Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
textbooks, supplementary reading material dedicated to local municipality and
prefecture issues is provided to third and fourth grade students by the local govern-
ment. All students receive an atlas at every school level.
5.3.2
Textbooks for Primary Education
Geography is included in Social Studies at the primary education level. Students
study Geography-related units mainly in the third, fourth, and fi fth grades. Some
geographic elements, such as comparative studies between Japan and another
country or leaning about global issues, also appear in sixth grade.
The National Curriculum Standards for elementary school sets common
objectives for grades 3 through 6, including the use of maps, globes, and statistics,
and development of skills for thinking about social phenomena, their characteris-
tics and interactions, and for expression of student ideas and research results
(MEXT 2008b ).
The National Curriculum Standards explain learning outcomes at each grade
level. All textbooks are designed to achieve these objectives and include learning
elements in the curriculum standard.
In the third and fourth grades, students conduct research in their community and
begin to have deeper interests in their local area and prefecture. The term “local
area” in this chapter refers to city and township levels. Fifth grade students will have
a wider view of the entire nation, and students begin to learn and think about the
entire world in sixth grade.
Students in the third and fourth grades conduct fi eld surveys to learn more about
the area surrounding their school and the town or city that they inhabit. They also
become familiar with businesses and industries in their community by speaking to
workers. Elementary students acquire basic knowledge of disasters, disaster preven-
tion, and various systems (urban, water, and waste disposal). Students also learn
about their prefecture through research and data collection. Table 5.2 summarizes
content covered at the third and fourth grade levels.
Most teachers cannot use the third and fourth grade social studies textbooks for
local studies, because these books use examples taken from select cities and prefec-
tures. Since teachers use their own local community in class, they must develop
similar content for their own areas. Teachers use textbook examples as a model for
student activities and expected outcomes.
In the third and fourth grades, the teaching method is for students to learn from
experiences such as fi eld surveys. Therefore, skills in these grades emphasize survey-
ing methods, including interviews. Many types of map-reading skills and graphicacy
are included in a section called Interpretation Skills. These skills include how to read
maps, graphs, and tables. Map reading includes reading contour lines, topographic
relief, and land use. More generally, use of an atlas is also taught. Therefore, text-
books are designed to include appropriate examples for local studies as well as some
important geographic skills for students to acquire and use (Fig. 5.3 ).
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