Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 5.5
Contents of a textbook of Social Studies (Geography area)
Chapter and sections
1. World Geography
- The appearance of the Earth
Continents
,
oceans
,
regional classifi cation
,
major countries
,
longitude and latitude
,
globe and map
,
brief map
- Life in the world
Pacifi c Ocean islands
,
Siberia
,
Arabian Peninsula
,
Andes
:
houses
,
clothes
,
food and religion
- Natural environment, history and cultural background, industry
Asia
,
Europe
,
Africa
,
North America
,
South America
,
Oceania
- Research on another country
Decide on a country or region and a theme
,
collect source material
,
analyze data and
make a presentation
2. Geography of Japan
- Appearance of Japan
Location
,
territory
,
prefectures
,
regions
- Comparison between Japan and the world: characteristics of natural environment
Mountains
,
plains
,
seashore and ocean current
,
natural disaster and prevention
,
population
,
natural resources and industry
- Geography in each region of Japan
Natural environment and energy in Kyushu
,
transportation in Chugoku
/
Shikoku
,
environmental issues and preservation in Kinki
,
industry in Chubu
,
cities and population
in Kanto
,
life and culture in Tohoku
,
history in Hokkaido
- Research on an area
Set up a hypothesis
,
conduct fi eldwork using topographic maps
,
summarize results and
make a presentation
Nakamura et al. (
2012
)
as well as knowledge of and fi nding the uniqueness of Japan through learning
about the natural environment, population, energy and relationships among regions.
The National Curriculum Standards includes learning about the natural environment,
history, industry, environmental protection, population and cities, life and culture,
and relations between seven Japanese regions. The textbook focuses on one topic
for each region.
The content of geography in junior high school mainly includes the explanation
of locations and characteristics in the world and Japan. Therefore, teachers tend to
give passive lessons focusing on rote memorization. This is the image of geography
education in the country, which has often been criticized for this pedagogy. In
response to these criticisms, many questions have been inserted into textbooks. These
questions mainly ask students why a phenomenon is observed or occurs, revealing
the most important way of thinking in geography education. For these reasons, most
textbook pages are designed to include a substantial number of questions, maps, and
graphs to support the development of student geographical thinking (Fig.
5.5
).
