Mapping the World by Heart
Mapping the World By Heart by David Smith at http://www.mapping.com
A geography curriculum so innovative that it was awarded a "Breaking
the Mold" award from the U.S. Department of Education, and so effective
and exciting that it has been the subject of news reports in TIME ,
the Boston Globe , the Los Angeles Times , the New York Times , and
on NBC's Today Show , Mapping the World by Heart is a flexible
program that can be used as the centerpiece of a geography curriculum
or as an adjunct to a course in world history or global studies.
What's the basic concept? Students are challenged to draw a detailed
map of the world--from memory.
Before:
In September, students are asked to draw a map of the world, with no
help from textbooks or reference materials. Most of the maps are
sketchy blobs and squiggles.
After:
In June, the same students can draw, entirely from memory, world maps
that include the names, borders, mountain ranges, rivers, and cities of
over 150 countries--all properly proportioned and correctly situated by
latitude and longitude.
Originally developed for David Smith's seventh graders at the Shady
Hill School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the program has now been
adapted for grades 5 and up. A flexible format permits teachers to
adopt small portions of the curriculum; the full program works like
this:
Each week, students devote two hours of class work and two hours of
homework to geography.
Two seventh-grade teachers,
Cypress, California:
"Our 7th grade has
mapped by heart for 4 years, and it is without a doubt one of the
highlights of their educational experiences.... What we notice most is
how the students are stretched beyond what they think they are capable
of doing and feel so proud of their great accomplishment at the end of
the school year.... STUDENTS OF ALL LEARNING STYLES have a picture of
the world in their heads for the rest of their lives.... In 4 years we
have not had one student who was unable to do the maps.... The
California framework for history/social sciences does not allow for a
specific geography course, so we integrate this program with 7th grade
World History. It is a perfect blend."
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In the first weeks of the school year, they learn about maps in
general, covering such topics as blank grids, projections, latitude and
longitude, thematic maps, and contour maps.
Next, the curriculum is divided into nine geographical areas that each
merit two to three weeks of study. In the first week of each unit,
students, given blank maps and lists of the names of features, use an
atlas to figure out how to label their maps. They spend the second and
third weeks learning about the countries of the area, memorizing facts
through review games, and drawing practice maps.
In the last four to five weeks of the course, each student draws a
complete, detailed map of the world on a 20' x 30" architect's board.
Smith, a classroom teacher with over 25 years' experience, says, "This
isn't instant gratification. It takes nine months. It's a lot of
repetition and hard work, enriched by practice and the real use of
knowledge--the way people learn anything....
"They start off looking for rivers or mountains or countries.... They
end up dealing comfortably with maps and the ability to decode
information from maps, to use an atlas, read latitude and longitude....
"Beware of hot gorillas eating nitrates casually, pop!"
--Mnemonic for the nations of Central America: Belize, Honduras,
Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama |
They end up finding themselves--and each other--and come away with a
better understanding of their own special place in the world....
"Remember, we're facing MTV-era kids with an attention span of 20
seconds. To be effective, geography teaching has to become a hands-on,
gee-whiz experience.... In an age where everybody is concerned with
quick gratification, to start something in September and finish it in
May, and do it beautifully, is an important lesson on how you learn."
| Seventh grader, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
"It seems impossible at the
beginning of the year, but it's really possible and it's really
satisfying. It's a year of learning how to push yourself."
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The program's flexibility permits it to be used in concert with other
social studies courses, and allows for shortened versions of the
course. Some classes, for instance, have chosen to paint a "parking lot
map"--individual students each become expert on just one small portion
of the map grid. Another option: a "world's fair" in which each student
becomes expert on one country, then joins students assigned to
neighboring countries to set up a "continent booth." Many other
variations are also possible.
David Smith sums up the impact of Mapping the World by Heart this
way: "It's about two things. One is, making places real.... The other
piece that I like is that there is a memory component here. Now we're
not talking about short term memory--sit down tonight, memorize a bunch
of places, and then tomorrow put it on your map and you're done. We're
talking about nine months of work towards a goal.... We're talking
about learning how to learn.... Students not only have a vivid
internalized world map, but they also have a picture of themselves as a
person who is able to undertake an enormous task like this."
Examples of student maps:
ONE
TWO
THREE
Ordering Information
Mapping the World By Heart by David Smith at http://www.mapping.com
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