Class time will be spent discussing the regional physical and human geography as well as today's issues through an interactive multimedia power point presentation, themed activities/ projects, cultural food tasting, supplemental videos, interactive Kahoot quizzes and a Geography Bee. The last class is reserved for celebration- final presentations and the Bee!

'Homework' consists of reading/ perusing the selected reference text (World Geography by McDougal Little), working on suggested challenge activities and preparation of a final presentation during the last class. For the reference text, the goal is familiarity and building connections to previous knowledge- try and peruse the content weekly and it will prepare your learner for our class discussion.

Additional challenge and enrichment activities, video links and topics/ literature specific to geography are included for your reference to further supplement your study during outside class time. Challenge Activities are not required; however, I’d love for the students to share in class if they chose to complete them! No background knowledge is required. Comprehension of the content is assessed as we progress through the course via weekly reviews, narrations and suggested essay topics every week- including occasional presentations.

Part 1/ Fall Semester Class Experience-

Week One: Themes & Tools of Geography, Relative vs. Absolute Location; Kinds of maps: relief, political, physical, topographic; Atlas; Reading a map: compass, legend, scale, color; Geocaching/ Letterboxing

Week Two: Solar System; Pangea; Inner Earth: Core, Mantle, Crust; Atmosphere, Lithosphere, Hydrosphere, Biosphere; Landforms; Hydrologic Cycle; Hotspots, Plate Tectonics: Divergent, Subduction, Convergent, Transformative; Seismographs, Richter Scale, Epicenter; Mechanical and Chemical Weathering; Erosion: Water, Wind & Glacial

Week Three: Hemispheres, Solstice, Equinox; Weather vs. Climate; Precipitation: Frontal, Orographic, Convectional; Climate Factors: Wind & Ocean Currents, Latitude, Altitude; World Climates; Factors to Climate Change; Ecosystems, Biomes

Week Four: Innovation, Diffusion, Acculturation, Language Families, World Religions; Dynamic Populations

Week Five: Urban Land Planning: urbanization, megalopolis, CBD; Types of Production; Opportunity Cost, Specialization of Labor; Levels of Economic Opportunity; Natural Resources: Renewable/ Nonrenewable; Infrastructure

Week Six: North America Physical Geography- Rocky Mountains, Appalachians, Great Plains; Continental Divide; St. Lawrence Seaway, Intercoastal Waterway, Lock Systems; Tornado Alley; Oregon & Santa Fe Trails; Transcontinental Railroad

Week Seven: North American Human Geography American Colonization: Early Settlements, Columbian Exchange; Wars: French/ Indian, Revolutionary, Civil; Lands: 13 Colonies, Louisiana Purchase, Western Expansion; Agrarian, Industrialization, Information Ages; Democratic Republic, Free Market Economy; Subregions: New England, South, Midwest, West; Immigration: Melting Pot, Cultural Diversity

Week Eight: Canada Human Geography & Today's Issues- Inuit, Vikings; Hudson Bay Company; Dominion of Canada, Provinces, Parliamentary Government; Yukon Gold Rush; Primary Economic Industries: Services, Manufacturing, Agriculture; Tariffs, Imports, Exports; 50th Parallel, Totems; Subregions: Atlantic, Core, Prairie, Pacific and Territories; Terrorism: 9/11; Urban Sprawl

Week Nine: Latin America Physical Geography- New Spain; Simon Bolivar; Andes Mountains, Amazon River; Llanos, Cerrado, and Pampas; Caribbean: Bahamas, Lesser & Greater Antilles; Medicinal Plants of the Rainforest; Climate Zones of S. America; Slash & Burn Agriculture, Terracing; Urbanization & Tourism

Week Ten: Latin America Human Geography & Today's Issues- Nazca, Olmec, Mayan, Spanish Mission, African, Inca Heritage; Reggae, Calypso, Samba, Capoeira; Mercosur Trade Group; Treaty of Tordesillas; Carnival, Rain Forest and Resources; Political History: Revolutions & Governments; Panama Canal; Giving Citizens a Voice: Coup de-etat, Junta, Caudilla

Week Eleven: European Physical Geography- Peninsulas: Balkan, Iberian, Scandinavian, Italian, Jutland; Mountain Ranges: Apennine, Alps, Pyrenees, Balkan; North Europe Plain, Land of the Midnight Sun; Dark Forest; North Atlantic Drift, Mistral, Sirocco; Peat, Fjord, Acid Rain; Dutch Seawork, Dike, Polder, Terpen; Venice: Gondolas

Week Twelve: European Human Geography & Today's Issues- Civilizations: Rome, Greece, Byzantine; Christianity and Islam Influence: Crusades, Renaissance; Bubonic Plague; Charlemagne, Martin Luther, Bonaparte; WW2- Nazis, Axis, Allies, Berlin Wall; Nordic Countries: British Imperialism, Industrialization, Social Welfare; Eastern Europe: Balkanization, Satellite Nations; European Union; Yugoslavia: Serbs, Croatia, Ethnic Cleansing

Week Thirteen: Celebration- Final Presentations and Geography Bee!

Pt 2/ Winter Semester Class Experience-

Week One: Ural & Caucus Mountains; Kamchatka Peninsula; Caspian & Aral Seas, Lake Baikal; Siberia: Tundra, Permafrost, Taiga, Steppe, Continentality; Trans-Siberian Railroad

Week Two: Baltic Republics, Russian Revolution, USSR, Collective Farms; Cold War, Economic Challenges: Command to Market, Caspian Sea- Land of Flames; Transcaucasia, Chernobyl, Nuclear Legacy: Political, Economic and Environmental Challenges

Week Three: Rift Valley, Sahara Desert, Aquifer, Oasis, Ibn Butatta, Savannah, Serengeti Plains, Desertification, Aswan High Dam, Olduvai Gorge, Suez Canal, Colonization of Africa; Swahili, Aids

Week Four: Ancient Egyptians, Nile River; Souks, Medina, Fang Sculpture; Congo River, Epidemics: Malaria, Cholera, Tuberculosis, HIV/ Aids; Colonialism Outcomes: Political Unrest & Ethnic Tension: Apartheid, Nelson Mandela

Week Five: Jordan River & Rift Valley, Golan Heights, Dead Sea, Tigris & Euphrates Rivers, Petra; Petroleum, Oil Spills; Iceberg Project, Qanat, Drip-irrigation, Noria, Wadi, Desalinization, Fossil Water, National Water Carrier Project

Week Six: Theocracy, Islam: Five Pillars, Ramadan, Sunni and Shiite Muslims; OPEC, Israel: Jerusalem, Palestine, PLO, Six Day War 1967, Israel: West Bank, Gaza Strip; Political & Religious Turmoil; Masada

Week Seven: Subcontinent; Himalayas, Mt. Everest, Indus River Valley, Deccan Plateau, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Atolls; Indo- Gangetic Plain, Climate: Monsoon; Hinduism: Ganges River, Dharma, Karma; Feni River Dam

Week Eight: Hinduism: Caste System; Muslim Regions: Bangladesh & Pakistan; Buddhism: Siddhartha Gautama; Mahatma Gandhi, Population Pyramid; Monsoons, Poverty; Education Demands, Illiteracy; India, China or Pakistan- Territorial Nuclear Threat

Week Nine: Great Wall, Taklimakan & Gobi Deserts, Dinosaur Fossils; Port Cities: Macao, Hong Kong, Hainan Island, Korean Peninsula; Yellow & Yangtze Rivers, Grand Canal, Three Gorges Dam; Yuan Dynasty Invasion Japan, Typhoon, Kamikaze; Tibet: Dalai Lama, Autonomous Zones; Landfills: Reclaimed Land

Week Ten: Dynasties, European Spheres of Influence, Boxer Rebellion, People’s Revolution, Communist Party, Chairman Mao; Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism; Population Growth; Mongolia; Taiwan; Korean Peninsula; Japan; Ring of Fire: Earthquake, Tsunami,

Warning Buoy, Seismic Building Construction

Week Eleven: Indonesia, Australia, Great Barrier Reef, New Zealand, Antarctica, Polynesian Islands, Archipelago, Rain Shadow, Monsoon, Early Navigation Techniques; Outrigger Canoe vs. Voyaging, Invasive Species: Rabbits, Bikini Atoll: Nuclear Testing

Week Twelve: French Indochina, Cambodia: Angkor Wat, Oceania: Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia; Australia: British Colonization, Aborigines, Indigenous People, Terra Nullius, Assimilation, Stolen Generation; New Zealand: Maori Haka; Antarctica: Shackleton, Endurance

Week Thirteen: Final Presentations

ONLINE LIVE via Zoom Class Experience:

During this 26 or 33-week course, class time will be spent discussing the physical and human geography as well as today's issues relevant to each region of our world. Cultural literacy terms, socio/economic advances, religions, languages, individuals, and environmental changes which define each region will be discussed through an interactive multimedia power point presentation, Edpuzzle and supplemental videos as well as Kahoot review games will be integrated throughout.

No background knowledge is required. The bulk of weekly homework consists of reading the text, World Geography by McDougal Little, and occasional presentations of today's issues around the world. Expect 0-1 hrs. of out of class time prep. Weekly discussion, writing topics & activity ideas are given to apply what we have discussed; however, they are not required.

Additional literature of historical fiction, classics and biographies are given as individual reading or family read aloud suggestions and supplemental activity ideas are included for your reference and use. A course syllabus will be available upon registration. Time off for national holidays is expected and if there is a week your learner isn't able to make class, recordings will be available for them to watch at their convenience!