I work in a large, urban middle school with a high poverty rate and very large diversity. Nothing, however, slows these kids down when they are ready to accomplish a task! Their energy and enthusiasm for some projects is amazing. I teach Social Studies, of which a large part of the curriculum is geography.
Human interaction with geography and its effect on human history are key components of middle school social studies.
Being in middle school is all about human interaction! Students are learning, growing, and changing so quickly. They have many questions about the world and their place in it.
I have a class set of Chromebooks, but when it comes to world geography there is nothing like an old school atlas. Students get so used to using the Internet that they can often tell me what the capital of a country is without having any idea of the location, size, or what the surrounding countries are.
My Project
My students need thirty copies of Rand McNally Classroom Atlas of the World.
My middle school students will use these Rand McNally Classroom Atlases to learn about our world.
Nothing has shaped human history more than world geography. World populations have grown the most where the geography is suitable for survival. My students will use the atlases for basic geography assignments such as learning about latitude or longitude or answering simple questions such as "What is the capital of Germany?" They will also be asked to dig deeper and learn where the largest countries are, for example, or what countries have the largest populations. Or why so many great cities were founded and grew near oceans, rivers, or lakes. Is Indonesia a good example of an archipelago or not?
We use the atlases almost daily in my class. They are soft cover and are worn out quickly. I have them covered with plastic by our librarian, and I reinforce the spines with tape as we go. They still, however, get worn through by frequent use. I had this same project funded in 2016, and after only two years of use, I am in need of replacements.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Gibb and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
