Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
13.3.2
Exhibition of Children's Environmental Maps
The Exhibition of Children's Environmental Maps (“Maps of Our Surrounding
Environment”) is an event put on by the SEME, and is based in Hokkaido. Many
geography-related research organizations (e.g., AJG), research institutes (e.g., the
Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) and National Institute for
Environmental Studies (NIES), local governments and education committees, and
map-based enterprises (e.g., publishers and mass media) support or encourage this
event. The children's maps are submitted from all over the country and even from
overseas, reaching about 1,500 submissions annually. Similar exhibitions are also
held in other areas of the country (Masuda 2008 ). However, in those cases, map entries
are limited to the local area. There is no other exhibition that receives submissions
from both all of Japan and abroad equally. The Children's Environmental Map Contest
is the largest map exhibition of any kind in the country (Himiyama 2012 ).
Since it was fi rst held in 1991, the Children's Environmental Map Contest has
been held annually in late October, and will have been held for the 23rd time in
2013. The objective of the exhibition is to foster children's interest and concern for
community problems through map making. At the same time, children have the
chance to develop talents that can contribute to improving environmental harmony
in the local region.
Submissions come primarily from individual schools, most of which include the
map creation process as part of study units on the local area or study units on maps.
All maps from both Japan and other countries are judged rigorously by the Executive
Committee. The maps are to depict children's observations of their environment.
The theme of 2013 was “Hazard prevention” but children could also choose to map
a theme of their choice. Generally, many maps depict skillful creations that display
geographical patterns and contemporary issues.
The competition rules stipulate to “Make a map of the environment close to you
that shows the things you surveyed, observed, and thought about”. Children's
creativity is valued and left up to the map makers. Maps that do not fi t a traditional
map type but rather show a high degree of originality are usually highly evaluated.
The process of map making includes the following steps: (1) Decide on the
map theme and the limits of the area to be surveyed; (2) conduct diligent surveys
and observations in the fi eld; (3) organize and map the survey data; (4) analyze
and interpret patterns in the fi nished maps; and (5) communicate the conclusions.
The goal of the Children's Environmental Map Exhibition is to nurture geography
skills in area surveys.
The new National Curriculum Standards fi rmly implements the fundamentals
of exploratory and language activities and emphasizes these as pillars of learning.
This supports geography education's position to provide students with opportunities
to learn mapping and area survey skills, which are practices related to problem-
solving abilities. In the same way as the Geography Olympiad, the Exhibition
Children's Environmental Map Contest reinforces scholastic abilities called for in
the new National Curriculum Standards.
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