book, followed the words as the pupil recited.
The more nearly the pupil could recite in the language of
the book the better his recitation. The study period, deal-
ing with a particular topic, necessarily came before the
recitation period.
Since children were " little grown-ups," the same order
of preparation and recitation and the same method of
memorizing and reciting was followed in the lower and
the upper grades. The principal work of the teacher was
to assign in terms of pages and to hear recitations so as
to test the faithfulness with which the pupils had memo-
rized the lesson.
Present conception of the recitation period. The recita-
tion period has come to assume a much more important
place than the mere assigning and testing of the book
material. Sheer memory work of assigned material in
geography has been reduced to a relatively insignificant
155
156 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
position. The recitation period is a meeting period for
the discussion of problems and for the opening up of new
lines of thought. The recitation period may provide ma-
terial for the study period ; the study period may provide
material for the recitation period. These periods react
upon each other. The pupil secures motives in class for
studying certain topics ; in the studying of the topics the
pupil may have other motives aroused which he will com-
municate to the rest of the class during the recitation
period.
A motivated assignment. In the discussion of the as-
signment during the recitation period a class may raise
questions which cannot be answered without further
study. All inadequately answered questions may be listed
as a basis for the work of the study period. Since these
questions have arisen in relation to needs, conditions are
favorable for a high degree of mental activity during the
study hour. At the conclusion of a discussion, problems
or topics, closely related to the discussion, may be sug-
gested by pupils and teacher as a basis for the succeeding
discussion. If the pupils have a hand in the assignment
of their work, they will feel an individual responsibility
in meeting the conditions. It may be necessary occasion-
ally, however, for the teacher to make the assignment or
at least present the material out of which the assignment
naturally arises. The teacher attempts to present the
initial material in such a way that the interests of the
children are aroused in the material and in the problems
suggested by the material ; the teacher, in other words,
should motivate the work. The motivation may be se-
cured in the recitation work as a whole, in the recitation
STUDY PERIOD AND RECITATION PERIOD 157
work in part, or in presentation material specially pre-
pared and presented. The time required for the proper
assignment of a lesson may vary from the whole period
to a few minutes.
The study period. During the study period the pupil
proceeds to attempt to find the answers to the questions
that have been raised. He may become interested in
supplementary problems and may attempt to solve them
on his own initiative. He is not attempting merely to
memorize certain statements imposed upon him by the
teacher, but he is trying to meet the requirements of his
own mental life. He wrestles with problems individually
during the study hour and as a member of the group dur-
ing the recitation period. In this way the individual
and the social are admirably combined in promoting his
development.
Securing motives during the study period. Books con-
tain the treasured experiences of the race. Written articles
are variably interesting to various individuals ; they may
arouse interest and motives as well as afford the materials
necessary for the satisfying of motive. With increasing
maturity pupils should come to depend more and more
upon these sources of knowledge. If pupils are referred
to books only to satisfy needs already aroused, they may
come to depend on books as reference material for the
satisfying of these needs. Books, however, should also
arouse needs to be satisfied. Pupils should learn to eval-
uate material for themselves and to initiate, with the help
of books, their own problems. Pupils, therefore, may
study books and come to class with problems that were
raised and answered and problems that were raised but not
158 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
answered. An undue emphasis should not be placed on
poor reading material, but the child should learn to dis-
criminate between the good and the bad.
Motives and passing interests. The adult does not
always follow his own instinctive interests in determining
his activities. He must submit, in part, to the opportuni-
ties and requirements of the social group. His maximum
service to society may be found in work that is not
according to his own inclinations. His economic welfare
and the welfare of those dependent upon him may demand
that he continue. If as a pupil he were taught only to
follow his own interests, or to pursue the problems that
inherently were appealing to him, he would not be suit-
ably prepared, in so far as the school is responsible, for
shouldering his social responsibilities. In the lower
grades it is desirable that the passing interests of the
children shall be considered. They have not yet developed
an ability to engage in a sustained, prolonged effort to
reach a desired goal. They should have some practice in
assigning themselves worth-while tasks or of doing tasks
assigned, whether these tasks are agreeable or not. The
worth-whileness of such tasks should be seen by the pupil.
Supervision of geography study. The geography book
is placed in the child's hands in the lower grades, when
his reading vocabulary is still very limited. While geog-
raphy is studied primarily because of its richness of
appropriate content, the pupil also enlarges his reading
vocabulary. The pupil needs assistance in reading the
page and in interpreting the maps and pictures. The reci-
tation period may frequently become a supervised study
period, in which the pupils are assisted to master the
STUDY PERIOD AND RECITATION FERIOD 159
material of the book accurately and economically. An
oral development of a topic may be given in which the
words with which the pupils may have difficulty are
placed on the board. The pupils may then be asked to
read the discussion of the topic in the book. The oral
presentation and the emphasis on the difficult words will
prepare them to study individually.
The recitation period may be turned into a supervised
study period whenever there is a unit of work in the
mastery of which the pupil may need assistance or when-
ever there are certain habits of study that pupils should
be assisted to form. As the tools of geography are
mastered the need for supervised study will lessen, and
the teacher will be able to give the pupils any needed
assistance in connection with the assignment. The pupils
should be gradually weaned away from dependence on the
teacher during their study period to a dependence on their
own abilities. There is no pedagogical objection to super-
vised study of all the study periods in geography,
provided the teacher assists the pupil only to the extent
that the pupil, unaided, will flounder. Since the pupil
should have increasing opportunity to study independ-
ently, financial economy in the management of schools
suggests the desirability of having a study period apart
from the recitation period, the latter period when desir-
able serving the need for a supervised study period. As
has been noted, the recitation period may be a study
period in which pupils and teacher, studying together,
may find problems for special study in their study hour.
Supervised study, in instances, has been abused by
teachers who have felt that they must be constantly
160 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
talking with the children. The independent study of the
children has been interrupted ; the pupils, through concert
study, have not had an opportunity to reflect and master
the material. Independent ability and initiative have been
smothered. It is a wise teacher who has learned to
assist enough but not too much.
Recitation and study as factors oj the same lesson unit.
The recitation and the study period should be regarded
as interlocking parts of the same unit of study. The wide-
awake and efficient teacher will constantly vary her work
so that whether the pupil is studying by himself or as a
member of a group the two periods will mutually reen-
force each other. Each period should afford information,
interpretation, and inspiration for the valuable utilization
of time in the other.
Teaching pupils how to study. The primary purpose
of supervised or directed study is to teach the child how
to study economically. The pupil needs training in the
use of the textbook, supplementary readers, newspapers,
magazines, the dictionary, the encyclopedia, and maps
and globes. He needs training in learning how to express
himself through maps, diagrams, charts, drawings, models,
and language. He needs to learn how to read quickly and
at the same time to understand, organize, and remember
that which is read. He needs to know how to get appro-
priate material from a library. He needs to learn how to
work desirably with other people. He needs to learn how
to keep himself physically in good condition for study
and how to secure a favorable physical and social environ-
ment for work. All these needs can be met through the
study of geography. The teacher should not expect the
STUDY PERIOD AND RECITATION PERIOD 161
pupils to learn all these things through the haphazard
method, but she should supervise the work of each child
sufficiently to insure that the needed knowledges, skills,
habits, and attitudes have been formed. The pupil will
learn through imitation, through reflection, and through
trial-and-error experience.
If the pupil has acquired a wide range of subject matter
indicating how man has adjusted himself to the earth, if
the pupil has the ability to use the tools of geography in
securing needed knowledge, if he has a broad, sympathetic
outlook toward mankind, and if he has developed an
interest in world as well as local affairs, then the teacher
may confidently feel that she has been directing the
geography work along desirable lines.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Has "supervised study" resulted in marked improvement in
the educational program ?
2. Select a topic in a textbook and indicate how you would teach
a group of pupils how to study.
3. Assign a lesson to a class in such a way as to secure a maximum
of study during the study period.
4. Attempt to evaluate a recitation period. Would the pupils
have advanced more rapidly if a study period had been substituted ?
Selected References :
Farmiam, C. E. " Supervised Study,*' Education (191 9), Vol. XL,
pp. 1 71-177.
Hall-Quest. A. I.. " Supervised Study in the Grades," American
Education (1920). Vol. XXIII, pp. 396-401.
Horn, Ernest. " Relation of Silent Reading to Efficiency in
Study." America)! Education (1920). pp. 34S-351.
Minor. Ruby. " Supervised Study," School and Home Education
(1920), Vol. XXXIX, pp. 1 68- 1 70.
PART FIVE. THE PROJECT, OR ACTIVE,
METHOD
CHAPTER XII
THE MOTIVATION OF GEOGRAPHY
Nature of motivation. The modern viewpoint in edu-
cation has materially affected not only the content of
geography but also its method. It is not enough that
someone shall believe that certain topics should be studied
by the child because of their value to adults. A child
makes better progress in relation to those situations in
which he has an inherent interest. An attempt should be
made, therefore, to relate the materials to the child's
interests and experiences and to arouse within him a
motive that will cause him to attack the situation with
enthusiasm and perseverance.
From the standpoint of the child the chief motives for
worth-while geography work are :
i. Curiosity with reference to the world and its people. This
may give a general interest in what is happening throughout
the world, or what the people in other parts of the world are
doing, or it may concern itself with the satisfaction of interest
in important current happenings, as the war between Russia
and Japan, internal strife in Mexico, and the efforts of Presi-
dent Wilson to bring about peace, the Balkan war, or the
present [recent] European war.
2. The relation of geographical facts to economic values, as
developed from real problems of the child.
3. The social value of geographical data, since they fur-
nish a basis for the understanding of current happenings, the
16^
1 66 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
planning of trips and outings, and are constantly involved in
reading and conversation.
4. The play motive involved in planning grown-up experi-
ences and likewise in the use of geographical facts in games
and contests.
5. The connection of geography with romance and adven-
ture as needed in books of travel and adventure.
These separate motives seldom occur singly, but are usually
combined in any worth-while problem in geography. 1
Geography related to real conditions. The child should
feel that he is studying about a real world, inhabited by
real people, who are engaged in real activities. How many
children have studied about Palestine at Sunday school
and about another Palestine in school ? How many chil-
dren, ignorant of the fact that they were Hying on or
near a glacial moraine, have made a bookish study of
glaciers and their work? How many children living
within a natural region have recited glibly book informa-
tion about the region without being aware that they were
living within the region discussed ? How many children,
when discussing earth features, products, or regions at
a distance, have thought of these regions as imaginary
creations to be classed with Jack and the Beanstalk and
Little Red Riding Hood ?
Motivation through current events. Current events
may frequently be used with excellent results in motivat-
ing geography topics. Almost every day the daily news-
papers contain news items from such important cities
as Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Boston, and
] H. B. Wilson and G. M. Wilson, The Motivation of School Work
(Houghton Mifllin Company, 1016), pp. 136-137.
THE MOTIVATION OF GEOGRAPHY 167
frequently from such important foreign cities as Rio de
Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and Liverpool. There are
accounts of economic activities, related to the production
of rice, sugar, cotton, wheat, coffee, etc. If the pupil is
interested in current events, the location of the places
mentioned will add to their value. The atlas is a desir-
able reference book for place geography. "Get the atlas
habit" is good advice. Not only does place geography
assist in vitalizing current events, but the student may
use current events as a basis for the interpretation of
geographic situations.
Since many activities are closely related, when a motive
for looking up materials is given through current events,
the results of study will probably suggest other topics that
it would be worth while to study, so that a whole series
of related topics or problems will successively be un-
covered, and the pupil will find himself spontaneously
passing from topic to topic. The original interest created
is genuine, having its origin in present-day activities. The
successive interests aroused are genuine, because they
have been aroused in relation to and as an extension of the
original genuine interest. A few of the leading magazines
which stress economic development should be available.
The daily weather maps are valuable not only in arousing
an interest in weather conditions but in helping to explain
numerous economic situations. The publications of the
United States Geological Survey, the Department of Agri-
culture, and state boards performing similar functions
are valuable.
Motivation through local activities. Activities of the
local community may frequently be used as a point of
1 68 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
departure. The formal opening of the barge system on the
Mississippi at St. Louis by the Federal government was
used as a point of departure for an intensive discussion
of the navigation of the Mississippi. The ceremony was
attended by a number of students, and the press reports
were used to supplement the first-hand observations. A
visit to the weather bureau interested the children in a
detailed study of the principles of weather forecasting. A
visit to a small valley, and a study of forms and processes
there, interested the children in a more detailed study of
similar but larger forms elsewhere. A visit to an indus-
trial establishment aroused an interest in knowing more
about the economic world.
Motivation through construction work. A situation
may frequently be made appealing through Ihe use of
construction materials.
"Illustrative handwork," as it is called, is all right if it is
the result of free expression on the part of the child. Some-
times the "organizator" kills all handwork values. Not so
long ago I wanted to photograph a table representation of a
village of primitive peoples made by children in a third-grade
class, but on making inquiries into the methods of teaching
this particular project I found that it was not handwork of
the free expressional type but of the "exercise" type. There
had been a series of lessons in dictated paper-construction
work. The result was thirty to fifty huts, thirty to fifty boats,
as many more trees, and so on, until each child had made at
least one of each of the component parts of that village. It
was not even a cooperative handwork project, because no in-
dividual or group of individuals were made to feel responsible
for any particular part of the project. Was that village the
outcome of the child's interest in the subject ? Whose village
THE MOTIVATION OF GEOGRAPHY 169
was it — the child's, the teacher's, or the person's who planned
the course of study? What had the children got out of the
four to six hours of work ? Perhaps a little more skill in
handling paper, ruler, pencil, scissors, paste, and crayon. I
doubt if the majority of children in grades one to four feel
the need for skill, especially in paper construction, where so
often the scissors come in so handily in rectifying a mistake in
measuring or folding.
Let us make a contrast with another group of children who
constructed an Eskimo village when the teacher used hand-
work to illustrate a story. In a second-grade class the children
had been reading a story about two little Eskimo boys, and
because of their interest in the story and in the illustrations in
the book they had asked and obtained permission from the
teacher to picture the story on the table. Realizing that if the
project was to be effective it must be finished before the young-
sters lost interest, the teacher had assisted wherever she felt
the problem was beyond their capabilities. She had made the
form for the igloo, and the wigs for the dolls ; otherwise it
was the children's own work. The children had placed mir-
rors to represent water ; covered the table with cotton batting
for snow ; stained and dressed the dolls ; made make-believe
utensils and implements ; and staged the dolls with the neces-
sary "props" to illustrate the pursuits of the pupils. The
teacher suggested that several of the children tell me the
story represented. I selected three, who told me the story in
serial form. Pointing to the various groups on the table, the
children told me about the manners and customs of the Eski-
mos and were able to answer practically all my "why" ques-
tions which I had asked in order to test the depth of their
knowledge. What had these children learned ? First, they had
handled a variety of materials ; second, they had had some
experience in cooperative work (the class had been divided
into groups, each group being responsible for a scene) ; third,
when doubts arose in any group concerning the scene they
170 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
were depicting they had read and re-read, if necessary, those
portions of the story which dealt with their project, and thus
in giving concrete expression to their ideas they had clarified
any hazy notions which they may have had, and the project
took the place of a review. 1
Motivation through other subjects. Experiences of
children through other subjects may be used as an ap-
proach to a geographic topic. Literary selections may be
used. "The Landing of the Pilgrims" may be used to
arouse an interest in the New England States. History is
very helpful. The explorations and settlements of the
French in the Mississippi Basin may be used in arous-
ing an interest in this region. The explorations of
Mackenzie, Hudson, Magellan, Amundsen, and Peary are
significant in arousing a present-day interest in the geog-
raphy of the regions in question as they influenced these
explorers and as they have influenced present-day activi-
ties. The teacher herself can frequently contribute some-
thing of considerable interest out of which problems may
arise. Different members of the class may make contri-
butions that will constitute an excellent basis for a more
detailed discussion.
Interests and motives. Motivation suggests both a
forward and a backward control. The new situation
should hinge into the child's interests and experiences
and at the same time should arouse a definite motive,
prompting the child to act. Various subjects may furnish
the means of motivating a geography topic, or work pre-
viously done in geography may be used. The unorganized
1 A. Adele Rudolph, "Industry as an Elementary School Subject,"
Industrial-Arts Magazine (May, 1920), Vol. IX, pp. 181-182.
THE MOTIVATION OF GEOGRAPHY 171
out-of-school experiences of the children are invalu-
able. Current events of the community or of other com-
munities may be used. Recreational, economic, and
political activities may furnish the needed stimuli. If an
initial interest has been aroused, if a well-defined goal has
been set up, the worth-whileness of which is felt by the
pupils, the teacher will be helpful in directing the work in
such a way that the children not only will feel the value of
the work but will be interested in continuing their efforts
until the goal is reached. Motivation does not mean that
the pupils should be permitted to shift their activities as
their passing interests shift. When a well-defined unit of
activity has been adopted by the class, even though some
of the steps involved in reaching the goal may not make
a strong appeal, the pupils should be encouraged to stay
with the unit until their efforts have been rewarded with
success.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Show that there may be danger that motivation, improperly
understood, may lead to a series of petty achievements on a low
intellectual level.
2. Is geography a relatively easy subject to motivate? Explain.
3. Motivate a geographic topic by reference to some local situ-
ation with which the children are acquainted.
4. Motivate a geographic topic by reference to some current-
events topic as discussed in a newspaper.
5. Motivate a geographic topic through experiences the class has
gained in studying some other subject.
6. What is the relation of "interests" and "motives" to
motivation ?
172 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Selected References :
Branom, M. E. The Project Method in Education, chap, v,
pp. 79-106.
Emerson, P. " Geography for the Grades," Journal of Education
(1913), Vol. LXXVIII, pp. 579-580, 660-661.
Hammond, M. C. " School-room Suggestions for Geography,"
American Education (191 7), Vol. XX, pp. 413-414.
Henry, Ruby A. " A Kentucky Method in the Study of Commer-
cial Geography," Journal of Education (1914), Vol. LXXIX,
P- 273-
Hodgson, E. " Motivation of School Work," American Education,
Vol. XVIII, pp. 140-143.
Holtz, F. L. Principles and Methods in Teaching Geography,
chap, ii, pp. 6-12.
Kelton, M. E. " Current Events and Geography," Journal of
Geography (191 1), Vol. X, pp. '57-59.
Nolan, Ona I. " Ways of Raising Geography Teaching above
the Commonplace," Journal of Geography (191 8), Vol. XVII,
pp. 41-49-
Von Engeln, O. D. " Utilizing Current Events in Geography
Teaching," Journal of Geography (1919), Vol. XVIII, pp.
1 09- 1 1 1.
Walther, E. " Suggestions for a Study of Latin America Based
upon our Trade Relations," Journal of Geography (1920), Vol.
XIX, pp. 41-55.
Wilson, II. 15. and G. M. Motivation of School Work (191 6),
PP- 3-57, I33-I5 8 -
Wilson, J. R. " Children's Participation in War-Time Activities
and its Influence in Educational Work," American Education
(1918), Vol. XXII, pp. 348-35I-
CHAPTER XIII
THE PROBLEM METHOD OF TEACHING
GEOGRAPHY
The nature of a problem. In meeting the situations of
life man depends on (i) instincts, (2) habits, (3) memory,
and (4) reason.
1. In so far as the needed response is made instinc-
tively, the intellect plays a minor part in bringing about
the reaction.
2. Through an adequate number of repetitions of the
same type of experience man forms a habit of definite
response. When a situation can be met by a response on
the habit level the thought processes are eliminated or
reduced to a minimum.
3. Many memory impressions are made on the mind
of man through the stimuli of environing materials. The
nervous system is constantly receiving stimuli. Vari-
ous concrete objects, as buildings, topographic features,
maps, and globes, may be observed ; the words of a book
may be memorized ; the statement of another person may
be remembered ; a suggestion that has entered the mind
may be retained. The more or less lasting impressions
thus made are the results of direct, simple relations of the
mind to materials. The quality of memory impression is
dependent on the intensity with which the individual
'73
174 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
concentrates on the thing to be remembered and the
number of repetitions. A considerable part of the educa-
tion of man comes through memory impressions.
4. When instincts or habits or simple memory recalls
are inadequate to meet the conditions of a situation suc-
cessfully, the attention of the individual is intensively
directed toward the situation. If the mind simply recog-
nizes the new elements of the situation, the memory
impressions are increased. If the new elements are not
immediately absorbed, and if the situation that confronts
the individual arouses a mental query that involves the
marshaling of past experiences, the securing of additional
information, or the exercise of reflective thinking and
judgment for its interpretation, reason is called into play,
and the individual is confronted with a genuine problem.
The new elements in a situation requiring thought proc-
esses for their interpretation constitute the problem or
problems arising out of the situation.
Problem work versus memory work. Problems as well
as memory work have inevitably entered into the school
activities of the past, but there has been a tendency
unduly to emphasize the latter. The topical outline in
geography may be taken up from the problem standpoint,
but frequently the dominant and almost exclusive
emphasis is placed on memory work. Much of the so-
called problem work, in fact, is largely memory work with
an improved organization of subject matter. If a pupil
reads an article in which the material bearing on a prob-
lem has been selected, evaluated, and organized by another
person, the chances are that he will accept unquestion-
ingly the material thus presented. The one who wrote
THE PROBLEM METHOD 175
the article undoubtedly had a problem, but the one who
reads the article may simply secure impressions of the
details of the problem that belonged to another. The
reading of such articles is valuable because the student,
in following the solution of a problem by another, is be-
coming acquainted with approved methods of problem-
solving.
The problem organization of material is preferable to
a mere topical organization as memory textbook-material,
since the article has a definite viewpoint that makes its
consideration meaningful. There is a danger, however,
that the pupil may learn to depend too readily on authori-
ties. He may tend to become a mere transmitter of the
ideas of another, thus developing few qualities of leader-
ship or of initiative. The memoriter route of problem-
solving tends to develop followers ; the reasoning route of
problem-solving tends to develop leaders. Each pupil
should be given every possible chance to develop quali-
ties of leadership as well as qualities of followship. Pupils
should secure, evaluate, and organize material from vari-
ous sources in solving problems of which detailed solu-
tions are not available to them. A detailed solution of
a geography problem bears much the same relation to the
problem that a tc pony" in a foreign language or in math-
ematics bears to the contents of those subjects, with all
the attendant advantages and disadvantages.
Not only for self-realization but for the social welfare
it is the duty of the schools to emphasize problem work.
Progress is dependent on constructive changes and addi-
tions. In schools emphasizing memory work which is
not related to problems the work of the pupil who can
176 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
retain impressions, irrespective of whether he is a keen
thinker, is at a premium. The ability of pupils in solving
problems may not be tested. The pupils who have
capacity for leadership may take very little interest in
memory work simply as memory work, and may make a
very poor showing. If memory work is related to worth-
while problems, however, it will frequently be found that
some pupils with excellent memories have ceased to use
their memories because they could not see the use of
exerting themselves to memorize merely for the sake of
memorizing. The school should place emphasis on the
ability to observe and to retain, but in addition it should
encourage and demand that each child shall be able to
use information and to secure further needed information
in relation to actual problems.
Relation of memory to problem work. Man can learn
much through sense impressions and the storing up of
these impressions in memory. Instinctively he becomes
acquainted with his environment. The memory route
tends to anticipate problems that may arise ; the reason-
ing route tends to create a need for information as a
basis for the solution of a problem. Problems, therefore,
tend to supplement an instinctive interest in acquiring
information with a rational interest because of the need
of information in meeting the intellectual difficulty.
Problems, in other words, furnish another motive, closely
related to human accomplishment, for the acquiring of
information.
A good memory is not to be disparaged, and every
effort should be made to teach each child to memorize
economically. In fact, while a person may have a good
THE PROBLEM METHOD 177
memory and be a poor reasoner, it is very difficult to be
a good reasoner without having a very good memory.
Problem-solving involves a consideration of past experi-
ences in the interpretation of a situation, and a treach-
erous memory will not permit these experiences to be
readily recalled. Problem-solving frequently involves the
securing of additional material in relation to the situa-
tion, and a poor memory will seriously handicap the
person in his attempt to retain, interpret, and apply the
material secured.
In the school with a well-balanced curriculum both
memorizing and reasoning will be emphasized. In spite
of an equal opportunity to all, it will be found that
pupils, because of lack of capacity or because of lack of
application, will group themselves. Some pupils accept
blindly and unquestioningly the detailed solution of a
problem by another ; some follow readily and thought-
fully the reasoning of another, approving or disapproving
according to personal opinion ; some are able to make
partial but inadequate contributions toward the solving
of a problem ; while others not only can follow critically
the interpretation of a problem by another but have suffi-
cient initiative and reasoning ability to solve problems
with but little assistance. The teacher will not arbi-
trarily group the pupils into leaders and followers; but,
because of the varying capacities and abilities, if oppor-
tunity is given all for real problem-solving this grouping
will tend to appear. The proper emphasis of problem
work will enable a teacher to grade the pupils on in-
formation retained, but, what is far more important, the
pupils can be graded with respect to their ability to
178 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
use information in relation to new situations requiring
analysis and interpretation.
A pressing practical question among teachers concerns
the relation of problems to the information necessary for
their solution. Among the varying viewpoints presented
are the following: (i) the pupil should study the in-
formation first and then should be confronted with a
problem that will test his ability to use the information
acquired; (2) the pupil should have a problem first,
which can be used as a motive in inducing him to se-
cure the needed information; (3) the problem should be
so far related to the acquired experiences of the child
that he can use them, but its solution should also involve
the securing of additional information. While there may
be occasions that justify the application of the first two
viewpoints, in general the third viewpoint is educationally
the most promising, since the child, in the same problem,
not only relates the problem to some of his past experi-
ences and interests but at the same time enlarges or
supplements his experiences.
Evolution of the problem method. In organizing the
content of scientific geography a standardized outline has
been employed. In the days when the pupil was forced
to adjust himself to content, the standardized outline was
adopted in the writing of textbooks. The topical outline,
including location, area, topography, climate, soils, plant
and animal life, and human activities, was used in the
consideration of each country. Serious overlapping was
avoided, the country was systematically studied, and the
pupil could study the last topic of the outline with a
THE PROBLEM METHOD 179
feeling of finality, for had he not mastered the whole
outline applied to a particular country?
When the emphasis was shifted from descriptive to
interpretative geography the outline organization was
retained, but, in addition to the statement of facts con-
cerning each topic, as climate, an attempt was made to
explain the particular climate and to determine the effects
of climate on life forms. This was a decided improvement
over the loose clustering of material about topics. A con-
sideration of the effects of a single fact, as climate, on the
activities of the people tended to focus the attention of
students of geography on the life responses. It was
clearly seen, however, that a complex of physical factors
combines to influence human responses. There has been
a tendency, consequently, to consider life responses and
to attempt to evaluate all physical factors that have
influenced these responses. Even the singling out of a
certain type of activity for interpretation is regarded
as inadequate. The present tendency is to emphasize
regional geography by attempting to interpret the com-
plex of life activities in relation to the complex of the
physical environs.
The trend in the evolution of geography method is in
harmony with the trend in the evolution of scientific geog-
raphy. Since teaching has been largely by the textbook
method, the standardized topical outline of the book has
prevailed. The pupil memorized more or less literally the
words of the book and the locations of places as indicated
by the maps. As interpretative material has been included
in the textbooks the pupils have also memorized this type
180 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
of material. The organization of parts of the textbook
about problems has made the textbook much more appeal-
ing to pupils. Some provision has been made for independ-
ent problem-solving. The scientific geographer insists that
a geographer in training must do independent work in
geography, which, according to the modern viewpoint of
geography, is equivalent to problem-solving. The teacher
likewise insists that the pupil shall do a certain amount of
independent problem-solving, not for the purpose of be-
coming a trained geographer but for the purpose of
securing a maximum development.
Some materials for problem- solving. What should be
the nature of a geography textbook in order that problem
work may be properly emphasized ? There should be
topics developed in detail from the problem standpoint,
both for the benefit of the pupils who primarily follow
the reasoning of another and for the benefit of the pupils
who carefully check the statements made. It is altogether
legitimate to profit from the experiences of others, and
many more problems can be taken up in a limited time,
although extensity of experience is substituted for in-
tensity of experience. The textbook should in part be so
arranged that a considerable amount of original problem-
solving is possible. There should be a gradation from
developed problems to problems to be developed. Some
problems may be worked out in part, including a state-
ment of appropriate pages on which pertinent material
may be found. Some problems may be outlined with ap-
propriate references. Problems should involve the use of
pictures, maps, diagrams, encyclopedias, statistical tables,
THE PROBLEM METHOD 181
the dictionary, supplementary articles of books and maga-
zines, and collections of illustrative material.
A standardized outline organization of material, if the
material has been written with problems in mind, may be
used to good advantage. The developed problem of the
book may contain information which may be selected and
assembled in the interpretation of a problem. Problem-
solving which involves the use of sweeping general-
izations of the book should be cautiously undertaken.
Undeveloped generalizations not only are almost meaning-
less but, in addition, tend to make the study of geography
exceedingly superficial. The pictures of the textbook
should be selected with a well-defined purpose and should
be accompanied by appropriate explanations and ques-
tions. The maps should be as accurate as possible. If
a city is located on a railroad or on a water route, a map
that represents the city as located some distance from the
transportation route is of little value in so far as trans-
portation relations are concerned. If variations in alti-
tude are significant as a phase of a problem, there should
be a map that will indicate this difference. If a detailed
study of a small area is to be made, a map on a large
scale should be available. Too frequently in problem-
solving we must make statements which a pupil must read
into a map; many of these statements a pupil should be
able to read from a map.
In elaborating the topics of a textbook or in connection
with problem work, it is frequently desirable to permit
some student to make a special report. Preferably these
individual contributions should be raised to a problem
1 82 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
level. Too often the pupil is merely a transmitter of the
printed page, whether he has copied the contents to be
read to the class or whether he has read the article a suffi-
cient number of times to give it virtually from memory.
If the special report is raised to the problem level, the
pupil secures memory impressions of the article, but, in
addition, he attempts to weigh the relative importance of
the topics, to eliminate the irrelevant and insignificant, to
consult the dictionary for proper pronunciation and
definition of words, and to clear up any poorly understood
parts by referring to the encyclopedia or other books.
He similarly studies the pictures and makes a sketch map
that will show the general and special location. After
making this detailed study he attempts to reorganize the
material so that it will maximally interest and instruct
the class. Most pupils can give satisfactory memory
reports. More attention should be devoted to problem
reports of special articles.
Securing problems. The scientific geographer, inter-
ested in making a thoroughgoing, painstaking study of
content, may incorporate into his studies many problems
that relatively are insignificant. From this great field of
knowledge both the geographer and the educator are in-
terested in selecting for school use the problems of great-
est worth. Equal emphasis, therefore, will not be placed
on all the geographic factors of an area, but each area
will be studied in relation to its more significant problems.
Problems may be selected that will account for past
conditions; as, "Why did the religion of the Egyptians
center about the Nile?" or, "How did the environment
of the Phoenicians influence them to become a great
THE PROBLEM METHOD 183
maritime power ? " The problems may attempt to account
for present conditions; as, "Account for the dominating
influence of the inland city of Chicago," or, "Account
for the dominance of the pampas in Argentina." The
problem may deal with future possibilities; as, "Should
the United States intervene to force Mexico to set up a
stable form of government?" "Is the predicted Yellow
Peril real or fancied?" "What may be the practical out-
come of the apportioning of Africa among the nations ? "
and "Will the more important future development of the
St. Louis industrial area probably be on the Illinois or
the Missouri side of the Mississippi River ? " Our present
courses of study ordinarily provide an insufficient amount
of problem-solving of the latter type. Few would ques-
tion the value of making a study of how the geography
of the past and present helps to account for present-day
realities, but there is increasing need that our schools
shall not simply follow the world's progress but shall
give constructive assistance in pointing the way to a
better day. Geography can help substantially in indicat-
ing the direction in which future development should
proceed.
In teaching geography through problems in which
geographic factors are significant, rather than through a
topical outline, the teacher may well hold in mind an
organized outline of the minimum essentials in geography
that should be taught with reference to the region con-
cerned. The teacher should check accomplishment with
reference to her list of minimum essentials, and she should
make supplementary provision for any minimum essen-
tials that are omitted in the problem studies.
1 84 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
The problem may be expressed in a variety of ways. It
may be (i) a question, as, "What use should Poland
make of her resources in order that she may become a
strong nation?" (2) a debate, as, "Poland has a better
opportunity than Czechoslovakia for an important na-
tional development"; (3) a suggested scoring, as, "Pur-
pose, to find whether Poland or Czechoslovakia has the
better opportunity for an important national develop-
ment"; (4) a prejudicial declarative statement, as, "Why
Poland must become a powerful nation"; (5) a topical
outline, as, "Poland, location, area, topography, climate,
plant and animal life, and human activities," each topic
being a condensed statement of a problem, as, "How
has the location of Poland affected its development?"
It is not the particular form of a problem that is sig-
nificant, it is the existence of a problem.
The pedagogy oj problem-solving. The trained geog-
rapher may readily pick out the more important prob-
lems in geography. If the child is merely assigned
problem after problem, however, and told that he must
master each one, the teacher is following the old-fashioned
practice of adapting the child to the material. The
pedagogical viewpoint affirms that socially valuable prob-
lems should be taught, but that the problem, if possible,
should make an appeal to the child's interests and experi-
ences. If a mere statement of the problem is sufficient
to stimulate the child to attempt its solution in a whole-
hearted, purposeful manner, further attempts to arouse
interest in the problem would be superfluous. Frequently,
however, it is desirable to enter into a discussion of ma-
terial which will recall pertinent experiences and which
THE PROBLEM METHOD 185
will provide initial material out of which the problem
may arise. The problem may be stated first, and then
an attempt may be made to arouse interest in it, or the
problem may be raised out of the introductory material.
While there is no set formula that will insure success
in this initial step, the following types of assignments will
be found suggestive : ( 1 ) Assignment : For the next reci-
tation take the problem u Can Palestine again become a
land * flowing with milk and honey'?" In securing ma-
terial as a basis for your conclusion consult your textbook
and supplementary material on the shelf. (2) The prob-
lem may be assigned, and the Bible reference concerning
milk and honey may be recalled, the former productive-
ness of the Holy Land may be discussed, and the
Zionist movement to Palestine may be noted. The prob-
lem may become meaningful as a result of this discussion.
(3) The discussion concerning the former productiveness
of the Holy Land etc. may lead naturally to the problem,
so that the problem arises out of the introductory material.
(4) The pupils in their out-of-school experiences may
hear about or read about the Zionist movement and the
attempts that are to be made to restore Palestine to its
former productivity, and the teacher may utilize the
interests and experiences that they bring to school by
helping them to interpret the problem as to whether the
hopes of the Zionists are well founded. There is no in-
fallible rule. The wise teacher may occasionally use every
type of assignment indicated. The responsibility of get-
ting the problem before the child in such a way that it
appeals to him and arouses his enthusiasm belongs to
the teacher.
1 86 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
In the interpretation of a problem there are all grada-
tions, from the detailed working out of the problem by
the teacher — the pupils merely following the interpreta-
tion more or less thoughtfully — to the independent in-
terpretation of the problem with absolutely no assistance
from the teacher. The degree of assistance that is given
will depend on the difficulty of the problem on the one
hand, and on the capacity and ability of the pupil on the
other hand. Suggestions concerning various ways of
assisting can be given, but the trained teacher must con-
stantly diagnose the situation and direct her course ac-
cordingly. In the securing of materials, such as maps,
globes, pictures, textbook articles, statistics, samples of
products, newspaper and magazine articles, etc., the
pupils should be aided by a reasonable accumulation that
can readily be secured, although they should always
be encouraged to supplement the school materials with
contributions from the home, the library, and miscellane-
ous sources.
In most cases it is better to induce a pupil to stay with
a problem until the interpretation has been made. It may
be helpful at the outset to give the pupil an overview of
the problem and the nature of the study that will be neces-
sary, in order that he may have a reasonably adequate
conception of the task that is before him. If a pupil
undertakes the solution of a problem that he abandons
because he tires of it, bad habits and attitudes may be
formed. It is not always necessary that the pupil shall
come to a final conclusion, but as a final step the solution
of the problem should be indicated in concise form or
the materials interpreted should be summarized. If it is
THE PROBLEM METHOD 187
probable that other factors than those discussed should
enter into the problem, the pupil should indicate that,
with respect to the factors studied, certain conclusions
have been reached. Pupils should not be permitted to feel
that they have made an exhaustive final study of a prob-
lem, when necessarily, in most instances, they have studied
only the more significant or more accessible factors.
If a conclusion is reached, what use can be made of it?
If the problem refers to the reasons for a past or a present
condition, the instinctive desire of the child to understand
has been satisfied. He has secured a viewpoint and in-
formation that potentially will be a fundamental back-
ground in helping him to solve the living problems of the
world. If the problem deals with an economic and social
policy that is being pursued, or that may be pursued, with
the view of determining the best policy, the pupil is not
only satisfying an instinctive desire to master the problem
but has also come to a conclusion that may result in
practical accomplishment.
Practical difficulties in the use of the problem method.
It has been very difficult for many teachers to get away
from the topical outline. An examination of various
courses of study developed from the problem standpoint
indicates that the oid detailed topical outline of a country
has been retained and that the outline has simply been
capped with a problem, ordinarily in the form of a ques-
tion. The topical method, in other words, has been sugar-
coated with a problem in an attempt to make it more
palatable. Much confusion arises, for many of the details
of the outline can be applied to the problem only by
the wildest stretches of the imagination. Because of this
1 88 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
distant relation of material, the pupil and possibly the
teacher lose sight of the problem and proceed to master
the material by the topical method.
The reason for this misuse of problems can be readily
understood. The topical outline presents, with but little
overlapping, the detailed content of the region. If a prob-
lem can be secured that will require the use of the various
topics in the outline, the material can be taken up sys-
tematically and without serious overlapping. The teacher
needs to secure real problems that will involve the neces-
sary content of the topical organization. Frequently this
can be done by the consideration of a number of problems
dealing with the area, the resulting overlapping of con-
tent being regarded as a desirable form of review. The
problem method is of little or no value if the topical out-
line is forced into the problem mold. Each problem, irre-
spective of the topical outline, should be solved according
to its own requirements.
The problem method may be overworked. As has been
indicated, much human development proceeds more or
less haphazardly, more or less accidentally, through obser-
vations and impressions. The problem method seeks to
substitute scientific advancement for accidental advance-
ment. Not only does memory work meet individual needs,
however, but it also furnishes much of the raw material
for problem-solving. The human being is so constituted
that it may tire of problem work, but may find relaxation
in falling back on instincts, habits, impressions, and recall.
True problem-solving, being the most intensely intellec-
tualized form of action, is the most exacting work that
an individual can experience.
THE PROBLEM METHOD 189
The problem may not be adapted to the child. Merely-
telling the child that he has a problem to solve does not
make it so. The pupil must be led to see the problem in-
volved. The problem should be related to his interests
and experiences. It is not sufficient that the problem shall
be worth while from the teacher's standpoint ; it must also
be worth while from the pupil's standpoint. The technic
of the teacher is tested as she attempts to get the pupil
enthusiastically and purposefully interested in a problem
which she believes he should interpret as a part of his
educational development.
Appropriate materials for the solution of the problem
may not be available. This difficulty is gradually dis-
appearing. Better textbooks are being published, special
studies are being made, better maps and maps in greater
variety are being published, the homes are using more
reading material, and public libraries are becoming
increasingly numerous. Under modern conditions no
teacher should excuse herself from problem work with
the explanation that she has inadequate equipment for
this type of work.
EXAMPLE OF A PROBLEM
i. Preparatory step: In a large city an investigation by
federal representatives indicated that the milk supply was
dangerous to health, and the people using the milk believed
that the price charged was exorbitant. There was free discus-
sion, therefore, among the people concerning the high price of
unsatisfactory milk. The children, as ultimate consumers,
were well acquainted with milk and its uses, and they became
interested in the public agitation. In a life situation with
190 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
which the children had adequate points of contact arose condi-
tions favorable for a problem interpretation.
2. Problem raised and concisely stated: The teacher eagerly-
grasped the opportunity presented through the interest of the
children in the situation, and out of their questions arose the
problem, which was stated by different pupils, and the final
form agreed upon by the class as follows : "Is it true that our
milk supply is dangerous and that exorbitant prices are being
charged by the dairy companies ? " It will be seen that in real-
ity there were two distinct but overlapping problems involved.
3. Materials secured and interpreted: Each problem was
considered separately. The condition of the milk supply in-
volved a consideration of the significance of having dairy
cattle free from disease, of observing the utmost cleanliness in
milking the cows, in caring for the milk at all times until it
had reached the consumer, of maintaining a sufficiently low
temperature to maintain the desirable qualities of the milk,
and of pasteurizing all milk coming into the city. The condi-
tions as they ought to have been were contrasted with the
conditions that actually existed, and the pupils had definite
data on which to base their conclusions.
4. Problem solved: The pupils, as a result of their study,
were convinced in most instances that the milk supply was
unsafe.
5. Application : Many of the problems that have been used
in geography classes cannot be immediately used in some posi-
tive, useful way. In this instance the conclusions reached by
the students were used in enlightening other members of the
family, and the pupils undoubtedly had a helpful influence in
creating sufficient public sentiment to bring about a partial
correction of the evil.
The second problem involved a study of the cost fac-
tors entering into the production, transportation, and
pasteurization of milk, and its distribution to the ultimate
THE PROBLEM METHOD 191
consumer. The first problem had made the pupils aware
of the importance of a desirable milk supply, and conse-
quently they were eager to have any reasonable expendi-
tures made to guard the health of the community.
The type problem suggested has been analyzed into its
respective parts in order that the nature of a problem
may be more clearly indicated. In actual practice these
steps should be carefully interlocked, so that no step will
be painfully evident. The teacher is not primarily inter-
ested in the realization of each step as a distinct accom-
plishment, but in the step as a vital part of a larger whole,
the problem unit.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Should all the work of the school be on the problem level?
2. What is the relation of a good memory to problem-solving?
3. Prepare a special report in geography and attempt to raise it
to a problem level.
4. Select a problem and state it in as many different ways as
possible.
5. Select a problem and work it out in detail with respect to
the five steps indicated.
6. What are the factors that may cause a teacher to fail in
teaching by the problem method ? What are the factors that favor
successful teaching through the problem method?
Selected References :
Braxom. M. E. The Project Method in Education, chap. x.
pp. 145-171.
Brown. R. M. " Problem-Study Procedure in Geography : Africa."
Elementary School Journal, Vol. XVII, pp. 276-280.
Charters. 1. A. "The Problem Method of Teaching Ideals." Eng-
lish Journal (1919). Vol. VIII, pp. 461-473.
192 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Cook, Charles W. " Importance of Geographic Factors in the
Birmingham, Alabama, Iron District," Journal of Geog7~aphy
(1918), Vol. XVI, pp. 180-184.
Freeland, George E. Modern Elementary-School Practice, chap,
ii, pp. 6-44.
Lackey, Earl E. Studies in the Principles of Geography, p. 116.
McMurry, Charles A. and Frank M. Method of the Recita-
tion, chap, x, pp. 257-270.
Minor, Ruby. "Problem Teaching: How to Plan for it," Journal
of Geography (1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 61-69.
Parker, Edith P. " Partition of Africa — A Seventh-Grade Geog-
raphy Unit," Elementary School Journal (1919), Vol. XX,
pp. 188-202; Journal of Geography (1919), Vol. XVIII,
PP- 359-3 6 4-
Parker. Samuel Chester. " Problem-Solving, or, Practice in
Thinking," Elementary School Journal (Sept., Oct., Nov., 1920).
Sutherland, William. "Improvement in Geography Teaching,"
Joimial of Geography (19 10), Vol. IX, pp. 99-101.
Sutherland. William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, ii,
pp. 145-155; chap, xii, pp. 155-160; chap, xiv, pp. 166-172.
Visher, S. S. " Some Results of the Location of Australia," Jour-
nal of Geography (igiS), Vol. XVI, pp. 305-309.
" Minneapolis Outline for Teaching Japan and China," Journal of
Geography (1918), Vol. XVI, pp. 228-233.
CHAPTER XIV
THE ARGUMENTATIVE LESSON
A special type of problem. In the competitive life of
the world it is necessary that a person shall be able to
marshal the facts concerning a situation and to come to a
desirable conclusion. He should be able effectively to de-
fend and justify any stand that he may have taken. He
should be able to do this quickly, accurately, and con-
vincingly. Since there is practically no situation in life
that is devoid of its geographic aspect, every pupil should
have training in the proper evaluation of the physical fac-
tors. There are two special types of problems requiring
the individual to adopt a particular conclusion in con-
trast to one or more other conclusions that might be
reached. In a scoring lesson the pupil lists the advantages
and disadvantages with respect to two or more possible
conclusions, and through a pitting of the advantages on
the one side against the advantages on the other side at-
tempts to come to a rational conclusion. Scoring is a type
of debate in which the affirmative and the negative are
represented by the same person.
Scoring. Countries, cities, mountains, rivers, products,
and groups of people may be compared. The comparative
method is all the more effective if the comparisons are
made with the view of coming intelligently and impartially
to a well-defined conclusion. The various points to be
194 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
noted in comparing two countries may be listed, and each
point may be given a definite value, the sum of all the
values to be ioo or any other desired sum. The coun-
tries may then be scored point by point. If the country
has been given a perfect score, the sum of the points
should be ioo. No geographic topic, probably, would be
given a score of ioo per cent, but the country register-
ing the highest per cent would be considered the superior
country.
A simple method of scoring is indicated in the follow-
ing illustration and in the table on the opposite page :
Problem : To determine whether Uruguay or Paraguay
•mill make the most rapid advancement.
Books consulted : Textbooks and supplementary readers.
If the factor was favorable in each country and no
superiority could be determined, each country was given
a point. If the factor was unfavorable in each country,
each country was given no score. The data unfortunately
are not always readily secured, and too much of the ma-
terial available makes sweeping generalizations which it is
difficult to verify. In spite of these difficulties practice in
scoring based on the data available is worth while because
of the careful evaluation, discrimination, and recognition
of shortcomings involved.
The class may agree on the topics that will be con-
sidered in the scoring. Each pupil may score independ-
ently. The class recitation may be devoted to an exchange
of opinion concerning the scoring of the countries. Pupils
should be able to back up their conclusions with exact
references. The particular advantage of scoring lies in
THE ARGUMENTATIVE LESSON
195
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the fact that the students are attempting presumably to
arrive at an absolutely impartial conclusion. They are
not seeking to determine that one side or the other is
superior, but are merely seeking to determine the actual
situation. This type of work, if carefully done, helps to
overcome the tendency to accept conclusions prejudicially
and then to distort the facts in order to sustain the view-
point adopted.
Debating. The debate tends to accomplish for a group
what the scoring accomplishes for an individual. The
debate calls for a more highly socialized organization.
Not only are the students engaged in comparing materials
but their ability is being matched with that of other stu-
dents. An individual needs to learn how to weigh the
evidence carefully and to come to a desirable conclusion.
A considerable part of his success, however, depends upon
the influence that he can wield in causing others to accept
his views.
The need of making the same careful study as in the
scoring method is present, but the study is made with a
somewhat different aim in view. The pupil is interested
in proving his side of the argument. He is interested in
the psychology of the situation as well as the bare facts.
He will appeal to both the head and the heart. He will
emphasize those factors that put his side in a favorable
light, and he will seek to minimize the advantages of the
opposition.
Pupils should agree upon the subject to be debated,
and they should also agree upon its phraseology. The
subject for debate may originate in a difference of opinion
THE ARGUMENTATIVE LESSON 197
in the regular class work. Pupils may take sides accord-
ing to their opinions. As a result of the differences the
questions may be clearly stated, the study hour may be
devoted to the securing of pertinent material, and pupils
may return with facts to strengthen the stand they have
taken. If the pupils return to the classroom in perfect
agreement, the detailed study has been the means of clear-
ing up the difficulties, and the reason for the debate has
been removed. If the class on reassembling is still divided,
the two groups may proceed to present the evidence. The
leader, the teacher, or a pupil may act as chairman, and
representatives of the two sides may be allowed to talk
alternately. A time limit to each speech may or may not
be desirable. The chairman will attempt to secure a gen-
eral participation. The class may vote on the outcome
either publicly or by ballot, the latter method ordinarily
being preferable, or a committee from another room may
be selected to judge.
Through the debate the pupil learns that there is some-
thing of greater value than being an ^ace" in this world.
He learns to sacrifice himself, if necessary, for the welfare
of the group with which he is working. The work must
be distributed among the members of a team so as coordi-
nate^ to bring about the most effective results.
Debates, in general, should center about an honest dif-
ference of opinion. It is not desirable to encourage pupils
to take the opposite side merely for the sake of arguing.
This teaches pupils to be dishonest with themselves. There
are enough geographic problems over which pupils may
honestly disagree without the setting up of artificial
198 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
problems for debate. Unless a pupil thoroughly believes
in his side his work cannot be thoroughly and desirably
motivated.
Students should be encouraged to make honest state-
ments. Children may be so carried away by their enthu-
siasm to win that they, as unfortunately is true of many
adults, are willing to resort to misrepresentation to secure
the desired victory. By holding a debater to exact refer-
ences the tendency to make sweeping statements can be
held in check. The well-conducted debate brings vividly
before the pupils the reasons for differences of opinion and
tends to make them, while disagreeing, tolerant of each
other's views.
The subject for debate may involve a geographic prob-
lem approached from the physical viewpoint; as, "The
unfavorable climate of the Amazon basin makes it
highly improbable that this basin will ever be as densely
populated as the United States." The subject may be
approached from the life standpoint; as, "The people of
the southern part of the United States are less progressive
than those of the northern part on account of climatic dif-
ferences." The subject may be of a social or political
nature, with the possibilities of a very important physical
interpretation; as, "A stable, progressive government
cannot be established in tropical countries without assist-
ance from temperate regions."
The subject for debate may involve events that have
passed ; as. "The discovery of the south pole was fraught
with more clangers than the discovery of the north pole."
The subject may involve an interpretation of a present
situation; as, "The physical factors have been more
THE ARGUMENTATIVE LESSON 199
important than the social factors in bringing about the
unsatisfactory political condition in Mexico." The sub-
ject may involve a consideration of future possibilities ;
as, "The forested area of southern Chile within fifty years
will be more important to Chile than the desert region of
the north."
The argumentative lesson involves a special type of
problem. The subject for debate should be motivated,
arising out of the discussions of other problems and topics
or arising out of an initial situation. If difference in opin-
ion exists, conditions may be favorable for the holding of
a formal debate. In some instances an informal debate or
argument may be sufficient. The debate presents a social
challenge to the participants that sometimes makes a
stronger appeal than the solution of the problem. The
debate offers an excellent opportunity not only of securing
intense mental activity in marshaling evidence but also
of giving training in cooperative living in a representative
democracy with its divergent opinions.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Make a list of criteria by means of which you think that cities
should be scored. Select two cities, and through scoring seek to
determine which has the better future.
2. Select a geographic subject that you consider excellent for a
debate and give reasons for your selection.
3. Select a geographic topic that you do not consider suitable
for a debate and give reasons for your selection.
4. I? the debate or the score the more valuable type of argu-
mentative lesson ?
5. Describe a geographic debate in which all the factors are as
nearly ideal as possible.
200 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
6. Select two of the new countries of Europe, and by the score
card seek to determine which has the better opportunity for an
important national development.
7. Consult a rhetoric for a detailed analysis of the parts of a
debate.
8. What are the limitations of the argumentative lesson in the
teaching of geography ?
Selected References :
Foster, William Hortox. Debating for Boys. Sturgis and
Walton Co.. New York, 191 5.
Huxtixgtox, Ellsworth, and Cushing, Sumner W. Principles
of Human Ceography (1921), chap, iv, pp. 78-101 ; chap, xvi,
pp. 309-318.
McCoxxell, W. R. " Geography and the Irish Question," Journal
of Geography, Vol. XVIII, pp. 259-267.
Richards, E. B. "The Game of Debate," English Journal (1920),
Vol. IX, pp. 147-152.
CHAPTER XV
THE TOPICAL OUTLINE
Nature of the topical outline. The various subjects
recognized in a curriculum may be regarded as the large
topics with which the school deals. In organizing each
subject it has been convenient to have some systematic
topical arrangement of the material, while frequently a
more detailed consideration of one of the numerous sub-
divisions of a subject has involved still more topics. A
topic is a content nucleus about which the subject matter
may be arranged in an orderly, coherent, and compre-
hensive manner.
The scientific organization of materials is desirable
from the standpoint of insuring that the social inheritance
shall be preserved in its entirety. The topical outline in-
sures the organization of this knowledge in detail and with
a minimum of duplication. The systematic, topical organ-
ization of content presents a definite body of material.
One subtopic after another can be taken up, discussed,
and definitely disposed of. When the material is once
scientifically organized, successive classes will be able to
use the same organization, and the work is reduced to a
system.
With the improvement in the technic of teaching has
come a careful scrutiny of the topical outline, not only as
a basis for the organization of content but as a means
202 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
for economically giving the child that development as
a social being which he ought to have.
A topical outline may be applicable to one large topic,
or it may be sufficiently general to be applied to any
one of a number in the same class. If an outline is stand-
ardized so that it can be applied to numerous topics of the
same class, a mode of attack may be worked out that
will simplify the mastery of a topic. An outline may be
evolved that can be applied to any agricultural product,
to any mineral product, or to any animal product ; that
can be applied to any geographic or political unit; that
can be applied to any type group of people ; that can be
applied to any city. Outlines are helpful in the classifica-
tion of knowledge and also as a working basis for the
securing of knowledge.
The topical outline in geography. The generalized
topical organization has been worked out effectively in
geography in a consideration of political and geographic
units. While the outline may vary somewhat, it ordinarily
includes location, area, topography, climate, life forms,
human activities, and distribution of population. All the
topics listed are fundamental in the consideration of any
areal unit. A common method is to place in the hands of
the pupil an outline for his general guidance. The pupil
may desire the outline as a basis for work. Imitation
without appropriate analysis, however, is undesirable.
The child should have training in the organization and
classification of content through the topical outline. Peda-
gogically it makes a difference how the outline is evolved.
An objection raised to the use of the outline has been the
formalizing of procedure through the dictation of the
THE TOPICAL OUTLINE 203
teacher. There are at least four ways that an outline may
be evolved : ( 1 ) the outline may be given the child, who
may be forced to conform to it ; (2) the outline may be
presented and analyzed by the teacher in an attempt to
get the pupils to see its value ; (3) the outline may be pre-
sented, and the pupils, with the help of the teacher, may
analyze, evaluate, improve, and use it; (4) the pupils
may consider any part of the larger unit that appeals,
finally reorganizing the details of the discussion, thus pro-
ceeding toward rather than from an outline organization.
In (1) the external organization is the dominant aspect;
from (1) to (4) the emphasis is shifted increasingly
from the subject matter and its organization to the child
and his mental processes. It is significant educationally
hoiv results are secured.
Illustrations. An excellent way to handle a topical
outline so that the needed interest may be secured is
to select a subject sufficiently comprehensive for almost
everyone to find some topic within his interests. The
skill of the teacher is shown in the selection of the unit.
Argentina may be suitable, or with some classes it may be
desirable to select a more comprehensive unit, as South
America. With one class the teacher entered into a brief
discussion of Argentina with the purpose of giving the
children a friendly interest in the country. She had
placed on the shelves the regular books of the library
dealing with South America and its parts and had supple-
mented this list with books and magazines from the
library. The children were permitted to read and study
anything that they cared to, with the one limitation — the
material should concern Argentina. The pupils selected
204 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
and studied articles. During the class period contribu-
tions were made by different members of the class, and
discussions followed. As the topics were discussed they
were listed on the board. Questions that could not be
answered stimulated pupils to further study. Fresh prep-
aration, either dealing with a topic previously studied or
with a different topic, was required before each recitation.
Gradually the number of topics increased, and the neces-
sary details were supplied. After some days the time
seemed ripe for the next step. The topics had been
supplied in any order, and additional contributions or
corrections had been accepted. Not even in the final re-
organization of the topics did the teacher impose what
she considered the best organization upon the class. She
raised the question concerning the order in which the
topics had been discussed, and the class entered into a
lively discussion. Through the combined efforts of the
class a final outline topical organization of material was
effected. The pupils had worked to a topical organiza-
tion as the last step in the study of the country, Argentina,
and had arranged the material out of their experience.
The country of Chile was similarly studied. While the de-
tails varied, there were in each case certain general topics
that stood out in relation to each country, particularly
location, area, topography, climate, life forms, and human
activities. The pupils compared the two topical outlines
and derived therefrom an outline that could be applied to
either country. They then used the outline in the study
of Brazil and other areal units. The topical outline thus
secured was practically the same that ordinarily is given
THE TOPICAL OUTLINE 205
to a class by the teacher. As the pupils worked upon the
details they had felt the need of guiding principles in the
selection and study of materials, and had met this need by
effecting a topical outline from the two countries studied
so that in the study of other countries the result should be
an economy of time and systematically planned purpose-
fulness of effort. They appreciated the help of the outline
and used it much more enthusiastically and effectively
than if they had merely followed the directions of another.
Pupils learn through experience what to look for in the
study of a country, and the objective outline becomes
merely an organized indication of their habitual atti-
tudes that they tend to adopt toward a country to be
studied.
The study of topics in relation. The topical outline,
once adopted, should be used effectively. If a class is
merely told to find out as much about the climate of
Chile as possible, even though it may appreciate the rea-
son for the outline, there is no assurance that such a topic
will make a strong appeal or result in the gain of valuable
knowledge. The topical outline was formerly much
abused by the study of the topics in relative isolation. In
a consideration of climate little or no attempt was made
to establish controls of climate on man's activities. If
climate were considered it was primarily descriptive rather
than causal discussion. The viewpoint in geography
should be the significance of the physical environment to
man, and in the consideration of every topic of an outline
this viewpoint should constantly dominate. The adjust-
ment of man to his social and physical environment is a
206 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
problem of perpetual interest and value. If geographic
relationships adapted to the child are emphasized, the
work may be made exceedingly appealing.
If relationships and their interpretations are empha-
sized, the topical outline may involve much reflective
thinking as well as questions of mere fact. Each topic
becomes a nucleus about which numerous problems clus-
ter. Properly handled, the topics become condensed prob-
lems. The outline concerning Argentina — location, area,
topography, climate, and life forms — might mean to the
person with the proper viewpoint, What effect has the
location of Argentina had upon its development? and
similar problems might be presented for each of the topics.
The outline may become formalized under such condi-
tions, but the work need not and should not, inasmuch as
the details of interpretation depend upon the particular
importance of these factors in dealing with a certain
country.
Danger of generalizations. Topical work may be of
little value if generalized statements are permitted with-
out the appropriate details. In agricultural production
the factors of special significance are temperature, rain-
fall, soils, and topography. These topics may be included
as a part of the topical outline. The pupil may say that
coffee is produced in Brazil because Brazil has a favorable
temperature, a favorable rainfall, a favorable soil, and a
favorable topography. A similar response may be made
for any other farm product. The statement necessarily is
truthful, but is of little value because it does not indicate
the kind of temperature, rainfall, topography, and soil
that is desirable.
THE TOPICAL OUTLINE 207
The topical outline and problem work. There is a very
close relation between the topical outline and problem
work. Children may approach the study of a country
from the life side, using such physical factors as seem
necessary for understanding the problems. Knowledge of
the significance of location, climate, etc. will be incident-
ally secured as needed in the interpretation of the prob-
lems arising. If the details of the country are grasped
through problems that do not isolate the physical factors,
an opportunity for organizing and reviewing the material
by means of a topical outline is presented. On the other
hand, if a country is studied by means of a topical outline,
the pupils have in mind the details of the country neces-
sary for the solution of life problems, and their ability
to utilize this knowledge may be tested and increased by
their attempts to solve normal problems involving the
varying physical factors. Neither method of procedure
can be exclusively justified. The topical outline may be
used at times as an introduction and at times as a means
of reviewing and organizing the details of the country
studied.
Distribution of topical work in the grades. In the ob-
servational work of the lower grades the oral discussions
offer an excellent opportunity for organizing the work
topically. After visiting some factory or topographic
form the class may discuss the topics as they are suggested
by pupils, and the topics may be reorganized at the close ;
or pupils may suggest topics, and the topics may be rear-
ranged by the class before the detailed discussion begins.
In the developmental oral work in the lower grades
the teacher develops a topic orally with the help of various
208 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
illustrative materials. The teacher may have an outline
organization on the board and may merely develop this
outline, or she may place the topics on the board as she
discusses them, or she may center the attention of the
children on the oral presentation, making an easy transi-
tion from one topic to another. At the close of the
developmental exercise the teacher may ask the children
to name the topics discussed. The pupils will assist in
noting and rearranging the topics. The last-named
method, ordinarily, is preferable.
In the upper grades, because of the pupil's ability to
use the symbols of geography and because of his experi-
ence, the emphasis is shifted from observational and oral
presentation to symbolic presentation. The pupil will
read and outline articles. He will attempt to evaluate the
topical organization of writers. The topical organization
of the textbook may be followed, and each topic may be
enriched from supplementary materials. A topical outline
without reference to a textbook may be followed, the
various materials of geography being used to secure the
needed amplification.
Value of the topical outline. The above considerations
suggest the value of the topical outline. Even in the prob-
lem work the esteem in which the topical outline is held
is indicated by the fact that most of the problems thus far
presented have involved the raising of problems the solu-
tion of which includes a discussion of the former topical
outline of a country. The problem is simply an attempt
to make such work purposeful.
The value of the topical outline depends on the
way it is handled. If the teacher works out a topical
THE TOPICAL OUTLINE 209
organization or adopts the topical outline of another, and
merely tells the class to study the topics ; if the topics are
studied without any particular problem's being secured
and interpreted, the chief emphasis being placed on mem-
ory work ; if there is no relating of topics, but each topic
is considered in relative isolation ; if the mere amplifica-
tion of topic after topic, with the feeling that the work is
completed when the last topic is studied, is permitted ; if
there is no attempt to use the topical material in im-
portant, vital life situations,- — then it may be said that
the value of the topical exercise is at a low ebb.
If the topical outline is secured by the class because of
its need for and recognition of the value of organization
and classification of details ; if the outline is tested on
other countries so that its adequacy is ascertained ; if the
outline is applied so that each topic is resolved into im-
portant problems making a strong appeal ; if the pupil,
through the solution of problems involving a combination
of physical factors, shows his ability to use the materials
topically organized, — then the high value of the topical
lesson cannot be seriously questioned.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Make a topical outline that you think should be applied to
(a) a city, (b) a country, and (c) a continent.
2. Distinguish between "developing" an outline with a class and
"imposing"' an outline on a class.
3. Can the problem method be effectively utilized through the
topical outline ?
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a topical outline
in geography ?
210 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Selected References :
Anderson, Esther S. " Beet Sugar Production in Nebraska,*'
Journal of Geography (1920), Vol. XIX, pp. 121-130.
Barer. Zoxia. "Eurasia: The Teaching of the Continent of,"
Elementary School Teacher. Vol. VII, p. 519.
Brown, R. M. "An Outline for the Presentation of a Country —
Africa," Elementary School Teacher. Vol. IX. pp. 293-308.
Gregory. W. M. "The Cotton Industry ," Journal of Education
(191 1), Vol. LXXIV, pp. 462-463.
Reed, William G. " Outline for the Study of Frost," Journal of
Geography (191 5). Vol. XIV, pp. 54—55.
Ruediger, VV. C. "Topical Method.'" Journal of Geography,
Vol. IV. pp. 43S-439.
"Topical Method.*' Journal of Education (1906), Vol. LXIV,
pp. 650-651.
CHAPTER XVI
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY
Nature of journey geography. Journey geography in-
volves the consideration of a region with reference to its
transportation routes. Pupils may take (i) real journeys
and (2) imaginary journeys. Journey-geography trips,
which are actually taken, ordinarily are confined to the
local area. The imaginary-journey lesson is fundamental
in acquainting the child with those areas beyond his im-
mediate observation. An attempt is made to make the
imaginary journey as vivid as possible through the use
of visualization materials.
Illustration of actual journeys. In connection with a
study of dairying arose the problem "Why should the
consumer of the city pay fourteen cents a quart for milk
for which the producer receives but seven cents?" The
class, under the direction of the teacher, was not satisfied
with a verbal explanation. Arrangements were made to
inspect a dairy plant. The pupils indicated in a rough
sketch the relative positions of the school building and
the dairy plant, the route taken, and important landmarks
noted along the route. They verified their sketch map
from a large map of the city.
At the plant the children noticed the unloading of the
filled milk cans from the auto trucks, the elevating of the
milk cans to the fourth floor, the testing, the clarifying,
212 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the pasteurizing, and the bottling of the milk, and the
cold-storage room in which the milk was kept. They
noticed the handwork required in cleaning the empty-
bottles, the work of the bottle-washer machines, and the
large number of broken and discarded bottles. They
noticed the large office force and the numerous milk
wagons and drivers. While the pupils were not able to
determine mathematically the exact increase in the cost
of milk, they readily understood that the expense involved
in protecting the milk supply of a large city justified the
milk distributors in charging considerably more than the
original cost of seven cents a quart.
The cream was removed from the whole milk for which
there was no sale. This cream was soured, churned, and
made into butter and buttermilk. An inquiry revealed
that margarine had taken the place of butter in most of
the homes of the children because two pounds of mar-
garine could be purchased for the price of one pound of
butter. Out of this discussion arose the question "Why
is margarine cheaper than butter ? "
A visit to a margarine plant and to a dairy farm seemed
desirable to assist in understanding the substantial differ-
ence in the price of butter and margarine. At the dairy
farm the investment in land, buildings, and dairy cattle
was noted. The care of the cows, the production and
purchase of foods, the care of the milk, and the separation
of the milk were considered. A study was made of the
possibility of producing food for direct use by man in
larger quantities than was secured by permitting the cow
to change the plant foods into milk. It was seen that
dairying requires attention to numerous details.
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 213
At the margarine plant the pupils noted the melting
and mixing of the animal and vegetable oils, the pasteur-
izing of the whole milk in which the oils were churned,
the plunging of the emulsion into ice-cold water (where
the fat globules were crystallized), the withdrawal of the
crystallized Hakes from the cold water by means of cheese-
cloth, the working of salt into the margarine and of water
out of the margarine, the molding of the butter, and the
forming of prints. They were led, through this observa-
tion, to make a detailed study of the reason for the low
price of vegetable oils — as coconut, peanut, and cotton-
seed oil — in contrast to the cream of milk.
The children had taken bottles to the plants, and on
returning to school they pooled their samples. The cream
gathered at the top of the milk and was then skimmed off
and churned into butter in a milk jar. The children had a
liberal supply of coconut, cottonseed, and animal oils from
the margarine plant. Under the direction of the teacher
they considered the materials used and the processes em-
ployed. They then pasteurized the milk over an alcohol
lamp, using a thermometer to maintain the proper temper-
atures, melted the oils in pans, and mixed the oils. The oils
were then poured into a glass churn with the whole milk.
After churning the emulsion the children poured it into a
pan of ice-cold water, in which, after agitation, the fat
globules began to crystallize. They took a small piece of
cheesecloth, dipped it slantingly in the ice water, and with-
drew the flakes of margarine, the whey draining through
the cloth. They then salted and colored the margarine.
In each instance rough sketch maps were made. The
experiments set up in the schoolroom indicated clearly
214 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the notions that the children had derived from the trips.
Language was significant, but the additional means of
expression guarded against a mere mastery of language
without corresponding ideas. It will be noted that all
these trips were closely related to the work of the school-
room. The class, through field work, came into appropri-
ate contact with the active work of the world.
Verification and discovery. Trips may be taken to
verify conclusions reached in the schoolroom or to make
discoveries as a basis for discussion. In most instances
it is preferable to arouse an initial interest in any field
trip that is to be taken. Most trips involve both dis-
covery and verification. If a child believes that certain
conditions exist, the field trip may enable him to verify
his conclusions. If a child does not know whether certain
conditions exist, but feels the need of knowing, the field
trip may enable him to discover the true conditions.
Since the experiences of children in the same class vary
considerably, the same field trip may be primarily a trip
of discovery for one child but primarily a trip of verifica-
tion for another child.
Pupils may make trips of discovery with definite
motives in mind. Columbus sailed west with the desire to
reach the Indies. He found not the Indies but a new
world. Captain Amundsen moved southward in an at-
tempt to discover the south pole. He was successful and,
in addition, made other important discoveries that he had
not anticipated. Pupils may desire to find the source of
water in a small creek, a good swimming hole, a place to
fish, typical meanders, a flood plain, evidences of valley
growth, or a fault. They may desire to find out how
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 215
milk is handled at the dairy plant, how a dairy farm is
conducted, or how margarine is made. The type of experi-
ence they should have may be drawn from the actual
experiences of explorers and discoverers. They should fre-
quently realize their desires, and they should also make
additional discoveries.
While the trip may be one of discovery for the child,
the teacher has a thorough knowledge of the ground
covered and relates the materials to the child's interests
and experiences. She directs the motives of the children
in such a way that through the journeys she may realize
definite educational aims. She has a flexible organization
of content which enables her to adapt. The teacher does
not force her personality or her opinions upon the group,
but she tries to help the pupils to come to their own con-
clusions in the light of the evidence presented. She asks
questions, calls the attention of the children to important
phenomena which they are overlooking, and helps to main-
tain interest in worth-while observations.
When a child is planning a trip to the country, to
another city, or to a picnic or a Fourth of July celebration,
he looks forward to the event with pleasurable anticipa-
tion. When the time comes he is in a frame of mind that
will enable him to secure numerous and vivid impressions
of the incidents of the day. Reasoning from this stand-
point, through a discussion of a planned field trip a pleas-
urable, anticipative interest can be aroused which will
increase the educational possibilities of the trip.
On a physical-geography trip the pupils may note
topographic forms and processes and the importance of
processes in changing the physical features; on an
216 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
economic-geography trip the pupils may note what is
being made, the processes, the raw materials, and whether
the results are secured in the most desirable and efficient
manner.
In the study of an industry there is danger that a child
will pass through the factory with a dazed impression of
something worth while. The factory lecturer frequently
has little conception of educational methods. A tactful
teacher may take charge of the pupils and direct the work.
The lecturer will accompany the group to assist when
needed. If time will not permit the pupils to study every
part of the factory thoroughly, certain significant parts
within the comprehension of the group should be selected
for detailed study. If the noise is too great for a discus-
sion at the time of observation, the teacher discusses the
process with the class immediately before the observation
and immediately after, in order that she may assist the
pupil, clarify thought, and insure results.
Field notes will not be emphasized in the lower grades ;
in the upper grades the taking of notes will be increasingly
emphasized. Field notes reenforcc the memory in subse-
quent discussions or reorganizations of material. The
pupil takes field notes because he finds them of value ;
the teacher is interested in the skill developed in record-
ing neatly, effectively, and pointedly the impressions
received.
A detailed discussion should follow a journey. The
child will live over in imagination the journey actually
taken. The discussion should be vivid and enthusiastic.
The details of the trip may be organized. The child
through his recall of the details of the real journey will
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 217
appreciate more readily the possibilities of the imaginary-
journey, the details of which must be worked out largely
through symbolic materials.
Illustration oj imaginary journeys. The teacher drew
upon the travel experiences of the children. The pupils
mentioned acquaintances who had traveled. These peo-
ple had traveled for business reasons, to renew acquaint-
ances, to improve their health, for recreation, to learn
what the rest of the world was doing, or to see beautiful
scenery and famous places. A number had traveled to
''see America first." The places that had been visited
were mentioned. Considerable interest was aroused in
other people and in other lands. Members of the class
desired to see New York City. They wanted to see the
buildings and the people, especially how the people live.
Among other places were mentioned Niagara Falls, Ashe-
ville (North Carolina), the Hudson River, Mount Vernon,
the Blue Grass country, Florida, and southern California.
The class decided to become acquainted with the circle
tours offered by the railroad companies and to select the
circle tour which would include those places in which the
keenest interest had been aroused. It was found that
the eastern objective of many of the circle tours was New
York City. It was agreed that New York City should be
the destination and that the return journey should be by a
different route.
The pupils inferred from a map the principal routes
connecting St. Louis and New York City. These infer-
ences were checked by inquiry at the Information Bureau.
Railroad folders advertising the several routes were
secured. The different routes were compared as to cost,
218 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
time required, important places, and beautiful scenery.
The route finally selected was from St. Louis via Cincin-
nati, Lexington (Kentucky), Chattanooga (Tennessee),
Asheville (North Carolina), Norfolk (Virginia), and the
Atlantic Ocean to New York City. The return journey
was via Albany, Rochester, Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago.
The attractions along the route selected were studied
in detail. The time-tables were frequently consulted. A
coal mine was visited and studied in southern Illinois.
A fast afternoon train stopped near the mine for water.
This train was boarded, and the party proceeded to
Vincennes (Indiana), where the night was spent. The
next day the party proceeded to Cincinnati, where the
pottery works and the ''zoo" were visited. The party
proceeded southward across the Ohio River to the heart
of the Blue Grass region at Lexington (Kentucky), where
it visited a dairy farm and the Blue Grass Fair. Between
Lexington and Chattanooga (Tennessee) the Cumberland
Mountains offered an opportunity to study the life of
the mountaineer. At Chattanooga the class studied Look-
out Mountain and the Chickamauga battlefields. The
party proceeded northeast through the famous Great
Valley of East Tennessee and noted the crops and the
pink-marble quarries about Knoxville. An observation
car was taken the succeeding day to get a better glimpse
of the "Land of the Sky" region. Arrangements were
made to ascend the slopes of Mt. Mitchell, the "top
of eastern America," on a log train. The party walked
to the top of the peak, where it noted a monument
erected in memory of Professor Mitchell, learned the
story of the naming of the mountain, and observed
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 219
beautiful panoramic views, hidden occasionally by drift-
ing banks of fog. At Norfolk the ships were noted, a few
hours were spent among the sand dunes at the entrance
to Chesapeake Bay, and the party for the first time went
bathing in the ocean. The party left Norfolk on a coast-
wise steamer Saturday evening, arriving at New York
Sunday afternoon. The harbor and city were studied,
and a boat ride was taken around Manhattan Island.
The return journey was begun. This involved a daylight
ride up the Hudson ; an early morning ride out of Albany
on a milk train to Canajoharie, where a large factory was
inspected and an automobile ride taken into the adjoin-
ing country ; an inspection of Buffalo factories and a side
trip to Niagara Falls ; a night ride on Lake Erie to
Detroit, where an automobile factory was visited ; a ride
in a sleeper to Chicago, with its stockyards and lake
front ; and a daylight ride through the famous corn belt
of central Illinois back to St. Louis, the starting point.
Through the wealth of detail presented the pupils had
come to appreciate the varied industries and scenery of
the eastern United States, and with the use of illustrative
materials, as maps, pictures, diagrams, and products, had
taken in imagination a journey that many people take
every year. The imaginary journey, as nearly as possible,
duplicated a real journey, thus bringing a part of the real
world close to the life of each child. In this particular
instance the pupils talked in terms of the future in decid-
ing on the journey, and in terms of the present tense in
studying the details of the journey. This can be varied
according to the attitude of the class. With some classes
it may be preferable to speak of the journey in detail in
220 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the future tense, the pupils merely visualizing the details
that might be noted if the journey were actually taken.
Imitate real travel experiences. In the extended imag-
inary journeys it is desirable that the journey shall be as
nearly real as possible. If an adult were planning a trip
he would find out the various routes and their attractions
and the probable expenses. After deciding on a par-
ticular journey he would begin to make a special study of
the attractions along the route. After thorough prepara-
tion in order that he might travel intelligently, he would
proceed on the journey. He would verify impressions he
had received while anticipating the journey, and he would
discover things that had not before come to his attention.
After the completion of the journey he would probably be
interested in discussing and organizing his experiences.
These conditions would prevail, provided the traveler
desired to secure a maximum of benefit from the trip. It
may be admitted, however, that many people travel with-
out securing much travel experience. They become
acquainted with the hotels, but otherwise restrict their
experiences to the social group with whom they are travel-
ing. They carry their local environment with them not as
a basis for the interpretation of new environments but as
an artificial situation in which to live. If journey geog-
raphy is to yield a maximum of benefit to the children,
the journeys must be planned and executed according to
the manner of those who travel intelligently.
The teacher has the responsibility of stimulating the
pupils to become interested in travel routes. In the plan-
ning of the trip she will not tell them all the interesting
things about the route. The profitable journey includes
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 221
a confirmation of the anticipated, but also the opening up
of new vistas. An abundance of varied and well-selected
representative material of choice readings, pictures, maps,
diagrams, drawings, etc. is desirable as a school nucleus
for the work, and pupils will supplement these mate-
rials with out-of-school sources. Outline maps can be
profitably used as the work progresses. At the con-
clusion of the journey the material may be organized into
a logical whole.
Nature of the imaginary journey. Transportation
routes constitute the organizing nuclei for journey geog-
raphy. The reader or listener is taken in imagination
from one place to another. The customary means of
transporting is employed, and an attempt is made to inter-
pret the phenomena observed. The impressions that a
traveler receives concerning the customs and the economic
activities are given. Journey geography involves several
possibilities: (1) the writer may give a personal account,
and the reader may follow appreciatively the journey
actually taken; (2) the writer may attempt to make his
reader, in imagination, a member of the party; (3) the
writer may not have taken the journey, but with a de-
tailed second-hand knowledge of the region may write an
account of a journey that might be taken; (4) the pupil
may draw upon various appropriate materials in select-
ing and planning and executing a journey that might be
taken.
The journey may be developed so that the author does
most of the thinking for the reader. When a pupil follows
the detailed account of a journey, reflective, independent
thinking is not necessarily eliminated, but the pupil who
222 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
follows the line of least resistance will read the account
primarily on an unanalyzed memory level. If the pupils
assist in initiating the journey, and if they work out the
details of the journey, the siiuation is much more favor-
able for problem activity and vigorous mental reactions
involving development.
The pupil inductively builds up his conception of the
region. This method does not preclude the possibilities of
generalizing or of relating the area observed to a larger
area, for the traveler occasionally may attempt, through
reflection, to secure a unit picture of an area through the
parts directly observed. The pupil proceeds from a study
of parts to a concept of the region, which is essentially
different from the topical consideration of a large area.
Since the impressions of larger areas are secured from the
local studies, it is desirable that the typical rather than
the peculiar and exceptional shall be emphasized.
A journey may include any aspects of the environment
that a traveler may consider sufficiently important or
interesting. It may be adapted to small children ; it may
be sufficiently difficult for the most accomplished scholar.
Journey geography should involve a consideration of
(i) the economic activities of people; (2) explanations
of the localization of industries and people ; (3) the effects
of physical factors, particularly climate, topography, and
soils on the people; (4) the relations of the people to
other regions; (5) the possibilities of making a more
nearly perfect adjustment to the environment ; and
(6) natural phenomena of special significance, as hot
springs, beautiful scenery, glaciers, volcanoes, etc. The
earliest geography work of the school has been concerned
JOURNEY GEOGRAPHY 223
with the immediate environment of the child. Through
actual journeys the child's acquaintance with the local
environment has been enlarged. Imaginary geographic
journeys which reproduce as nearly as possible the vivid-
ness of the actual journeys build upon and naturally
succeed the actual journey work. Through the imaginary
journey the child gradually secures a conception of the
world as a whole. In the upper grades, where the emphasis
is placed on regional geography, the journey geography
may still be used as a basis for becoming better acquainted
with a region, or after a detailed study of a region the
pupil may review the region by mapping out a journey
that might be taken.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Discuss a local trip that you have taken, from the standpoint
of its geography.
2. Discuss an extended trip that you have taken, from the
standpoint of its geography.
3. By means of an illustration indicate what is meant by an
imaginary journey.
4. Should journeys be taken primarily for verification or for
discovery ?
5. How will travel help a teacher in presenting journey-geography
lessons ?
Selected References :
Baker, Zoxia. "A Lesson in Geography from Chicago to the
Atlantic," Elementary School Tern lie/; Vol. VII, p. 45S.
Bakxi.s. Earl. Studies in Education 11902), Vol. II.
Bkaxom, Fred K. ''Some Important Phases in Geography.*'
School, Science, ami Mathematics ( 19201. Vol. XX, pp. 162-164.
Colvix. S. S. "Child's World of Imagination," Elementary School
Teacher (1905), Vol. VI, pp. 327-342.
CHAPTER XVII
TYPE STUDIES
Nature of a type. A detailed study of a representative
member of a class, with the purpose of securing an under-
standing of the various members of the class, is called a
type study.
A type is a topic that stands for a group or a class, a
standard of comparison, and an interpreter of other similar
facts. Type study in geography means the selection of repre-
sentative topics or features of the subject for especial emphasis
or detailed study, for the purpose of using them as illustrations
of their class. 1
The type may be used in the study of both large and
small units. An intensive study of a cotton plantation
of the southern United States may be made as a type of
cotton plantations in general. A study of conditions affect-
ing cotton production in the United States may be made
as a basis for an understanding of cotton production in
other regions. A cotton mill may be studied intensively
as representative of its class. Type cities, as a river city
(St. Louis), a lake city (Chicago), a river-gate city (New
Orleans), a railroad center (Indianapolis), a mountain
city (Asheville), a mountain-gate city (Denver), and a
1 ¥. L. Holtz, Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography, p. 241.
224
TYPE STUDIES 225
capital city (Washington), may be studied. Some partic-
ular mountain, valley, river system, volcano, glacier, des-
ert, or forest may be selected for representative study.
Types are selected with reference to their significance
in the local areas or with reference to their relative sig-
nificance in the world as a whole. In the lower grades
the type directly related to the local area is prominent ;
in the upper grades the type with the world-wide view-
point is emphasized. Although dairying may not be rela-
tively very important in the rural area adjacent to a city,
a pupil may make a detailed study of dairying as repre-
sentative of the way that every large city is supplied with
dairy products. If dairying as a world-wide activity is
being considered in the upper grades, the type may be
selected from some area as central New York, Wisconsin,
Ontario, or Holland, where dairying is very important
in contrast to other industries. Local types eventually
should give way to the most representative type that can
be found, irrespective of locality.
Representative character of the type. A type study
should be representative of general conditions. It is
scarcely conveying a correct impression to take the poor-
est dairy farm or the best dairy farm in the community to
study unless contrasts are emphasized. The normal con-
ditions rather than the exceptional are the immediately
significant factors. The exceptional conditions, however,
may be nuclei that will increase until they have in turn
become normal and representative. As an ideal, conse-
quently, it is desirable that the best rather than the poor-
est unit shall be studied, care being taken to indicate the
ordinary departures from this type.
226 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
A wealth of details. A type should involve a wealth of
details. Too frequently generalizations are memorized
and not developed. If equal emphasis is placed upon all
facts of geography, the work must be largely superficial.
The selection of a few situations for intensive study en-
ables the class to secure a grasp of details that makes the
work concrete, vivid, and meaningful. Any summary of
the study that may follow is bristling with significant
statements, for the "condensed knowledge" has been
secured through the study of details. It is not desirable
to emphasize similarly every detail of a type study, since
the same objections are valid that have been raised to the
placing of equal emphasis upon all geographic topics.
Neither is it necessarily desirable to discuss every detail
that may have a bearing upon the type study. Not all
details are vital either as information or as coloring
material to the type. The facts selected should be adapted
to the children involved in the type study.
Nucleus for further study. The type is a nucleus for
further study. In the early grades, in a consideration of
the interdependence of city and country, if wheat is pro-
duced in the local neighborhood a study of local produc-
tion is made. In the regional work an intensive study of
wheat production is made in an area where this product is
very important. As successive regions are taken up no
further intensive study is necessary ; but the earlier work
is reviewed, and through comparisons and contrasts wheat
production in the new areas is interpreted and a detailed
study is made of new factors that enter into the situation.
Finally a world-whole view of the product is secured,
the comparisons and contrasts involved tending to bring
TYPE STUDIES 227
together in a unified whole the significance of the product
to the world. Thus type studies in the lower grades
become organizing centers about which details are in-
creasingly clustered and upon which much of the upper-
grade work is based. An economy of time may be effected
through the use of the type. Wheat is raised in many
different regions. If a detailed study of wheat production
in the United States is made in connection with the
regional geography, it will be unnecessary to enter
into a detailed discussion in connection with each of
the wheat-producing regions.
Opportunity for review. The type offers an oppor-
tunity for an intelligent review. Many of the details of
the type study may be forgotten. A consideration of
wheat production in various regions, as the regions of the
world are successively considered, offers an opportunity
for the use of the type-study content in new situations
a sufficient number of times to insure relative permanency
of impression. Because of the vividness of the type study
the details will be more readily recalled.
Organizing centers. The field of geography is entirely
too comprehensive to be covered in a detailed fashion in
grade geography. From the mass of details it is neces-
sary to select the more important. Material that is
selected should offer a ready nucleus for further growth
and should be an organizing center about which addi-
tional material can be clustered. In every region there is
a complex of geographic material. Some of this material
is very significant or characteristic of the district. Much
of the material does not differentiate the community from
many other communities. The dominating materials of
228 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
various districts differ. In selecting essential material the
significant or characteristic factors should be emphasized.
The type permits the proper evaluation of material.
Many incidental factors of a region are neglected to make
room for the type, but the type gives to a region its dis-
tinguishing characteristics. The type will not give a child
a correct conception of a region, nor will an equal emphasis
of topics. Very few complete pictures of the complex rela-
tions of man to the earth are secured by anyone. The
type enables the individual to regard a region from the
standpoint of its characteristic or dominant contribution
to man's welfare, particularly to the welfare of man in
other communities through the commodities produced in
surplus quantities.
Shortcomings. A type study is not misleading if it
describes an actual condition. A type study becomes
misleading, however, if pupils believe that exactly the
same conditions prevail with respect to all members of the
class. It is better to adhere to the truth, but it only com-
plicates a situation if the teacher tries to note all the
exceptions to the type. Children gradually come into a
more nearly complete knowledge of the truth as a whole.
Human beings always have a more or less imperfect vision
of generalized truth. To secure even a moderately com-
plete and correct picture of the world requires time. The
teacher will feel content, therefore, if the children, through
their type study, have correctly imaged a concrete situa-
tion. Conditions may or may not be the same elsewhere.
This will be determined finally when the children have
noted elsewhere conditions illustrating other members of
the class.
TYPE STUDIES 229
Advantages. Charles McMurry, 1 who has been a dis-
tinct influence in calling the attention of educators to the
value of types, notes the following advantages :
( 1 ) A clear and detailed comprehension of a typical object
in geography (however small this object may be) is the key
to a large area of geographical knowledge; (2) a type subject
is the basis of a series of comparisons; (3) the number of
type studies being few, much time is available for a lively,
descriptive, and interesting investigation into details; (4) one
of the chief reasons why children are interested in such a
study of a type is that it is at every step a study of causes ;
(5) a type study expands gradually to embrace a large col-
lection of geographical facts; (6) the series of types furnishes
a safe central line of operations; (7) physiographic facts are
brought into such close relation to human needs as to make
both of them tangible, realistic, and often picturesque.
A liberal use of types in teaching will go far toward
vitalizing the course of study. Type studies are desir-
able because they (1) tend to emphasize the more im-
portant topics, (2) are economical in time, (3) permit a
detailed consideration that adds realism to the work,
(4) afford a secure foundation on which to enlarge one's
knowledge, (5) avoid the teaching of perfectly true
but meaningless generalizations, and (6) are inherently
valuable.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. What constitutes a type study?
2. What is the relation between a type study and the topical
outline ?
3. Should type studies be heavily emphasized in a geography
course of study ?
1 Special Method in Geography, pp. 57-67.
230 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
4. Select a type study from your geography or a supplementary
reader and tell why you believe the article selected is a type
study.
5. What is meant by an "organizing center"?
6. Develop in detail a type study of a city.
Selected References :
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. The Teaching of Geography,
chap, xv, pp. 193-205.
HOLTZ, F. L. Principles and Methods of Teaching Geography,
chap, xx, pp. 254-272; chap, xviii, pp. 222-237; chap, xix,
pp. 238-253.
McMurky, Gharles. Special Method in Geography, chap, iv,
pp. 50-75; chap, v, pp. 76-90; chap, vi, pp. 90-101 ; chap, x,
pp. i39- l6 5-
Ruediger, W. C. "Type Studies," Journal of Geography, Vol. IV,
pp. 439-440.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, x,
pp. I37-H5-
CHAPTER XVIII
THE STORY
Relation of the story to geography. A story can be
made more appealing if the geographic setting is clearly
understood. Much geographic material can be presented
to children through stories. An appealing story must have
action and must represent characters and activities that
the child can readily understand and appreciate. The
story may center about the lives of a group of people, as
the Eskimo, the Dutch, or the Negro ; about some impor-
tant product, as coffee, cotton, or rubber; about some
phenomenon of nature, as a flood, a spring, or a volcano.
The child's attention may be directed toward the chang-
ing relationships involved, and the geographic influences
may be incidentally introduced as a pertinent part of the
story. The story "How the Bear was Caught" may be
told in such a way that the use of trees by bees for the
storing of honey, the nature of a mountain stream, and
the formation of caves are revealed.
A story may be a true account or imaginary. Since
geography is a study of the actual relations that man sus-
tains to his physical environment, stories of actual events
are desirable. The imaginary story, which pictures typi-
cal relations of man to nature, may be profitable. The
improbable story is of little assistance to geography,
although geography may occasionally be of assistance to
231
232 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
the story-teller. The Indian story concerning the forma-
tion of Niagara Falls should have no place in a geography
course. According to the story a huge monster was struck
by lightning while crossing the Niagara River, the dead
body forming a dam across which the water has flowed
unto this day. On the other hand, the narration of Indian
stories dealing with Niagara Falls can be more vividly
presented if the improbable stories are woven about a
definitely located region. There are stories of the tree
dwellers and the cave dwellers, which, while unverified,
represent probable happenings.
Telling a good story. The story may be oral or written.
The oral developmental story is particularly adapted to
the lower grades, although throughout life this method of
presentation appeals. The teacher transmits the story
to the child through the charm of her personality. The
teacher thoroughly informs herself concerning the details
of the story, although she makes no attempt to memorize
the form of the story. With her knowledge of the chil-
dren's experiences and interests she enters into an account
of the story in an enthusiastic, inviting way. Occasionally
she asks questions intended to hold the interest by making
the children feel that they are contributing. Questions
may be asked, in order that the pupils may make sugges-
tions or in order that the children unable to answer may
be in a receptive attitude to receive the answer.
The teacher, through the story, attempts to secure and
retain the interest of every child. She may have pictures,
miniature reproductions, charts, maps, and products, per-
haps concealed in such a way that each article is shown
the class at the "psychological moment" as the story is
THE STORY 233
unfolded. She may make use of construction materials,
as clay and sand, and she may use the blackboard to illus-
trate certain parts of the story. She is interested in draw-
ing on all the materials of geography, both actual and
symbolic, to bring the details of the story vividly before
the children.
Relation oj the story to geography readers. The story
may be used as a preliminary step leading to the reading
of a similar account. Such a reading experience will be
primarily for appreciation and enjoyment. The story can
be read the more easily because of the knowledge received
through the oral account. The story may be used as a
basis for a topical organization of the narrative, the class,
through the organization, attempting to recall the story.
After the reading or telling of the story the class may
indicate the main divisions, each division may be called
an act, and the story may be informally dramatized.
Story-telling by pupils. Pupils may be given an oppor-
tunity to tell stories. A geographical story may be read,
and each pupil may attempt to tell the story in an appeal-
ing way. The Eskimo type, a coffee plantation, or trans-
portation on the Mississippi may be studied, and the
pupils, with the fundamental geographic material in mind,
may attempt to write a story depicting a day's work on a
plantation, a day's work of an Eskimo, or a day's events
on a steamboat. A picture in which the relations of man
to the physical environment are prominent — as a harvest-
ing scene, a desert scene with a caravan, a snow and ice
scene with an Eskimo and a seal, an Indian tapping rub-
ber trees — may be used as a basis for a story. Pictures
also are frequently used to illustrate stories.
234 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Nature stories versus fairy tales. The tendency to
shift the emphasis in story-telling from fairy tales to the
wonderful stories of nature and the stories of the achieve-
ments of man increases the usefulness of story-telling in
connection with geography.
Cyril Bruyn Andrews, in writing of the dangers of fairy
tales, has said : L
Is it not possible that we grown-up people are also living
too much in a fairy land which we know to be unreal ? Do we
not often take a vicious delight in making others believe things
that we know to be untrue? Would not politics be purer,
religion more sincere, art more vital and significant if grown-up
people were taught from their earliest childhood to worship
truth and sincerity and not to cultivate a formless ignorant
mysticism as foolish as the most foolish fairy tale, but using
the garments and usurping the power of serious fundamental
fact? . . . Civilization seems to have grown tired and often
prefers to imagine than to act, and sometimes as in a final
stage of decay actually glories in the unworldliness of its
outlook. . . . Children, chiefly by their own efforts, have dis-
carded fairy tales and wish more substantial outlets for their
imagination.
Many of the stories which have been written for chil-
dren are highly imaginative and improbable. There is
need for an accumulation of nature and geography stories,
entertainingly written and presenting the wonders of the
world and man's relations to Mother Nature in an appeal-
ing manner.
Place of the story in geography. The geographical
story has important educational possibilities.
'"The Danger of Fairy Talcs," The Child (February, 1920), Vol. X,
pp. 206-208.
THE STORY 235
The place of the story in geography seems clear. Geogra-
phy should be, for the child, a vicarious mode of travel through
time and space. We wish the child to see the world as it is
and as it has been, as though he were an eye-witness of its
events and busy scenes. It has been a hard struggle to rescue
geography from the enumerative, cataloguing methods which
it has employed in the past, which put all the stress upon
memory and none upon observation and imagination. The
school geography of the past stands as an example of all that
is inartistic in education. It is the direct opposite of the selec-
tive way of treating facts, which is essentially aesthetic. It
aimed to be all-inclusive, cataloguing everything without
unity of theme. Just so far as connected narrative may be
made to take the place of detached and fragmentary descrip-
tion and classification is it brought into line with the methods
we are here advocating. Geography is largely the story of the
world. It is not an inventory of its contents. It is better to
teach less of facts and to see that the facts taught are precisely
those which give to the child vivid pictures of the world as it
is in its relations to man's practical and aesthetic interests.
Once the mind is put to the task of reading nature to the
child as a story, there will be no lack of opportunity. The
story form and method have a place throughout all the nature
work. By the story more than the mere fact is carried to
the child's mind. He learns the interconnectedness and har-
mony of facts in such a way that his inner nature is aroused
while his intellect is instructed. One may say that the only
limit to the use of the story in the nature subjects is likely to
be the capacity of the teacher to organize the materials in the
dramatic and artistic form required. The child's interest in
a good nature story is very strong ; and the world is full of
nature tales, some ready at hand, some that must still be
worked over by the story-teller himself. 1
1 Emelyn Newcomb Partridge, Story-Telling in School and Home,
pp. 103-105.
236 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
The organization of geographic stories about life cen-
ters. The recasting of geographic material in story form
involves the organization of geographic material about life
centers. David Starr Jordan's "The Story of a Salmon"
has the life of the salmon as the organizing center ; Spyri's
" Heidi" depicts the adjustments of the Swiss to their
environment. The pupil will not study soils, rainfall, tem-
perature, drainage, and topography as topics in a narra-
tive that properly may be called a story, but he will study
about "How the worn-out farm was built up," "How
the swamp land was reclaimed," "How the truck gar-
dener succeeded," or "How the miner saved his com-
rades." Through appropriate stories which make a strong
appeal the geographic topics will incidentally be consid-
ered. Through the story the pupils will work in the
direction of a logical topical organization that includes
the topics with which too frequently the child begins
his study.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Select a story in which geography is necessary for an adequate
interpretation, and give reasons for your selection.
2. Select a story through which valuable geographic knowledge
is taught.
3. Compose a story adapted to a lower-grade geography class.
4. Should a geography story involve an account of actual
happenings or an account of imaginary happenings ?
5. In oral story-telling, in what ways is the personality of the
teacher significant ?
6. What is a geographic story?
THE STORY 237
Selected References :
Adams, John". Exposition and Illustration in Teaching, chap, x,
pp. 250-275, 336-354; chap, xv, pp. 354-391.
Andrews, C. 15. ''The Danger of Fairy Tales,*' The Child (1920),
pp. 206-209.
Bailey, C. S. "The Harvesting,'' Kindergarten and First Grade,
Vol. I, pp. 45<W7 8 -
Cather, Katherixe U. Educating by Story-Telling, chap, xv,
pp. 1 68- 1 78.
Curtis, Elxora W. The Dramatic Instinct in Education, chap, viii,
PP- 135-153; chap, ix, pp. 153-176; chap, ii, pp. 5-25.
Ha 1. 1.. J. W. and A. C. K. The Question as a Factor in Teaching,
chap. i. pp. 1-6.
Partridge, G. E. and E. N. Story-Telling in School and Home
(1913), pp. 3-39, 71-87, 9S-10S.
Shedlock, Marie L. Art of the Story-Teller (1916), pp. 3-1 61.
Stewart, Mary. " How to Tell a Story,"' School and Home Edu-
cation (191 9), Vol. XXXIX, pp. 29-33.
Stookey, Florence. "The Miner,'' Kindergarten and First
Grade, Vol. I, pp. 358-359.
Wvcke, Richard T. " Story-Telling,'' Education, Vol. XXVIII,
pp. 76-79.
CHAPTER XIX
DRAMATIZATION
Relation of dramatization to geography. Dramatiza-
tion as a means of teaching geography is of moderate
importance, but as a means of vitalizing the work, of
deepening impressions, and of giving practice in coopera-
tive endeavor it is very helpful. The dramatic work may
involve (i) a play that has been written for children
or (2) a play that children plan for themselves. The
execution of a written play emphasizes imitation and
conformity to the suggestions of another. A written
play that is rich in geographic content and that gives
abundant opportunity for forming correct social rela-
tions is valuable.
Geography plays produced by students. Dramatization
in geography may go a step further, and the pupils them-
selves may plan the play, name the acts, distribute the
parts, practice, and perform. The pupils draw upon their
experiences, exercise their own initiative, and enter into
earnest discussions in order that the group creative work
may be a success. They become more interested in the
play because they have assumed a certain responsibility
in its construction. The teacher assists and directs the
pupils according to need, for her opportunity is found in
the arousal and direction of initiative along desirable
social lines.
238
DRAMATIZATION 239
Pupils can frequently discover latent talent among
themselves. They should be guided by a spirit of fair
play that will permit each child to participate according
to ability. The numerous problems that will come up for
settlement challenge the ability of the students to make
valuable suggestions. The class will follow the sugges-
tions that make the strongest appeal, and temporary
leadership will be assumed by the one making the adopted
suggestion. The teacher will help the pupils to analyze
so that maximum possibilities of the socializing exercise
can be realized.
Geography rich in dramatization possibilities. Geog-
raphy, dealing with the relations of people to earth re-
sources and to the earth in general, is particularly adapted
to the furnishing of appropriate material for dramatiza-
tion work. A study of human types, the study of indus-
tries, the study of physical forms, — all offer manifold
opportunities for dramatization. The modern emphasis
upon interpretative geography, which attempts to describe
and explain life forms in action, increases the possibilities
of dramatizing because of the life situations presented.
Relation of dramatization to other forms of presenta-
tion. If the children make up their own play it is obvious
that dramatization will come toward the close of a detailed
consideration of a topic. The children must have appro-
priate experiences on which they can draw for their play.
After a detailed study of the Eskimo type, for instance,
the children may make a suggestion, or the teacher may
cultivate the idea, that a dramatization of Eskimo activi-
ties would be desirable. Dramatization in this instance
becomes primarily a means of reviewing the work from a
240 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
different standpoint. The teacher participates, but throws
as much of the responsibility upon the pupils as they
can readily shoulder. The children decide on the scenes
to be represented, select individuals for the various parts,
and without elaborate preparation stage their play. There
is no formal memorizing of statements, but each character
thinks over the activities in which he might engage, and
the play takes on the nature of an informal discussion,
each child acting his part with the help of simple ma-
terials at hand.
The study may pertain to some product, as wheat.
After a detailed study of wheat production the children
may decide to engage in the buying and selling of wheat,
and through their dramatized discussion the condition of
the crop, factors affecting the yield, the distribution of
production, the primary centers, the manufacture of flour,
and other closely related topics may be introduced in con-
nection with the exchanges of ideas that arise in the course
of business transactions. Traveling salesmen may repre-
sent various manufacturing establishments. These sales-
men may attempt to sell agricultural implements to groups
of farmers, represented by other children. The farmers
may represent different types of agriculture, and through
the discussions many geographic factors conditioning
agriculture may be noted. Similarly, other economic
activities — as mining, lumbering, and hunting — may be
dramatized.
Professional versus educational dramatization. No
elaborate equipment is needed for this work. Children
using their imaginations can secure equipment for any
emergency. An ocean greyhound, made by putting two
DRAMATIZATION 241
chairs together, has satisfactorily taken a group of chil-
dren across the Pacific. A cart has become a jinrikisha,
a stick has become a gun, a mirror has become a piece of
ice, and white pieces of paper have become snowflakes.
It is preferable that the children should secure their own
equipment, however crude, through their own mental reac-
tions rather than that it should be provided ready-made.
Dramatization as an educational means should not be con-
fused with the finished product of the professional. The
actors of the formal play perform their parts over and
over again in order that they may reach mechanical
perfection. They finally play their parts through habit
reactions to such an extent that fresh mental activity is
practically eliminated. The pupil is interested in the play
and, according to his interest and the worth-whileness of
the production, should be permitted to repeat the perform-
ance as an appreciation exercise. Through use of the
finished product, the play, the pupil should secure a veri-
fication of his belief, while working up the play, that the
effort was worth while ; the teacher, however, is primarily
concerned with the relations sustained, the mental activity
involved, the problems met, and the content used in mov-
ing toward the desired goal — the dramatic production.
The teacher is interested in the achievement as a means
of giving the pupils a motive for achieving ; the pupil is
interested in the achievement as a result which involves
values worth striving for.
Children instinctively dramatize. Whoever has watched
a group of children at play knows that the instinct to
dramatize is strong. They become self-conscious only
when adults are near. If an adult enters into the spirit
242 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
of make-believe with them, however, they soon lose their
self-consciousness in the realization that they have a pal
who thoroughly enjoys the exercise. The utilization of
dramatization in geography, therefore, is merely making
use of an instinct that is highly developed among children.
Unless the teacher sympathetically recognizes this tend-
ency the children will inhibit and in time practically
smother it. Lack of encouragement has caused many
pupils to inhibit group expression and to substitute there-
for numerous words which in too many instances repre-
sent merely a knowledge of language forms.
Dramatization and current events. Current events
have been brought vividly before the children through
dramatization. 1
The teacher chose for the first lesson the finding of Scott,
the hero of the south pole.
The children were to place themselves on the spot at the
time of the rescue and were to express the emotions aroused
in the rescue party when they read the part of Scott's diary
which told of hardships, disappointments, and love of human-
ity. To read the words of the diary even once without a
vivid personal appreciation of the wonderful meaning behind
them would be to lose forever their deepest significance. For
that reason the first expression was to be in writing. On the
morning of the experiment the words at the end of Scott's
diary were put on the board, and there arose a discussion as
to the discovery of the south pole, Amundsen's success, and
Scott's vain efforts and death. When interest in the subject
was at a high pitch the children were told to choose the
moment at which the rescue party came, then to decide and
1 Alberta Walker, " Dramatization and Current Events," Elementary
School Teacher, Vol. XVI, pp. 125-126.
DRAMATIZATION 243
write what the different men would do and say at such a
tragic and intense moment. The following, written by a girl
and selected for brevity, was one result.
THE FINDING OF SCOTT'S PARTY
Scene : Inside of tent, not far from south pole
Cast : Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Wright, Nelson, Gran (a few
others)
(Men uncover heads when entering)
Nelson (steps inside tent, sees men in sleeping postures,
turns pale at sight of smile on Bowers's face). God! he is still
smiling ; it almost gives me hope.
Weight (comes in, goes toward Scott, touches his face,
shivers slightly). England's bravest men!
Gran (comes in, followed by others, sees Bowers, coughs
to hide his emotion). How splendid to die smiling! And no
word to tell us of their brave deeds.
Wright (looks thoughtful). Captain Scott must have been
the last to pass away, for the others are securely wrapped in
their sleeping bags, which he, of course, did, not being in his
own sleeping bag. (Moves Scott's hand, sees diary) WTiat is
this? Read, Nelson, while I search for other word.
(Nelson takes diary, turns to first page)
Gran (impatiently). The last, man, read the last!
Nelson (turns pale, reads). "We took risks; we knew
wc took them. Things have come out against us, and there-
fore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of
Providence, determining to do our best to the last. But if
we have been willing to give up our lives to this enterprise,
which is for the glory of our country, I appeal to our country-
men to see that those who depend on us are properly cared
for. Had we lived I should have had a tale to tell of hardi-
hood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would
244 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough
notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely a great,
rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on
us are properly provided for. — R. Scott."
Wright. How sad ! And Amundsen was there before him.
Gran {emotionally). To seek, to strive, to find, and not
to yield. _
Curtain
Each pupil, through his attempt to reproduce the reac-
tions called forth by the situation and through the vig-
orous imagery aroused, secured a vivid impression of the
climax of Scott's journey. The dramatic situation pic-
tured constituted the principal organizing center about
which further details of the journey or even of the polar
regions might be gathered.
Value of dramatization in geography. Dramatization
work is particularly desirable among the smaller children
and is therefore to be emphasized in the lower-grade work.
In the first round of the world-whole it induces children
to go into the activities of other people in a detailed fashion
in order that they may reproduce the impressions gained.
It can be used successfully in the relational work of the
upper grades. In fact, if we consider the appeal of
dramatization to adults and children, both as actors and
as spectators, we can understand that the instinct to
dramatize is fundamental.
Children may both participate in and be spectators of
plays. When a class is ready to stage a play, other classes
may be invited to see the performance. The children
will directly benefit through observation and will be en-
couraged to engage in similar dramatic work.
DRAMATIZATION 245
The dramatic in geography helps to give vividness and
realism to scenes beyond direct observation, gives excel-
lent training in oral expression, gives practice in social
relations, and, if the more significant situations are drama-
tized, makes these situations stand out in such a clear,
definite fashion as to make them organizing centers for
many details. The amount of geographic knowledge
secured through dramatization, however, is incidental,
except as the dramatic motive is held before the child to
induce him to study geographic topics in order that he
may have the necessary material for his play, or except
as the dramatization adds vividness to the more impor-
tant topics.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Is dramatization of value primarily in teaching geography
or in teaching desirable social relations through the content of
geography ?
2. What difficulties may arise in the use of dramatization in
geography classes ?
3. What are the relative advantages of informal and formal
dramatization ?
4. Do children instinctively dramatize?
Selected References :
Curtis, Elxora W. ''The Dramatic Instinct in Education," Peda-
gogical Seminary (1908), Vol. XV, pp. 299-346.
Herts. Alice M. "The Dramatic Instinct — Its Use and Misuse.''
Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. XV. pp. 550-562.
Flrcell, Helen E. "Children's Dramatic Interest and how this
mav be Utilized in Education,"' Elementary School Teacher,
Vol. VII, p. 510.
Walker. A. " Dramatization and Current Events." Elementary
School Teacher (1916), pp. 125-131.
CHAPTER XX
THE PROJECT
A school project. In the preceding chapters dealing
with the teaching of geography various phases of the
teaching process have been considered. The teaching
process has been dissected in order that the whole may be
more intelligently grasped. For working purposes it would
be unfortunate to emphasize the different phases in isola-
tion. Attention to a sequence of steps in teaching a lesson
type tends to formalize the work. Each teacher should
have sufficient practice in formal work, such as the
analysis and application of a lesson type, so that she will
understand the possibilities of the several organizations of
subject matter in relation to the child. Fundamentally,
however, the teacher is interested in studying the parts
in order that she may understand the whole. Formality
seems necessary in order that the teacher may become
master of the informal, the natural, and the project
method of teaching. The working out of a project may
involve any or all of the lesson types discussed, standing
out prominently or blended in any proportion. The
teacher is interested in placing the child in appropriate
contact with a desirable environment.
A desirable school project is a unit of activity that has
a well-defined, worth-while objective. If the project is to
be of maximum educational value, the goal must appeal
246
THE PROJECT 247
to the child as worth while, and he must have an atti-
tude that will make him desire to reach the goal. The
projects should be graded so that the child will develop
rapidly and economically. In so far as method is con-
cerned the success of the project or problem may be
measured by the extent to which the pupil economically,
whole-heartedly, and purposefully works toward the
desired goal.
Motive. The ordinary individual considers a unit of
activity in relation to the use to which the product may
be put. A bridge spanning the Mississippi River may
be completed, an area may be drained, a river may be
dammed, the arid land may be irrigated, the ship may be
built. In each instance the promoters are not interested
in the resulting product simply as a product; they are
interested in the use that can be made of the results of
their endeavors. The bridge is built in order that the
river can be crossed ; the land is drained in order that
the health of the community will be safeguarded ; the
river is dammed in order that the energy secured may
furnish light and power; the arid land is reclaimed in
order that agriculture can be established; and the ship
is built to carry commodities and passengers.
The boy constructs a kite, builds a bird house, or
makes a tennis court in order that he may use the product.
The girl makes a dress, prepares the meal, or washes the
clothes with the use of the product in mind. In each case
it is the worth-whileness of the goal that furnishes a
healthful motive, and in each case suggested the antic-
ipated functioning of the completed product furnishes
the needed stimulation.
248 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
A foreigner may attempt to master the English lan-
guage to facilitate his business and social relations;
women may attend instruction schools in citizenship in
order that they may learn how to vote ; committeemen
may meet in a nominating convention in order that they
may select a candidate who may win the election ; repre-
sentatives of nations may meet with the view of eliminat-
ing war or of settling differences.
The use to which the completed product may be put
may be less tangible. The artist may draw a picture, the
sculptor may carve a statue, the musician may compose
a masterpiece, the author may write a book. The impel-
ling motive may be the meeting of a social need through
the product, the desire for social approval, or an attempt
to uplift society. The author may be prompted to express
some definite idea. This inward impelling, leading to self-
expression, furnishes the highest possible kind of motive
for accomplishment.
In a practical way it may be noted that most individ-
uals are prompted to reach a goal, to the extent that they
value the anticipated results of their activity. A desir-
able aim of education is to develop in people an apprecia-
tion of their activities in terms of the direct usefulness of
the products to society. The indirect result, money and
its purchasing power, tends to overshadow the worth-
while purpose that should be found in the work itself. In
the school, while the indirect product of an activity, the
teacher's grade, is significant, the pupil should be led to
find the actuating motive in the work itself. The indirect
goals, grades and money, should be so carefully correlated
with the direct goal that the worker will feel that if he
THE PROJECT 249
throws his heart into the work fair recognition of accom-
plishment will be given. If the inherent worth of the
activity is appreciated, even though the social recognition
may be meager, the pupil will have the pleasure which
comes from feeling that service has been rendered or that
worth-while accomplishment has been effected.
The child's interest in usable products. The child pri-
marily is interested in products that he can use. The
concrete environment is the best laboratory for him.
Social values, and particularly social values of a some-
what intangible nature, are acquired only gradually, ex-
cept as meaningless generalizations. Self-expression as
a means of social betterment or as a means of symboliz-
ing abstract ideas is dependent on and — strongly de-
veloped — comes later than the activities which result
in direct usable achievement. Our public schools should
provide abundantly for the refashioning of materials and
for other types of intellectual activity in which the pos-
sibility of use is so clearly seen that the pupil will work
with a will.
Illustration of project work. A geographic problem may
also be a project if it is coextensive with the dominat-
ing unit of activity. In other instances the project may
be much more comprehensive than a problem. As the
result of a discussion the pupils may desire to hold a state
fair to acquaint the rest of the school, the parents, and
the patrons with the resources of the state (for example,
Missouri) and their utilization and needed development.
The pupils will need to accumulate and arrange samples
of products, pictures, maps, diagrams, etc. Under proper
direction the pupils will not be satisfied with mere
250 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
accumulation ; they will want to consider the underlying
physical factors affecting distribution. Numerous prob-
lems of considerable complexity may arise. A consider-
ation of the lowlands of southeast Missouri will indicate
a remarkable development during the last few years, out
of which may arise the problem "Account for the wonder-
ful development of southeastern Missouri during the last
two decades." City problems may arise; as, " Account
for the location and development of St. Louis." Trans-
portation problems may arise ; as, "Is the development of
the Missouri River as a transportation carrier desirable
and practicable ? " Rural problems may arise ; as, " Is it
probable that dairy farming in the Ozarks would be
profitable?" Mining problems may arise; as, "Why is
Missouri so important in the mining of lead and zinc?"
The project suggested will involve a wealth of ques-
tions, exercises, and problems bearing on the goal. The
pupils will inform themselves thoroughly concerning the
exhibit so that they can discuss intelligently the problems
connected therewith. The exhibit or state fair becomes
an organizing center for a wealth of details. When the
exhibit is held the pupils will be in charge, prepared to
make it meaningful through their explanations.
The project exhibit of accomplishment may be the
same in appearance as numerous school exhibits in which
the pedagogical emphasis has been placed on objective
results without reference to the way that the materials
were secured. The teacher is interested primarily in the use
of the fair as a means of motivating the work by giving
the children a definite goal of value from their standpoint.
In moving toward the goal the pupils will encounter many
THE PROJECT 251
difficulties the interpretation of which offers the op-
portunity of securing substantial intellectual and moral
development. The educational possibilities of the exhibit
are increased through the placing of the pupils in personal
charge. The viewpoint shifts from the exhibit as an ex-
hibit to the meaning of the exhibit as a major organizing
center to the child.
Projects on the play level. Under the restrictions im-
posed by schoolroom conditions it has seemed necessary
to confine projects primarily to activities on a play and
recreational level. Teachers of the lower grades stimu-
late the pupils to respond to situations which involve, as
a means of self-expression, miniature reproductions of the
principal buildings, parks, and streets of a city, and to
construct in miniature a cattle ranch, the Panama Canal,
a dairy farm, a river front, etc. Except on the play and
recreational level the tangible products of such activi-
ties may serve no useful economic purpose, although
the mental development incidentally secured may be
invaluable.
Irrelevant problems as parts of projects. Through the
lack of a well-defined, worth-while goal many recognized
units of activity do not become desirable school projects.
The evolution of the problem organization of geographic
material as an offspring of the topical method has retarded
the movement toward an ideal use of the project method.
The old topical outline has been retained in too many
instances as a specific, enslaving guide. The teacher has
attempted to arouse interest in some problem that will
involve every topic of the outline. The pupils suggest
different topics that should be considered in the solution
252 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
of the problems ; the topics are then rearranged ; and
presto, change ! under the guise of a problem attack the
old standard outline confronts the class. The teacher
similarly arouses problems concerning other areas, the
solutions involving the completed standard outline. The
pupils, stumblingly at first, suggest the topics that should
be considered. They finally comprehend the "game" of
the teacher and come to suggest the topical outline for
each problem. Both teacher and pupils, blinded by the
desire to include all material that should be studied in one
large problem, tend to include much irrelevant material
in the solution. The class which starts to work by the
problem method may rapidly shift to the old topical out-
line basis. The class desires to be up-to-date and there-
fore continues to cap the topical outline with a problem.
If the topical outline is of greater concern than the prob-
lem, the tendency is to shift from true problem-solving to
an endeavor to "work through" the topical outline under
the guise of problem-solving. The topical outline does not
necessarily hold out a concentrated aim toward the
reaching of which each topic is contributing. The pupil's
aim may be to complete a study of the topics for a given
region. The chances are slight, therefore, that a problem
degenerating into a topical outline discussion will be
genuinely motivated.
Shortcomings of problems overcome through use of
projects. The problem method, as generally used in ge-
ography, has retained one of the striking disadvantages
of the topical outline ; that is, the pupil's inability to use
directly the results of problem interpretation. The prob-
lem method has rightly been considered a means of
THE PROJECT 253
bringing together in meaningful relation many detached
topics. An attempt has been made to place before the
child introductory material adapted to his interests and
experiences, out of which might arise a problem which
could be used as an organizing center. To this extent the
problem method is to be heartily approved. The teacher
becomes so interested in the problem organization of ma-
terial, however, that a fundamental defect subtilely creeps
in. She tends to lose sight of the need of making the child
deeply conscious of the worth-whileness of the goal. Ac-
counting for the backwardness of Mexico may solve a men-
tal query, but the chances are that this type of problem
will not make a maximum appeal. The product of such a
problem cannot be directly used by the child in satisfying
any of his personal or social ambitions. The problem is
too general, and its solution is made up of too many scat-
tered elements. In striking contrast, the problem or proj-
ect which involves a result that can be used in a definite
manner in the social group, as the state fair or the con-
struction in miniature of the Panama Canal, stands a bet-
ter chance of calling forth whole-hearted, sustained effort.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF PROJECTS OF A GEOGRAPHIC
NATURE
Illustration One. The pupils of a school made an in-
vestigation of a vital problem affecting community life,
using the following steps : '
1. Introduction. The clanger of impure drinking water
brought vividly before the pupils.
1 Collincs, Pryor McBee, '■"'!-.■ Rural School Curriculum, - ' Missouri
School Journal (May, 10:0 ), Yoi. XXXYIl, pp. 2:4-225.
254 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
2. Survey made to determine local conditions.
3. Conditions ascertained and conclusions reached.
4. Conclusions presented to community to arouse a
community consciousness of the dangers.
how to protect the people of the community
from Impure Drinking Water
1. How the people of this community take care of the drinking
water.
a. Investigation : The students investigated the source,
location, and care of the drinking water of this com-
munity, using the following questionnaire : ( 1 ) source
of the drinking water; (2) location with reference to
dwelling and barn etc.; (3) if a well, kind of top;
(4) how often cleaned.
b. Conference discussions : In conference with the teacher
the students made a study of the facts gathered and
discovered that 78 per cent of the people of this
community get their drinking water from wells, 10
per cent from springs, and 12 per cent hauled the
water from their neighbors ; that 80 per cent of the
drinking water was located lower than the dwelling and
barn; that 95 per cent of the wells had wooden tops;
and that only 5 per cent of the homes had cleaned the
wells during the past year. In this connection they
discussed how impure drinking water causes typhoid
fever, and noted that the homes that had the most
impure drinking water — for instance those that
hauled the water — had had cases of typhoid in the
past. In this discussion the question arose whether the
people of this community take the proper care of
the drinking water. This suggested a study of the
reference book.-, and bulletins relative to the source of
THE PROJECT 255
drinking water, location, and care. A graphic chart
was made illustrating the facts discovered in this
investigation.
2. How to get pure drinking water and how to keep it pure.
a. Investigation : Here the students investigated the loca-
tion, source, testing, kind of well tops, methods of
cleaning wells, etc., using as a guide the following
questionnaire.
Questionnaire
(1) Location of drinking water with reference to the
dwelling, barn, and other outbuildings.
(2) Kind of top for wells, pumps, and buckets.
(3) Drainage and frequency of cleaning the water.
(4) Method of testing polluted drinking water.
b. Conference discussions: In discussing the facts the
students concluded that the source of drinking water
should be on higher ground than the dwelling, barn,
hog pens, other outbuildings, and that it should be
free from all drainage ; that the best top for wells is
concrete ; and that the wells should be cleaned at
least twice each year. In this connection the group
made a concrete top for the school well in accordance
with the information they had gathered. The investi-
gation further revealed the fact that the people of this
community did not take proper care of the drinking
water — that they were very, very careless in this
matter. In order to get this matter before the people
of the community the group decided to present the
information discovered, in illustrated form, at one
of the community meetings.
3. Community meeting. The following program was given at
one of the night community meetings by this group of
students :
256 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
a. Community singing and phonograph music.
b. Explanation of the graphic chart showing the source,
location, and care of the drinking water of this
community.
c. Illustrated talk by one of the students, using a set of
lantern slides, on "How to get pure drinking water
and how to keep it pure."
d. Demonstration : How to test water for its purity.
e. Community singing and phonograph music.
Illustration Two. In Miss Chandor's School in New
York City an attempt was made to organize a course of
study in which the children would have a vital interest
by building it up around the children's questions. An at-
tempt was made to arouse a community spirit in the
school by securing the assistance of upper-grade pupils
in answering the questions of the pupils of the lower
grades. 1 Numerous questions were raised.
One bright boy of seven asked, "How do we get silk?"
He continued, "You know, the kind that hair ribbons and
neckties and girls' sashes are made of, and your dress," referring
to my taffeta. The other children seemed to think this inter-
esting, so, being a community interest with tremendous possi-
bilities in the way of "leading on," it was selected as the
question to be asked first. The young leader asked the girls in
chapel the following morning if they would be willing to answer
questions put to them by the primary grades. A senior replied
to this, saying that the school would consider it a privilege to
answer such questions. Then the question on silk was asked.
A sixth-grade child volunteered an explanation, but failed to
satisfy through lack of preparation.
] Edith A. Linke, "An Experiment in Teaching in Response to Chil-
dren's Questions," Teachers College Record (January, 1920), Vol. XXI,
pp. 56-S8.
THE PROJECT 257
In the third-grade handwork class we discussed the ques-
tion and answer, and the third grade decided that the question
had not been fully answered. One child decided to look it up
in the "Book of Knowledge." She did so, consulting the
science teacher for further information. After writing a short
paper, which she copied voluntarily three times in order to
make it legible, she submitted it to the English teacher for
correction and then read it before the school. It was entitled
"How we get Silk.'' In connection with it, she explained a
silkworm exhibit procured from the Museum of Natural His-
tory by an eighth-grade girl. The teacher of mathematics
contributed some raw silk from the yellow cocoon, and after-
wards in their own classroom the children examined it, heard
about the "combing" process, and with hand lenses studied
the exhibit while the science teacher told them many interest-
ing facts. The children in the first grade were overjoyed when
they deciphered the labels. They attempted to reel the silk,
and later begged for strands to take home to show their
parents.
The question was then raised by the primary children. How
is raw silk changed into the material that we know as silk?
The third-year class volunteered to find out. One day the
entire third grade gave before the school a talk on the manu-
facture of silk. It began with the silkworm and ended with
the dyeing process and an exhibit of the finished product.
During the exposition a hand loom was shown and later
minutely explained to the children in their classroom. Of
course they wanted to use it. As there was no other available
material they used raffia and found themselves making matting.
Then they demanded a doll house for the rugs. We decided to
have one and to make everything in it for the Children's Hos-
pital. One loom, of course, did not suffice. They begged for
more. We procured the simplest type of loom with a heddle,
and all of the first-grade children began to make rugs. First
they designed them, then compared patterns, and then wove
258 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
them. The second grade wished another loom like the model,
as it went faster, so one of their number decided to copy the
more complicated type. We compared looms and found the
one first used by the Indians.
One day, while I was setting up the warp, the children
divided into groups to assist in the process in order that it
might be finished before they went home. We accomplished
the work in a third of the time it would otherwise have taken.
The result is that when working on the loom three or four
children run it, one holding the loom firmly, one using the
heddle, while the third and fourth weave. This led one little
girl to stand the loom on end one day and say that she thought
if it were fastened to a box in that position it need not be held.
This, of course, was just what was needed to set off a talk on
factory machinery in that position.
Illustration Three. In the Wyman School, St. Louis,
Missouri, the curriculum of the elementary school was
centered about a world's fair. Each class had a definite
objective toward which to work. A community spirit
in the school was emphasized through the common
goal toward which the whole school was moving. The
principal, Professor John J. Maddox, discussed with the
teachers the purpose of the fair. He advised each teacher
to make a selection of a unit of work that seemed best for
her group. The teacher was to emphasize the educative
process, and the exhibit was to grow out of the interests of
the children. The teachers were enthusiastic. They dis-
cussed the possibility of holding a world's fair, and the
classes eagerly welcomed the suggestion. One advantage
of the goal toward which the whole school was moving
was its flexibility. Each teacher had an opportunity to
develop the type of work fitted to her pupils and at the
THE PROJECT 259
same time to do work of importance in helping to realize
the common aim. The students at the Harris Teachers
College and the fathers, mothers, and patrons of the
school were to be invited to attend the fair. The materials
to be exhibited at the world's fair were worked out in-
cidentally in connection with the life situations studied.
While the pupils looked upon the world's fair as the con-
trolling motive, the teachers were particularly concerned
in the questions and problems leading to and coming from
the expression work. The manual-training room became
a laboratory shop in which the pupils attempted to ex-
press their ideas. Numerous articles were made. Once
a cursory glance through the shop revealed different pupils
at work making a miniature reproduction of the first
printing press, the first reaper, an aeroplane, a bird house,
a log cabin, a model of a flatboat, a stockade, and a
dining-room set. The walls and floors of the rooms and
halls were used in placing the exhibits of the various
groups. The work of the lower grades had been built
about type studies, the intermediate grades about regional
geography, and the upper grades about situations intended
to develop a national and international viewpoint.
The kindergarten and first-grade work was centered
about the home. Pictures to illustrate the uses of the
various rooms of the home and the work of various mem-
bers of the family were placed on charts. The children
had represented their own conceptions through crude
drawings and had constructed of boxes a two-story house.
By way of contrasting our homes with those of less de-
veloped people, a first-grade class had made a study of
Indian life, and the children informally dramatized Indian
260 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
life, making use of the various materials they had con-
structed. A second-grade class studied about the people
of Holland, and the children had constructed a Dutch
village and had drawn pictures representing scenes in Hol-
land. Another class had constructed of cardboard a minia-
ture reproduction of the school building and had placed
in proper position miniature reproductions of the impor-
tant places that they had directly observed in the imme-
diate vicinity of the school. The places represented
included a fire department, a dairy plant, a park, a florist's
shop, a special school, and their own homes. A third-grade
class had constructed a miniature floor representation of
the city of St. Louis, locating the more important land-
marks and the Mississippi River. Another class had con-
structed a miniature representation of the state capital,
Jefferson City, on the bluffs of the Missouri River. A
fourth-grade class had constructed a miniature farm,
properly divided for the various crops. Corn, wheat, and
oats were planted, and the various buildings were con-
structed of cardboard. Another class had made a special
study of a factory and had learned in detail the processes
involved in making margarine. The exhibits in the inter-
mediate and upper grades, related to regional and world
geography, were not so directly related to the local area.
Among these exhibits were a miniature representation,
with the use of clay and water, of New York Harbor, a
model of the Panama Canal, a cattle ranch, and displays
of various economic products, as cork, wheat, and silk.
Charts and diagrams were an important part of the upper-
grade exhibits. The pupils, who were in charge, eagerly
discussed and explained the various exhibits. Emphasis
THE PROJECT 261
was not placed on the exhibit as an exhibit, but on the
exhibit in relation to the activities of the children.
Geography the center for the organization of school
work on a project basis. All the illustrations cited are
earnest attempts to direct the experiences of children into
socially valuable channels, the content being organized in
life situations within their comprehension and interests.
To an increasing extent the geography work will be taught
through problems and projects which appeal to the child
on his level of development, which are graded, and which
are socially and individually desirable. Through desir-
able school projects, adequately motivated and involving
worth-while goals, educational leaders may hope materi-
ally to expedite the development of the child. Because of
the emphasis that geography has always placed on present
situations, this subject naturally becomes the nucleus for
the organization of all school work on a project basis. In
the development of the world's fair project various sub-
jects contributed, but the fundamental subject was
geography.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. What is a project as defined by various educators? Which
conception do you prefer ? Explain.
2. What is the relation of problems and projects?
3. Is it possible to build up a course of study in geography
altogether through projects ?
4. Do projects tend to emphasize the boundary lines between
subjects or to break down the boundary lines?
5. Make a list of projects that you believe can be successfully
used in the geography classes.
6. Elaborate in detail a project for a specific grade.
262 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Selected References :
Branom, M. E. The Project Method in Education, p. 278.
Burbank, Luther. Training of the Human Plant (The Century
Company, 1907), p. 99.
Collings, P. M. " Rural School Curriculum," Missouri School
Journal (1920), Vol. XXXVII, pp. 170-174, 222-227.
Courtis, S. A. " Teaching through the Use of Projects," Teachers
College Record (1920), Vol. XXI, pp. 139-149.
Hotchkiss, Caroline W. " Pageant of the Earth," Journal of
Geography ( 1 9 1 9), Vol. XVIII, pp. 1 71 — 178.
Kilpatrick, William H. " The Project Method," Teachers Col-
lege Record, Vol. XIX, pp. 319-335.
Krackowizer, Alice M. Projects in the Primary Grades, p. 221.
Krackowizer, Alice M. " Social Enterprises of Little Children,"
Kindergarten and First Grade (1920), Vol. V, pp. 142-145.
Lixke, Edith A. " An Experiment in Teaching in Response to
Children's Questions," Teachers College Record (1920), Vol.
XXI, pp. 55-67.
McMurry, Charles A. Teaching by Projects (1920), p. 254.
Michel, Stella. " Fourth-Grade Project Problem in Geography,"
Missouri School Journal (1920), Vol. XXXVII, pp. 10-11.
STORM, Grace. "A Map of the United States," Elementary School
'Teacher, Vol. XV, pp. 29-40.
Sweeney, Ella L. " Problem-Project Method in the Primary Grade,"
Kindergarten and First Grade (1920), Vol. V, pp. 177-180.
Towne, Mary E. " Developing a Class Project," Industrial-Arts
Magazine (1920), Vol. IX, pp. 442-445.
Von Hope, George D. "The Development of a Project," Teachers
College Record, Vol. XVII, pp. 240-246.
Whitcomb, Fred C. " General Project Method of Teaching the
Industrial Arts," Industrial-Arts Magazine (1920), Vol. IX,
pp. 131-136.
PART SIX. TESTS AND SCALES
CHAPTER XXI
MEASURING RESULTS
The viewpoint. The teaching of geography involves
(i) the setting up of criteria as a means of selecting sub-
ject matter and organizing it into a course of study,
(2) the setting up of well-defined aims which it is hoped
to realize through the subject matter properly related to
the child, (3) the organization of the class and the use of
the materials of the subject in such a way that these aims
may be realized, (4) testing to ascertain whether the aims
have been realized, and (5) the devising of means to over-
come determined failures of instruction.
The teacher of geography may test for (1) facts,
(2) interpretation of facts, (3) ability to use geography
content, and (4) ideals, attitudes, habits, tastes, and
skills. Factual testing can be more readily accomplished,
because of the definite response (easily measured) re-
quired. Much of the emphasis in teaching has been
placed on factual geography. At present interpretative
geography, usable geography, and geographic experi-
ences which will assist in giving the pupil a desirable
world-wide outlook are being increasingly emphasized.
In part because of the recency of emphasis, in part be-
cause of the difficulties involved in measuring the product,
most of the testing has been confined to factual testing.
Teachers may desire to teach more than mere facts, but
26;
266 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
if the tests devised to measure accomplishment are pri-
marily factual, the influence of the measuring exercises
will be greater than the possibilities revealed in an analysis
of geographic aims. The more significant phases of geog-
raphy, based on the factual, will not be properly empha-
sized unless appropriate tests are devised.
Geography fundamentally deals with the location of
places and interpretations related thereto. The mere
testing of place geography, however, reveals a very lim-
ited amount of the modern geographic knowledge de-
manded of a pupil. As a matter of fact, place geography
may be taught solely by means of drills, or it may be
taught incidentally in connection with the solution of
geographic problems. The place tests, since they do not
indicate whether relations were developed or merely taken
for granted, manifestly do not measure the most vital
part of geography.
Criteria suggested for selection of content. Professor
George J. Miller 1 has suggested the following criteria
for determining what subject matter shall be included
in grade geography.
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT
i. Is this particular element of the environment essential
to an understanding of other elements of the environment and
responses in the succeeding parts of the course ?
2. Is this particular element of vital importance for the
child to know in after life, even though it is not provided for
in the course of study ?
^'Essentials of Modern Geography and Criteria for their Determina-
tion," Journal oj Geography (January, 1915), Vol. XIII, pp. 134-135.
MEASURING RESULTS 267
LIFE RESPONSE
1. Is this particular subject matter concerning plant and
animal life clearly a response to the natural environment and
within the comprehension of the child ?
2. Are the human responses, especially human activities,
clearly responses to the natural environment and within the
comprehension of the child?
3. Are these life responses clearly essential for a child
to know in daily life, even though not provided for in the
course of study ?
Boston's attempts to ascertain results. In setting up
tests for the pupils at the close of their grade work it
was believed that the pupil should gain, as a result of his
study of geography, 1
1. An abiding interest in the different peoples of the world,
— their industries, their achievements, and their relations to
ourselves.
2. A mastery of geographic facts and principles sufficient
to enable him to explain
a. The growth of the leading cities of a region.
b. The development of important industries.
c. The dependence of one part of the world upon another.
3. A breadth of mind which will lead to a sympathetic
understanding of races and nations other than his own.
4. A working knowledge of the subject by a thorough
training in the use of maps, texts, and reference books, so
that he can work out new problems independently.
The following set of questions was included in a com-
pletion test for the grades :
■School Document No. 14 (1015K Boston Public Schools. Con-
ducted under the supervision of Professor L. O. Packard.
268
THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Cities
Products
Minneapolis
Pittsburgh
Lowell
New Orleans
Duluth
Galveston
Lynn
QUESTIONS ON THE UNITED STATES
(An outline map of the United States was printed at the head of the
questions)
i . Locate on the map the cities named at the right :
2. In the column marked
"Products" write opposite
the name of each city the
name of a product for which
the city is noted.
3. Give reasons for the
growth of Minneapolis.
4. Below is given a list of articles which we use in our
homes. Write below each word the name of the state in
which that article is produced in large quantities.
cotton oranges cane sugar rice coal iron
5. Write on the map the name of each state which you
have just written in answering question 4.
6. Why do the states just east of the Rocky Mountains
receive less rain than Massachusetts?
7. Explain the way in which the flood plains of the
Mississippi River have been formed.
8. Why are these flood plains good for agriculture?
9. Locate New York City on the map. Locate San Fran-
cisco on the map.
10. Give reasons why the commerce of San Francisco is
not so important as that of New York City.
Place geography has been happily blended with inter-
pretative geography in the above set of questions.
Place-geography tests. Professor Whitbeck, 1 in discuss-
ing the results to be expected from a school course in
1 R. H. Whitbeck, "Results to be expected from a School Course in
Geography," Journal of Geography (April, 1905), Vol. IV, pp. 149-152.
MEASURING RESULTS 269
geography, divides his discussion into (1) home geogra-
phy, (2) the world as a whole, (3) knowledge of location,
(4) facts of physical geography, (5) facts of commercial
geography, and (6) general facts. Under knowledge of
location Professor Whitbeck indicates in a general way
the classes of place names that should be familiar, such
as important political units, the more important rivers,
islands, mountains, capes, political colonies, and cities of
the world.
Minimal place material has been selected (1) through
the individual judgment of a teacher or geography special-
ist, (2) through the collective judgment of a number of
teachers or geography specialists, (3) through a compari-
son of the relative emphasis given to certain materials in
textbooks of geography, and (4) through a study of the
frequency with which place names occur in newspapers
and magazines.
The individual-judgment method was used by Mr. T.
E. Thompson 1 in his exercises in minimal essentials and
by Superintendent Witham'- in establishing "a minimum
standard for measuring geography" in the sixth grade
through a list of fifty-five questions to be answered in
forty-five minutes.
The textbook method applied by Dr. W. C. Bagley 3
to the content of history could be used similarly with
geography. This method is in effect, however, substan-
tially the same as the combined judgment of experts. A
1 "Minimum Essentials in Geography.
- Ernest C. Witham, "A Minimum Standard for Measuring Geog-
raphy." American School Board Journal (January, 1Q15), Vol. I, p. 13.
:5 "The Content of American History," Bulletin No. 16, University of
Illinois School of Education.
270 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
minimal list of places on the basis of frequency of mention
in current literature was reported by Dr. Bagley. 1 The
results of this investigation were inconclusive, but indi-
cated that such a method, if taken alone, would be
unsatisfactory as the basis for the selection of minimal
essentials.
The collective-judgment method was followed by a
group of teachers of Springfield, Illinois, working under
the direction of Professor D. C. Ridgley- with respect to
the fourth-grade and fifth-grade work. As a result the
following number of place names was recommended
and adopted for these grades in the Springfield schools :
World, 30; North America, 27; United States, 143;
South America, 35; Asia, 39; Africa, 19; and Aus-
tralia, 11.
A geography scale. In the tool subjects — reading,
writing, and arithmetic — scales have been devised which
can be used by any individual in determining his stand-
ing. The same scale can be used by children of the
several grades, a higher per cent being required in the
upper grades than in the lower. A tentative attempt to
make such a scale (the Hahn-Lackey scale) in measuring
ability in geography has been made."' Through a compara-
tive study of six of the modern textbooks in geography
about six hundred questions and exercises, emphasizing
1 "The Determination of Minimum Essentials in Elementary Geog-
raphy and History," Fourteenth Yearbook of the National Society for
the Study of Education, Part I. pp. 131-147.
-"The Teaching of Place Geography," Journal of Geography (Sep-
tember, K y i2). Vol. XT, pp. 13-16.
:: E. E. Lackey, "Measuring the Ability of Children in Geography,"
Journal 0) Geography (January, 1918), Vol. XVI, pp. 186-187.
MEASURING RESULTS 271
both the memory and the rational phases of geography,
were secured. The questions and exercises were given to
1696 students, and on the basis of difficulty were grouped
in "steps.'' There are twenty-five steps, designated by
letters of the alphabet.
QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES OF "STEP P" OF THE SCALE
79. Name two large rivers of South America.
80. What two important products are brought to us from
Brazil ?
88. How can you get from New York to London, and in
what direction would you go?
89. How can steamboats go from New York to San
Francisco by the shortest route ?
100. Name the chief occupation of the people of Australia.
105. Give two reasons why mountainous regions are not
good for farming.
28. How can we tell how big a country is by studying a
map ?
10. How long does it take the earth to go around the sun?
67. Give the principal reason why such dense forests grow
along the Amazon.
70. Which part of the United States is most important for
manufacturing and which for agriculture?
74. Where may snow be found in the hot belt near the
equator ?
77. Why is there so little rainfall in the Great Basin of the
United States?
78. Name one way in which the Panama Canal will be an
advantage to the United States in its trade with South America.
81. During what months does Argentina have winter?
82. In what industry or kind of work are most of the
people of England engaged ?
51. Why do so few people live in deserts?
272 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
According to the scale an average fourth-grade pupil ought
to make 34% on the questions and exercises of this step or
any part of it, a fifth-grade pupil ought to make 50%, a sixth-
grade pupil 58%, and a seventh-grade or eighth-grade pupil
The authors suggest that the steps can be used in the
following ways :
1. To measure a pupil's ability in geography for his
promotion or classification.
2. To measure the ability of a class as a whole for
comparison with the standard given in the scale.
3. To compare the progress of a year's work in geog-
raphy for comparison with the normal progress shown
by the scale.
4. To measure the balance between the different phases
of geography work.
5. To measure the merit of different methods of instruc-
tion and of school organization.
Determining minimal essentials as a basis for testing.
The aims of geography teaching are to impart the more
important facts of conventional or practical value, to
secure on the part of the pupil ability to interpret properly
the geographic factors that enter into problems of timely
moment, and to develop an appreciation of the importance
of the United States intrinsically and in its relational
aspects to the world as a whole. The realization of these
aims requires a general knowledge of (1) the relative
location of the large land and water bodies, (2) the loca-
tion of the more important countries of the world, (3) the
location of the more important cities of the world, (4) the
physical conditions of the more important countries,
MEASURING RESULTS 273
(5) the occupations of the people and the conditions of
transportation, (6) our commercial relations with these
countries, and (7) the fundamental relationships between
the physical factors and human activities.
It is desirable that the more important phases of geog-
raphy be recognized to insure that the testing shall
adequately emphasize the essentials. In determining a
minimal essential list of countries of the world the follow-
ing standards were employed : ( 1 ) the area of the country
in square miles, (2) population, (3) total value of im-
ports, (4) total value of imports from the United States,
(5) total value of exports, and (6) total value of exports
to the United States. These criteria not only offer ob-
jective data of great significance in the study of a par-
ticular country but also afford a means of measuring the
relationships of the United States to each country.
The statistical data for each of the above criteria were
secured from the Statistical Abstract of the United States
( 1 91 5), in which reports covering the latest year for which
statistics were available, for the fifty-two more important
countries of the world, were given. The countries were
ranked according to their relative importance with respect
to each of the six criteria and have been numbered accord-
ingly in Table I, p. 276.
The fifty-two countries of Table I were then divided
into quintiles under each of the six criteria previously
discussed, and values were assigned to rank in the various
quintiles as follows: (1) rank in the first quintile in each
criterion received a score of 5 points; (2) rank in the
second quintile, a score of 4 points; (3) rank in the third
quintile, a score of 3 points; (4) rank in the fourth
274 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
quintile, a score of 2 points; and (5) rank in the last
quintile, a score of 1 point. The total score thus received
by a country would serve as an index of the relative
importance of that country among the countries of the
world in area, population, and import and export trade,
and of its relative importance to the United States in
import and export trade.
Table II indicates the total score of each country by this
method. These scores range from 30 points in the case
of the United States — a perfect score because it is the
home country of the child — to 6 points for Liberia. An
examination of the scores clearly indicates the greater im-
portance of certain countries and suggests the desirability
of establishing a line of demarcation between the impor-
tant and less important countries. The placement of this
line is somewhat arbitrary, and, through experimental evi-
dence or radical changes in statistical data, some readjust-
ment may be desirable. The score of 20 points, the lower
limit of the second quintile, seems to offer the most satis-
factory place for a tentative limiting line for minimal
essentials. This places twenty-one countries in the
"minimal-essential list." These countries should receive
a more comprehensive treatment than would be given to
the remaining thirty-one countries.
In the selection of a minimal list of cities several factors,
such as import and export trade, advantages of location,
importance of hinterland, and advantages of transpor-
tation, were tried as standards, but the lack of sufficient
data for many cities rendered such work unsatisfactory.
A very close correlation, however, was found to obtain
between these standards, in cases where such data were
MEASURING RESULTS 275
available, and the single standard of population. It was
decided, therefore, to use the standard of population as a
criterion for determining the list of cities. After consid-
ering the list of cities determined by the single standard
of population, it was believed that the largest city of each
of the twenty-one essential countries of the world (as
previously determined) should be included in the list,
with the addition of all other cities of more than
200.000 population in the Western Hemisphere, of all
other cities of more than 600,000 population in Europe,
and of all other cities of more than 800,000 population in
the rest of the world. This standard of population was
established on the basis of American relations to the differ-
ent regions of the world.
This basis of selection gives a list (for a complete list
of cities see the test that follows) of 29 cities for the
United States; 10 for the Western Hemisphere, exclusive
of the United States; 18 for Europe; and 9 for Asia,
Africa, Australia, and the scattered islands. All of these
are located in the more important countries, with the
exception of Habana, Montevideo, and Santiago.
In selecting a minimal list of products dependence has
been placed upon the value of production in the United
States, supplemented by the value of products imported
into the United States. The aggregate value of a class of
products may be large with large quantities in use and a
low price, or with small quantities in use and a high price.
Neither price nor quantity is an exclusive index of the im-
portance of the products to man. Ranking products in
order of aggregate values has the advantage of taking
both these factors into consideration.
TABLE I. FIFTY-TWO COUNTRIES RANKED IN IMPOR-
TANCE IN TERMS OF SIX CRITERIA 1
Country
23.
24.
25-
26.
27.
28.
29.
3°-
3 1 -
3 2 -
33-
34-
35-
3 r >-
37-
38.
39-
40.
41.
42.
43'
44.
45'
46.
47-
4 s -
49-
United States . . .
Great Britain . . .
Germany ....
France
India
Austria-Hungary . .
Russia
Canada
Italy
Japan
China
Brazil
Argentina ....
Netherlands . . .
Mexico
Belgium
Australia ....
Spain
Sweden
Egypt
Turkey
Switzerland ....
Chile
South African Union
Philippine Islands .
Peru
Cuba
Denmark ....
Norway
Algeria
New Zealand . . .
Persia
Portugal
Rumania ....
Venezuela ....
Uruguay ....
Bolivia
>iam
Greece
Morocco ....
Serbia
Bulgaria
Ecuador
Haiti
Tunis
Honduras ....
Costa Rica ....
Guatemala ....
Panama
Akea
4
29
3
32
27
49
9
5°
6
24
25
i7
12
48
19
14
3 1
11
15
4"
28
iS
33
J3
43
37
16
4'
26
44
4°
Popula-
tion
52-
Salvador .
1 'araguay
Liberia .
34
42
1 i
3*3
23
17
26
29
37
4'
28
48
39
46
38
18
$4
33
44
4°
43
4 7
59
45
Total
Imports
"9
17
26
33
40
39
iS
2 3
24
29
25
43
34
42
4 7
44
38
4"
4' x
4?
.">
Imports
from
United
States
(0
I
2
5
22
8
39
43
Total
Exports
27
15
26
20
3 1
32
38
19
28
29
24
35
33
22
42
30
36
34
40
48
4'
39
44
43
4''
4"
37
34
4"
1 Compiled from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1915.
276
TABLE II. POINTS SCORED BY FIFTY-TWO COUNTRIES IN
SIX CRITERIA OF IMPORTANCE 1
Imports
Exports I
Country
Area
[Popula-
Total
F ROM
Total
TO
Total
tion
Imports
United
Exports
United
States
States
1
i. United States . .
5 |
5
(5)
5
(5)
3°
2. Great Britain . .
5
^
5
5
5
5
28
3. Germany ....
3
5
5
5
5
5
28
4. France
?
5
5
5
5
5
28
5. India . . - . .
5
5
5
3
5
5
28
6. Austria-Hungary .
4
5
5
5
5
4
28
7. Russia
5
5
5
4
5
3
27
8. Canada ....
4
4
5
4
5
27
9. Italy
2
5
5
5
5
5
27
10. Japan
3
5
4
5
4
5
26
11. China
5
5
4
4
4
4
26
12. Brazil
5
4
3
4
4
5
2 5
13. Argentina . . .
5
4
4
4
4
4
2 5
14. Netherlands .
1
3
5
5
5
5
24
1;. Mexico ....
,
4
3
4
3
5
24
10. Belgium ....
t
3
5
5
5
4
23
17. Australia ....
5
2
4
5
4
3
23
iS. Spain
3
4
4
4
3
3
21
19. Sweden ....
3
3
4
4
4
3
21
20. Egypt
4
4
3
2
3
4
20
21. Turkey ....
4
4
3
2
3
4
20
22. Switzerland . . .
1
2
4
4
4
4
! 9
25. Chile
4
2
3
3
3
4
'9
24. South African Union
4
3
3
3
4
2
19
25. Philippine Islands.
2
4
2
4
2
4
18
26. Peru
4
3
2
3
2
4
iS
27. Cuba
4
3
1
3
2
4
17
28. Denmark ....
1
2
4
4
4
2
17
29. Norway ....
3
2
3
3
3
3
17
30. Algeria ....
4
3
3
2
3
1
16
31. New Zealand . .
2
1
3
3
3
3
J5
32. Persia
4
4
2
1
2
2
15
2^- Portugal ....
1
3
3
3
2
2
M
34. Rumania ....
2
3
3
2
3
1
14
35. Venezuela
4
2
1
3
1
3
14
36. Bolivia ....
5
2
1
2
2
1
13
37. Uruguay ....
2
1
2
2
3
3
13
38. Siam
3
4
2
1
2
1
13
39. Greece ....
2
2
2
1
2
2
1 1
40. Morocco ....
3
3
2
1
1
1
1 1
41. Serbia
1
2
2
r
2
2
10
42. Bulgaria ....
2
2
2
1
2
1
10
4 }. Ecuador ....
1
1
2
1
2
10
44. Haiti
1
1
3
1
1
9
45. Tunis
2
1
2
1
2
1
9
46. Honduras
2
1
1
2
1
1
9
4 7. Costa Rica . . .
1
1
1
2
1
3
9
48. Guatemala
2
1
1
2
1
2
9
49. Panama ....
j
1
1
2
1
2
8
50. Salvador ....
1
1
1
1
1
2
7
; 1 . Paraguay ....
2
1
1
1
1
7
*?, Liberia ....
1
1
1
1
1
1
6
1 Compiled from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1915.
278 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Ranking the products on the basis of the aggregate
values of each product for all countries is desirable, but,
because of unsatisfactory data, impracticable. Fortu-
nately, from a somewhat different point of view statistics
almost as satisfactory can be obtained. Recent world
events have brought out in an emphatic manner the com-
mercial dependence of every first-class power upon
practically every part of the earth. The United States,
consequently, either produces practically all important
materials or imports them in large quantities from
other producing areas. Hence a consideration of the
products of the United States and the products imported
into the United States offers a comprehensive list of the
world's industrial products.
Only the more significant of these products should be
included in the minimal-essential list (for this list of
products see Part III of the completion test that follows).
It has been assumed that all plant, animal, and mineral
products with a production value in the United States of
85,000,000 or more annually should be considered, and
that this list should be supplemented by all products, not
otherwise included, imported in quantities valued at
$5,000,000 annually.
Irrespective of values, however, materials of general
distribution (such as hay, clay, sand, and stone) or ma-
terials (such as mushrooms) for which information con-
cerning distribution is inadequate have been omitted.
A test based on the minimal essentials. In the following
test an attempt has been made to test not only knowledge
of place geography but also knowledge of geographic
MEASURING RESULTS 279
relationships. In organizing the relational material it has
been assumed that location, area, surface features, soils,
climate, distribution of plant and animal forms, and distri-
bution of minerals are the significant physical factors.
The pupil's knowledge of geography has not been tested
sufficiently unless he has shown his appreciation of the
ways these factors have influenced man and unless he
shows his ability to select important factors that enter
into a geographic situation.
COMPLETION TEST FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF MINI-
MAL GEOGRAPHIC KNOWLEDGE OF ELEMENTARY-
SCHOOL CHILDREN
Part I
On an outline map of the world indicate the location of the
continents and oceans by writing the names in the proper
places.
Part II
On an outline map of the world write in the correct place
the name of each of the following countries : United States,
Great Britain, Germany, France, India, Italy, Russia, Canada,
Austria-Hungary, Japan, China, Brazil, Argentina, Nether-
lands, Mexico, Belgium, Australia, Spain, Sweden, Egypt, and
Turkey. (The recent readjustments in Europe require a slight
modification, Austria and Hungary being two separate coun-
tries, and Czechoslovakia, Jugoslavia, and Poland being three
new countries that probably should be included.)
Given an outline map of the United States, with the location
of the minimum list of cities indicated by number and the list
280 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
of cities accompanying the map, write opposite each city the
appropriate number.
Given an outline map of the world, with the location of the
minimum list of cities, except those of the United States, indi-
cated by number and the list of cities accompanying the map,
write opposite each city the appropriate number.
Part III
(Test to be applied to any country)
Country
i. Give the direction of this country from your home
city .
2. Give in square miles the approximate area of the United
States • Underline the term that more nearly
expresses the area of the above-named country in comparison
with the United States : Larger. Smaller. Approximately the
same.
3. Give the approximate population of the United States
. Underline the term that more nearly expresses
the population of the above country in comparison with the
United States : Larger. Smaller. Approximately the same.
4. Indicate an important highland of this country ,
5. Underline the statements that more nearly indicate the
prevailing conditions of this highland :
Easy to cross Permanent snow fields
Extends above tree line Much mining
Large cities No large cities
Dense population Herding industry important
Difficult to cross
6. Indicate an important river basin or lowland of this
country
7. Underline the statements that more nearly indicate the
prevailing conditions concerning this lowland :
MEASURING RESULTS
281
Dense population Agriculture important
River important for navigation Manufacturing important
Irrigation practiced Sparse population
Much mining Herding important
Much swamp and overflow land
8. Underline the statement that more nearly describes the
prevailing temperature of the country : Primarily in hot belt.
Primarily in cold belt. Primarily in intermediate belt.
9. Underline the statement that describes the prevailing
rainfall: Heavy rainfall (above 50 inches). Moderate rain-
fall (20 to 50 inches). Light rainfall (less than 20 inches).
10. Underline the name of each plant product that is im-
portant in this country :
Corn
Wheat
Oats
Barley
Rye
Buckwheat
Potatoes
Cotton
Tobacco
Flax
Rice
Sugar
Apples
Beans
Peaches
Peas
Silk
Cocoa
Coffee
Tea
Oranges
Lemons
Fibers
Rubber
Bananas
Grapes
Nuts
Wood
11. Write the name of one of the products underlined above
• Underline its important use or uses :
Food for man Clothing Food for animals
Fuel Shelter Luxury
12. Underline the name of each animal that is important in
this country :
Cattle Hogs Sheep Horses Mules Goats Poultry
13. Write the name of one of the classes of animals under-
lined above ... Underline its important use or
uses :
Meat Milk Clothing Eggs Beast of burden
Natural gas
Aluminum
Tin
Zinc
Silver
Lead
2 82 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
14. Underline the name of each mineral product that is
important in this country :
Coal Nickel
Iron Copper
Petroleum Gold
Phosphates Sulphur
15. Write the name of one mineral product underlined
above . Underline its important use or uses :
Fuel Alloy Paints
Machinery Light Plumbing supplies
Fertilizer Jewelry Chemicals
16. Underline the prevailing manufacturing conditions:
Extensive Moderate Slight
17. Underline the influential factors in the development of
manufacturing:
Good water power Abundant capital
Much coal Little water power
Abundant labor supply Insufficient labor supply
Scarcity of coal Scarcity of capital
18. Underline statements that properly describe the pre-
vailing conditions of transportation :
Rivers important Railroads well developed
Rivers of little importance Railroads undeveloped
Lakes very important Public roads well improved
Lakes of little importance Public roads in bad condition
19. Underline each of the cities of this country:
Washington Boston Philadelphia Toronto
London Buffalo Pittsburgh Budapest
MEASURING RESULTS
283
Berlin
Paris
Petrograd
Vienna
Tokio
Rio de Janeiro
Buenos Aires
Mexico City
Brussels
Sydney
Madrid
Stockholm
Cairo
Constantinople
Baltimore
Chicago
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Denver
Detroit
Indianapolis
Jersey City
Kansas City
Los Angeles
Louisville
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Newark
New Orleans
Portland
Providence
Rochester
St. Louis
St. Paul
San Francisco
Seattle
New York
Bahia
Habana
Montevideo
Montreal
Santiago
Sao Paulo
Glasgow
Hamburg
Liverpool
Manchester
Moscow
Naples
Warsaw
Bombay
Canton
Hankow
Osaka
Tientsin
Calcutta
Amsterdam
20. Write the name of one of the cities underlined in the
preceding exercise
that describe this city :
Seaport
River port
Lake port
Important railroad center
A political capital
.. Underline the statements
A mountain-pass city
An important manufacturing
center
An important commercial
center
The various parts of the topical outline — location,
area, population, topography, climate, economic products,
and important cities — are included in the test, and the
relational viewpoint has been stressed. 1
1 For a more detailed account of the test see M. E. Branom and
VV. C. Reavis, "The Determination and Measurement of the Minimal
Essentials of Elementary-School Geography,'' Seventeenth Yearbook of
the National Society for the Study of Education, pp. 27-39.
284 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
TYPES OF QUESTIONS USEFUL IN TESTING
i. Informational. Where is New York City? Where is
Poland ? In what part of the United States are oranges
produced in large quantities?
2. Interpretative. Why is there a semiarid region east of
the Rocky Mountains? Why is the Amazon basin sparsely
populated ?
The informational question frequently is used as a
basis for the interpretative. The question Where are
oranges raised? may be answered, In Florida and Cali-
fornia. The next question may be interpretative : W'hy
are oranges raised in Florida and California?
3. Statements to be filled in:
The two chief rivers of Italy are the and
the
Mulberry trees are grown in many parts of Italy, especially
The most important nut tree of Italy is the
The largest city of Italy is
4. Statements to be answered rr yes" if entirely correct and
"no" if in part wrong:
Chicago, located near the southern end of Lake Michigan, is
the largest city of the United States. (No)
The United States imports large quantities of raw sugar. (Yes)
5. A meaningful statement to be made if a word or expres-
sion is given :
Vesuvius Vienna Punta Arenas Rubber Sahara Desert
6. Varying degrees of definiteness. Tell why New York
City has grown so rapidly. The pupil is left to make a brief
or elaborate statement as he desires. Name five reasons why
New York City has grown so rapidly. The pupil is definitely
MEASURING RESULTS 285
limited. Name all the reasons you can think of why New York
City has grown so rapidly. An attempt is made to get the
pupil to exhaust his information relative to the question.
7. Questions asked by pupils. Make a list of informational
and interpretative questions bearing on Japan.
Conclusion. The formulation of adequate tests in ge-
ography is closely related to the establishment of definite
aims. Substantial progress has been made in testing
knowledge of place geography and factual geography. A
beginning has been made in testing knowledge of interpre-
tative geography and of ability to use geographic knowl-
edge ; it may be expected that in time ideals also can be
tested satisfactorily. The recognition of the significance
of geography in giving training for citizenship and for in-
telligent participation in the world's progress has directed
the attention of educators toward the need of reorganizing
this subject with the purpose of realizing definite educa-
tional results.
Suggestions for Further Study :
1. Why is it desirable to measure results as accurately as
possible ?
2. Why is it difficult to measure all the desired products of
a geographic course quantitatively ?
3. Is it probable that tests or scales will be found more desirable
in measuring geographic accomplishment ?
4. Select an areal unit for study, as Argentina or Poland, indi-
cate the immediate aims that you have in mind, note the materials
of geography that you may use and how you may use them, and set
up a test by means of which you can ascertain whether the aims are
realized.
5. As suggested by the organization of this book, what should
the teacher's knowledge of the "pedagogy of geography" include?
286 THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Selected References :
Bagley, W. C. " Determination of Minimum Essentials in Geog-
raphy and History." Fourteenth Yearbook of the National
Society for the Study of Education, pp. 131-147.
Bagley, W. C. " Minimum Essentials in Elementary Geography,"
Journal of Geography (1918;, Vol. XIV, pp. 120-122.
Barnes, Earl. Studies in Education (1902), Vol. II.
Braxom, M. E., and Reavis, W. C. " The Determination and
Measurement of the Minimal Essentials of Elementary-School
Geography, " Seventeenth Yearbook of the National Society for
the Study of Education, pp. 27-39.
Brown. R. M. " The Minimum Requirement," Journal of Geog-
raphy, Vol. XIII, pp. 48-50.
Buckingham, B. R. Geography Test, State Department of Public
Instruction, Madison. Wisconsin.
Coffman, Lotus D. " Methods used in the Determination of
Minimum Essentials," Teachers College Record, Vol. XVIII,
pp. 243-252.
Courtis, S. A. " Measuring the Effects of Supervision in Geog-
raphy," School and Society (191 9), Vol. X, pp. 61-70.
Hahn. H. H. Harm-Lackey Geography Scale, Wayne State Normal
School. Nebraska.
Johnson. D. W. "College-Entrance Examination Answers in Geog-
raphy," Journal of Geography (191 6), Vol. XV, pp. 125-127.
Kendall, C. " Standards and Tests of Efficiency in Geography,"
Journal of Education (191 4). Vol. LXXIX, pp. 315-316.
Knight. Bessie P. " Minimum Essentials in Elementary Geog-
raphy." Journal of Geography (1917)- Vol- XV. pp. 1 73— r 79-
Lackey. E. E. " Measuring the Ability of Children in Geography."
Journal of Geography ( 4 91 8). Vol. XVI, pp. 184-188.
Martin. Lawrence. "Examinations in Elementary Geography,"
Journal of Geography (191 6), Vol. XIV, pp. 298-299.
Miller, G. J. "Essentials of Modern Geography and Criteria for
their Determination," Journal of Geography (191 5), Vol. XIII,
pp. 1 29 -t 35.
Redwav, J. The New Basis of Geography, chap. vii. pp. 120- 139.
Ridgley, I). C. "Teaching of Place Geography," Journal of Geog-
raphy (191 2;, Vol. XI. pp. 13-16.
MEASURING RESULTS 287
Starch, Daniel. Geography Tests, Series A, University of Wis-
consin, Madison, Wisconsin.
Sutherland, William. The Teaching of Geography, chap, xxii,
pp. 274-291.
Tarr, R. S. " Results to be expected from a School Course in
Geography, n Journal of Geography (\ 90 5), Vol. I\ T , pp. 145-148;
Whitreck, R. H., pp. 149-154; Genthe, pp. 155-109;
Jefferson, pp. 160-163.
Thompson", T. E. Standard Tests in Geography, Monrovia,
California.
Whitheck, R. II. " Measuring Efficiency in the Teaching of Geog-
raphy,'* Journal of Geography 1 191 4). Vol. XIII, pp. 53-55.
Whitheck, R. II. ''Where shall we lay the Emphasis in the
Teaching of Geography ?" Journal of Geography (19 10), Vol.
XXXI. p. 10S.
WiTiiAM. E. C. Standard Geography Tests, Southington, Connecticut.
Young, Sarah. " The Teaching of Geography." in Barnes's Studies
in Education, Vol. II, pp. 3 7 3 — 3 <S S .
Boston Tests, Bulletin Xo. j, School Document Xo. 14 (1915),
Department of Educational Investigation and Measurement,
Boston.
Report of Boston's Attempt to ascertain Results of Geography
Teaching. School Document Xo. 14. Journal op' Geography
(191 7), Vol. XV, pp. 1 41-149.
INDEX
Activities of man, 4-17; vocational,
4-16; agricultural, 5-S; pastoral,
8-9; lumbering, 9-10; hunting
and trapping, 10; fishing, 10-11;
mining, n-12; manufacturing,
12-13; transporting, 13-15; pro-
fessional, 15; as middleman, 16;
as investor, 16; recreational, 17;
political, iS
Actual journeys, 21 1-2 17
Agricultural activities, 5-S
Aims, 62-71; usable knowledge,
62-63; enlightened outlook, 63;
practical and cultural, 63-64;
adjustment, 64; method versus
content, 65 ; training and cul-
tural, 66; brotherhood of man,
66; aesthetic enjoyment, 67; St.
Louis Survey, 0S-69; immediate,
69-70
Andrews, Cyril Bruyn, cited. 234
Appalachians, lumbering in the, 9
Archer, Lewis, and Chapman, cited,
63
Argentina developed by topical
outline, 203-205
Argumentative lesson. 103-200
Arithmetic, relation of geography
to, 45-47
Assignments, motivated, 156-157
Baber, Zonia, cited, 66-67
Bagley, W. ('., cited. 260-270
Branom-Reavis test. 272-2S3
Britain a world power, ^,2>
Chamberlain, James F., cited, in
Cii:.rts and diagrams, 124
Children, pre-school knowledge of,
76-78
Chile, development of. through
topical outline, 204-205
China, civilization of, 33
Cities, illustration of type study,
224-225
Civilization, development of, 22-38
Class as a unit, 133-134
Classes of problems, 182-184
Collings, Fryor McBee, cited, 253-
255
Commerce, 3-4
Commercial-geography field trips,
102
Construction work, motivation
through, 168-170
Content, socializing the, 145-146
Cook, Jane Ferry, cited, 65-66
Cooperation of pupils, 146-149
Correlation, 40-49
Course of study, organization of,
75-89
Current events, motivation of geog-
raphy through, 166-167
Dairy plants, trips to, 21 1-2 12
Debating. 196-199
Demands of socialization, 146-15Z
Details, study of, through types, 226
Diagrams and charts, 124
Difficulties in problem work, 1S7-
189
Discoveries through field trips,
214-215
Diversity of materials in lower
grades, S1-S2
Dodge, R. E., and Kirchwey, C. B. ?
cited, 62-63, 67-6S
Dramatization, 23S-245
Dutch, explorations of the, 32-33
Earth as a whole, building up a
concept of the, S2-83
Enclish, relation of geography to,
44-45
:S 9
290
THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Environment, effects of, on people,
22-25
Eskimo type and dramatization,
239-240
Essentials, selecting, 55
Eurasia, development of civiliza-
tion in, 32-35
Europe, new countries of, 34-35
Excursion work, 95-103
Fairgrieve, James, cited, 36
Fairy tales versus nature stories,
234
Field work, value of, 95-96;
reasons for insufficient, 96-102
Fishing activities, 10-11
Flour, manufacture of, 12-13
Foreign lands, interest of children
in, 79-80
France a world power, 33
Free activity, 1 50-1 51
Function of teacher in socialized
work, 149-150
Geographers, relation of, to the
teacher, 56—57
Geography, practical nature of, 3-
20
Germany, location of, 33-34
Globes and maps, 1 21-124
Group work, 134-141
Hahn-Lackey scale, 270-272
Henderson, Bertha, cited, 66
Historv, relation of geography to,
47-48
Holtz, F. L., cited, 63, 224
Home geography, effects of war
on, 53
Human geography, 54
Human type-, classification of, 80
Hunting activities, 10
Iberian Peninsula, explorations
from the, 31
Illustrations, topical outline, 203-
205; project work. 249-251
Imaginary journeys, 277-222
Individual collections of products,
105- 107
Individual work, 141-143
Industries, studying, 216-217
Inferences, verifying, through trips,
214
Interests and motives, 170-171
Investment activities, 16
Iron ores, importance of, to St.
Louis, 11-12
Japan, illustration of relation of, to
various subjects, 40-41 ; illustra-
tion of topic treated by limited
free activity, 1 51-15 2
Johnson, D. D., cited, 145-146
Journey geography, 211-223; re-
lation of, to type studies, 82-83
Lackey, E. E., cited, 270-272
Language, expression of geography
through, 124-125
Lantern, 11S-119
Linke, Edith A., cited. 256-258
Literature, relation of geography
to, 49
Local activities, motivation of geog-
raphy through, 168-170
Local environments, importance of,
78~79
Logical versus psychological de-
velopment, 87-88
Lumbering activities, 9-10
McMurry, Charles, cited, 229
Maddox. John J., project work,
258-261
Manufacturing activities, 12-13
Maps, 126
Maps and globes. 1 21-124; use of,
during war, 54-55
Margarine plant, visit to, 212-213
Materials for problem-solving, 1S0-
182
Measuring results. 265-2S7
Mediterranean civilization, 2S-30
Memory work versus problem
work. 174-178
Method, evolution of geographic,
51-61; socializing the, 145-146
Middleman activities, 16
Milk, preparation of, for market,
211-2:2
Miller, George J., cited, 266-267
INDEX
291
Mining activities, 11-12
Missouri, iron ores of, 11-12; a
project on, 249-251
Motivation of geography, 165-172
Motive, 247-249
Motives during study periods, 157-
160
Motion pictures, 119-121
Moulton, Estella L., cited, 120
Mutual assistance of subjects, 40
Natural regions, 84-85
Nature stories versus fairy tales,
234
Newfoundland Banks, fishing on
the, io-ii
New World, spread of civilization
in the, 31-32
New York City to St. Louis,
journey from, 217-219
Nile Valley, civilization in the, 25-
26
Observational geography, 93-107
Organization of the class, 133-144
Organizing centers, 226-228
Orient, closing of routes to the,
30-3 1
Outlines, relation of, to problems,
Packard. L. I., cited, 267-268
Partridge, Emelyn Newcomb, cited,
234-235
Pas-inn interests, 158
Pastoral activities, S-9
Pedagogy of problem-solving, 184-
1S7
Phoenicians. 28
Physical-geography field trips, 101-
102
Pictures. 1 10-119; value of, 114;
collecting, 114-116; classes of,
117
Place geography, 19-20
Place tests, 208-270, 270-280
Play level, projects on the, 251
Plays produced by pupils, 23S-239
Poland, example of the problem
method. 57-00
Political activities, iS
Political regions, 84
Populations, future distribution of,
36-37
Portuguese discovery of a route to
the Indies, 31
Precipitation, influence of, on the
farmer, 5
Pre-geography work, 76-78
Primary grades, informal work of,
76-78
Problem, example of, 189-191
Problem method, 173-192
Products brought to schoolroom,
104-107
Products, distribution of, 3-4
Professional activities, 15
Professional versus educational
dramatization, 240-241
Projects, 246-261; relation of, to
topical outlines, 251-252
Psychological versus logical devel-
opment, 87-88
Public attitude toward field trips,
9S-99
Pupils, attitude of, toward field
trips, 97-98
Questions for testing, 284-285
Railroads, influence of topography
on, 14
Reading, relation of geography to,
43
Rcavis-Branom test, 272-283
Recitation period, relation of, to
study period, 155-161
Recreational activities, 17
Regional geography, 83-84
Regions, order of study of, 85-86
Representative geography, 109-130
Reviews, 227
Ridgley, D. C, cited, 270
Romans, civilization of the. 2S-30
Rudolph, A. Adele, cited, 1OS-170
Russia, the beginnings of, 33
St. Louis to New York City, jour-
ney from, 217-219
St. Louis School Survey, 6S-69
School projects, 246-247
Scoring. 193-196
292
THE TEACHING OF GEOGRAPHY
Sketch maps, expression through,
213-214
Smith, J. Russell, cited, 67
Socialization, 145-15 1
Soils, influence of, on farming, 6-7
South America, example of topic
treated by limited free activity,
152-153
Spaniards, explorations by, in the
New World, 31-32
Spelling, relation of geography to,
43-44
Stereoscopes, 117-118
Story, the, 231-236
Story-telling by pupils, 233
Study period, relation of, to reci-
tation period, 155-161
Studying, 160-161
Subgroups, study of geography
through, 134-141
Subject, geography as a, 39-40
Supervision of geography study,
158-160
Supplementary reading, 127
Sutherland, William J., cited, 64
Symbols, geographic, 109-130;
value of, 109-110
Teachers, preparation of, for field
trips, 103-104
Telling a good story, 232-233
Temperature, influence of, on the
farmer, 5-6
Testing, 265-287
Textbooks, geographic, 126
Thompson, T. E., cited, 269
Tigris-Euphrates valleys, civiliza-
tion in the, 26-27
Tool and content subjects, 41-42
Topical outline, 201-209
Topical outlines and projects, 251-
256
Topics, study of, in relation, 205-
206
Topography, relation of, to farm-
ing, 7
Transportation activities, 13-15
Trapping activities, 10
Type studies, 224-230; relations of,
to journey geography, S2-83
United States, cause of the great-
ness of the, 35-36
Usable products secured through
projects, 249
Valley civilizations, 25-28
Viewpoint, maintaining the geo-
graphic, 49
Vocational activities, 4-16
Walker, Alberta, cited, 242-244
Waterways, navigation of, 13-14
Wheat, production of, 12
Whitbeck, R. H., cited, 64-65
Wilson, H. B., and G. M., cited,
165-166
Wilson, J. H., cited, 120-121
Witham, Ernest C, cited, 269
World geography, 87
World War, interest in geography
aroused through the, 3 ; and ge-
ography method, 52-55
Writing, relation of, to geography,
44
Wyman School, world's fair proj-
ect in the, 258-261
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