Students search the globe as they track down a trail of clues. They learn to interpret directions, decode map symbols, and use a map scale while sharpening their synthesizing and deductive reasoning skills. Students will explore maps, atlases, and almanacs with enthusiasm!
World Geography Mysteries is designed to acquaint students in grade 4 through 6 with world geography in an engaging and entertaining manner. Each of these two- or three-page activities contains geographical clues to 10 locations, which students must find with the help of a map, globe, or atlas. The locations may be large or small cities, countries, or geographical features. Where a location appears in more than one activity in the book, different geographical clues are used in each instance to help the students locate it. Both customary and metric units are used in the clues.
In the easiest activities, clues are independent of one another, and each one points to a specific location. Other activities contain progressive clues where the student must correctly identify one place name in order to use the next clue.
Map skills, in particular the skills of interpreting directions, decoding symbols, and using a scale, are the chief objective of World Geography Mysteries. As the puzzles often require students to resolve ambiguities, apply deduction, and synthesize information, the activities will stimulate their higher-level thinking skills as well.
The primary clues are typically give in terms of direction and distance from an easily found map location, e.g. "About 200 miles (322 km) southwest of Paris..."; "About 615 miles (990 km) south and a little west of Beijing...."; "About 360 miles (580 km) due north of Mexico City." Most clues are deliberately unspecific in this manner, as precise distances are all but impossible to determine with a standard map scale, and precise directions can be conveyed only by the use of degree headings. Accordingly, secondary clues are given: locations relative to bodies or water, state borders, and other nearby map features. In some case, where students are asked to find a location among many place names within a relatively small area, a tertiary clue is given, e.g. "The name of the city has seven letters, beginning with 'A.'" Most clues contain an interesting or unusual fact about the location as well. Place and feature names used in World Geography Mysteries can be found in most standard atlases. All can be found in the maps included in country articles in World Book Encyclopedia.
The prospect of solving a mystery or puzzle will provide students with added motivation. In may activities, the mystery involves finding a lost fortune or document, or pursuing a criminal. In others, the only "mystery" is the information the students is required to find through thought and research.
Contents
The book is divided into five sections, though the activities need not be presented in any particular order:
Exploring the Western Hemisphere: Each of these five activities focuses on a specific country, subcontinent, or continent: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central American and the Caribbean, and South America.
Exploring the Eastern Hemisphere: These six activities continue the region-by-region survey of the globe, focusing respectively on Europe, North Africa and Southwest Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; Northern Asia; Southern Asia; and Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica.
Deeper Into the World: In these six activities, the clues ask students to identify mountain ranges and deserts, inland bodies of water, islands, and recently created nations. One activity in this section calls on students to identify locations by their latitude and longitude coordinates.
The Complete World Traveler: These six activities focus on world capitals, popular and more adventuresome tourist destinations, natural wonders, famous landmarks, and wildlife preserves. In the first activity in this section, "capital" refers not necessarily to a seat of government but to a city that has a primacy in some historical or cultural way.
A World Full of People: These last four activities call on students to identify geographic locations associated with music and dance, sports, works of juvenile literature, and festivals.
How to Use This Book
As a whole-class activity: Students can solve a World Geography Mystery as a group, with individuals being called upon to solve the clues using a wall map or pull-down map. If detailed country and world-regional maps are available in student geography texts or atlases, students may be assigned an activity as desk work. Completely activity sheets may be placed in students' file folders or portfolios.
AS a learning-center activity:: Small groups of students may be given an activity to complete cooperatively at a learning center, using an atlas or other appropriate reference. As an added motivataion, you might time various groups on successful completion of an activity, and devise a point system for order of finish for a class competition.
As an extra-credit or homework activity: Students can be assigned activities to complete using available references at home, or in the school or public library. Completed activity sheets may be placed in students' file folders or portfolios.
